To the list of rare reads we can now add With Art as My Weapon, Soichiro Fukutake’s common-sense compendium of ideas on how anyone anywhere in the world can create sustainable, green alternatives to crowded cities by breathing new life into neglected villages. From these compelling essays, a powerful philosophy emerges that reveals the reawakening that happens when contemporary art and modern architecture are brought to struggling rural areas. Soichiro Fukutake became Japan’s greatest living philanthropist in the 1980’s when he created a foundation dedicated to restoring life to villages in Japan’s Inland Sea whose rich traditional culture had been ravaged by industrialization and unrestrained post-war development. He toiled there for decades and the result is now a world-famous gem. Although the island of Naoshima is as remote as ever and is still accessible only by ferry, its restored beauty attracted more than 700,000 visitors to the area in 2019. In the same year Condé Nast’s Traveller named the area one of the best places to go in the world and National Geographic’s Traveler placed the area number one on its list of “cool” places to visit. Full of hard-won wisdom and new ideas, the book also introduces Fukutake’s unique ideas on how to reform an economy so its top priority is to generate wealth that improves people’s well-being. With clear and incisive reasoning, Fukutake introduces the concept of “Public Interest Capitalism” which puts people’s happiness before corporate profits.

Soichiro Fukutake (福武 總一郎)

Soichiro Fukutake (福武 總一郎) is a Japanese entrepreneur. He is the former chairman of the Benesse Holdings, Inc., a business which covers a wide range of fields such as domestic and international education, senior nursing care and childcare. While remaining an honorary adviser to Benesse, he also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Fukutake Foundation and Honorary Co-Chair of East-West Philanthropy Forum. For more than 30 years he has used art, nature, and architecture to spearhead a renaissance of life on the islands of Naoshima, Teshima, and Inujima in Japan’s Inland Sea. There he has worked with world-class architects such as Tadao Ando to create the Benesse Art Site Naoshima with its famous “Chichu Art Museum” that houses five Water Lilies by the French impressionist Claude Monet. Fukutake also plays a key role in promoting electric vehicles to reduce carbon emissions. And in 2016, he was invited to join the prestigious IUCN Patrons of Nature circle, a testimony to his dedication to preserving the natural environment. He currently advises a village revitalization project in China’s Shandong Province that seeks to apply his philosophy in a remote area of China. Fukutake has lived in New Zealand since 2009.

Jay Henderson (韩德生)

Jay Henderson (韩德生) is a China specialist living in Hawaii. His career includes a decade in New York with the National Committee on US-China Relations, a decade in Hong Kong helping Chinese students enroll in American universities and 15 years in Washington DC directing the broadcast of radio and TV to Asia. His current clients include the East-West Philanthropy Forum, the China Global Philanthropy Institute, and the Hawaiian Legacy Foundation. In addition to this book, Henderson is writing a book on the origins and impact of Hawaiian music. He first visited China in 1977 and has been to China every year since then – more than 100 times. In 1978 he wrote a book on education called China’s Schools in Flux.

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Introduction of the book

Death is the inevitable fate of every single person on earth. How do we accept the inevitability of our own death? How do we live our lives with meaning? Will money lead us to happiness? Satish Modi examines these questions and more in a moving, powerful, thought-provoking work based on his own reflections as well as the experiences of people from all walks of life. The result is a fascinating book that teaches us that whoever we are and whatever our aspirations in this life, it is important for each and every one of us to accept our own passing. In doing so, we free ourselves to live as fully as possible, guided by the principles of goodness, love, and compassion.

Introduction of the author : Satish Modi

Described as the ‘son of the founder of modern Industrial India’, Modi’s father established the Modi Group of Industries and the industrial township of Modinagar. As a member of one of the wealthiest families in India, Modi had a fortunate childhood that led him directly into business. Modi started India’s first private airline (Modiluft, now known as Spice Jet) in 1993. He founded and is on the board of India’s first offshore mutual fund, the J.F. India Fund, which is part of J.P. Morgan Chase. Through the course of his illustrious life Modi realised that happiness did not lie in the material world. This knowledge led him into the humble pursuit for greater value in life. His book is a direct result of this journey.

Official Website:

http://www.inlovewithdeath.com/

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https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1780272146

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