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Ms. Masako Sakuma’s story.
I am honored to be here today to participate in the 50th Anniversary General Meeting under the leadership of Asai *Sensei. *(Sensei : a teacher or mentor)

I have a severe congenital heart disease, and my heart, which is normally divided into four chambers, has only two. On top of that, I have dextrocardia, my heart is located on the right side of my chest instead of the left side.

In addition, the artery from my heart to my lungs was narrow and arterially stenotic. The blood vessels were shifted from their original position, and the organs were inverted.
My other minor illnesses were too many to count, and by the time I was two or three years old, I was having heart attacks several times a day, fainted, and could have died at any time.

When I was two years old, I had bypass surgery to insert an artificial blood vessel into a narrow section of my pulmonary artery. Then the seizures stopped.

At age 4, I underwent a second bypass surgery to connect the artery in my wrist to the pulmonary artery, and at age 7, I underwent a complete operation.

Since this surgery was difficult, with only a few cases in the world, it was performed by a professor at a university hospital. However, the surgery was halted when an abnormality was found in the blood flow in the neck and deemed dangerous.

For a doctor, interruption of surgery is a matter of honor. But the professor was able to save my life by interrupting the surgery without any tampering.

From then on, the treatment changed to a life of just resting. It was then that the doctor told me that I would only live to be 18 years old.

Asai Sensei, who had heard about this, told my parents,
“She will be fine as long as she has a mission of Kosenrufu”, which was a great source of support.

I could hardly go to elementary school. In junior high school, I developed a new type of scoliosis, a curvature of the spine, and had to wear a corset from jaw to waist for treatment. I asked myself “Why am I the only one who gets sick?”

I was so depressed that I cried every day.
On the other hand, my twin sister was more energetic and had many friends. She did well academically. We were identical twins, but I was jealous, thinking, “Why me?”.

In April 1998, I became a high school student.
My parents and my sister, who was five years older than me, told me every day about Nichiren Daishonin’s Buppo.

I began to believe their words, “You will be fortunate” and started chanting Nam Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo and Shakubuku (sharing Nam Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo with others).

 April of the same year was also the month in which the Kaidan no Dai Gohonzon, which had been enshrined in a hall built under false pretenses, was returned to its original place called Hoanden.

Then I have received an incredible number of good lucks! My sad days had been transformed into happy ones. I am so grateful to Nichiren Daishonin Buddha!

I had never been able to walk for more than five minutes, but I was able to ride my bicycle to school every day and then I became manager of the school volleyball team.
I was also able to get a part-time job at a cake shop and lived a life no different from that of a normal person!

“It’s a miracle!” my doctor cried out.

Although I hardly studied at all in elementary and junior high school, in the first semester of high school, I became the top student in my grade, made more friends, enjoyed every day, and for the first time in my life, I was truly happy to have been born!

How powerful the Gohonzon-sama is! I was so thrilled!!

After graduating from high school, I lived in a dormitory at a national vocational school for the internally disabled.
There, I Shakubuku people with a similar fate, and half of the people in the dormitory began chanting Nam Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo.

Then the good luck did not stop! I passed one certification exam after another and was recommended for an interview at a major pharmaceutical company in recognition of my performance.

I was only one out of 80 people interviewed for the handicapped category who made it to the first round of interviews! I advanced to the fifth round of interviews, where I passed a difficult hurdle and was hired by the company as a full-time employee!

Because I now had a job, I had to leave the vocational school.
During the 10 months I was in school, I was able to pass seven certification exams and get a driver’s license at no charge.

In 2002, after joining the company’s HQ, I reported my medical condition to the company’s physician, who said,
“That’s never going to happen! You are long already dead!”

I was filled with gratitude that I am alive today. It is of I am very fortunate the life received from the Daishonin.

In 2003, I was told that I would only live until the age of 18, but when I was able to attend the coming-of-age ceremony (turning 20!😊) at Kenshokai, I was so moved to tears that I could not stop crying and my parents were very happy.

In 2005, I was appointed to the position of Assistant Leader of the group.

I learned about the time when Asai Sensei risked his life to protect Nichiren Daishonin Buddha’s testament from Soka Gakkai and Nichiren Shoshu.

Both parties, losing their minds to money and power, abandoned the last will and testament that the Daishonin had entrusted to his disciples.

For the small Kenshokai to stand up to both of these powerful parties was like fighting against a military tank with a bamboo stick!
I was filled with unprecedented emotion, saying, “What an amazing Sensei I have had the privilege of studying under”.

Since then, I changed my attitude to a strong urge to be of service to Nichiren Daishonin Buddha and Asai Sensei.

Then, my team members who had stopped chanting due to inertia and retreated to a trouble-filled circumstance began to call me, “I want to chant again!”.

In 2007, my group member Ms. Aizawa’s mother joined Kenshokai in February started chanting Nam Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo. And in June, her bedridden grandmother wanted to chant together!

Shortly after, her family was hit by a major earthquake in July.
(The Niigata Chuetsuoki Earthquake in 2007, July 16 – magnitude 6.6)

Ms. Aizawa’s grandmother was unable to escape but was saved from a collapsed house by a gap of only 10 centimeters from the frame of her bed! Her grandmother received the impossible protection of being almost unscathed!

The next morning, I received an e-mail from Ms. Aizawa’s mother. There was a photo of the house that was collapsed. In the background, Ms. Aizawa’s family was showing the peace sign. In the midst of this terrible earthquake, I was quite thrilled to see the amazing vitality of the Kenshokai members, with the Daishonin as the pillar of their souls!

When I look at myself today, I am still severely disabled, but strangely enough, the artificial blood vessels that were placed in my two-year-old body have not clogged, defying medical convention, and I am moving around so well that people around me forget that I am handicapped.

If I had not been able to meet the Gohonzon-sama, my life would have ended a long time ago.
I am filled with joy that I have been given the gift to see the Daishonin’s testimony accomplished with my own eyes during the second 50 years of Kenshokai’s service.

It is like a dream come true for me to be given this unexpected opportunity to speak today and to thank Asai Sensei directly for the great fortunes I have been given.
I cannot begin to express my gratitude for the compassionate love of Asai Sensei, who warmly encourages the faith of each and every one of us.

The reason I am alive today is so I can help the Daishonin accomplish his will and bring true peace to Japan and the people of the world!

That being said, I will strive to respond by helping fulfill the Daishonin’s final Will.

Thank you! 🙂
From Kenshokai Newspaper September 5^th, 2007

💓P.S. Masako is now 40 years old. She has become an area leader in the Womens’ division of Kenshokai. She is still dedicated to fulfilling her mission as a true follower of Nichiren Daishonin!

Kenshokai 50th Anniversary 30,000 General Meeting at the Nagano Olympic Arena