Without the use of any medicine or vaccines, the strategy to eliminate the Guinea worm disease has been consistent: public education. The villagers used to believe that either witchcraft or eating bad meat had caused the disease. Now, they are aware that it comes from ponds, their source of water. The villagers are also being taught how to use simple water filters. In 1986, an estimated number of 3.5 million cases of Guinea worm disease were recorded in 21 countries in Asia and Africa. The number decreased to 512 in 2012, affecting only four countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Together with the US chemical company Dupont, the Carter Center developed a cloth filter that was highly effective and could be distributed cheaply. Through filtration of drinking water using these fine clothes, the villagers were able to prevent the worms from entering the human body.

“King of Board” Habu Yoshiharu believes in intuition. In his shogi game experiences, about 70 percent of his moves based on intuition turned out correct. For Habu, a player needs his or her intuition to be able to focus attention on a few good moves. It is important to anticipate the opponent’s moves, but it takes a lot of practice and experience to gain intuition. When playing shogi, it is important to learn various strategies and use them to win a game. According to Habu, one must change his or her knowledge to wisdom to fully understand the meaning of the strategies.

Sometimes, players surprise their opponents using unexpected moves. But Habu says that they are not necessarily effective in winning the game because there is a 50 percent chance that they may fail. Habu considers his patience as his talent. In playing shogi, being able to anticipate moves is important, but improving one’s skills is the greatest talent a player can have. Although there are about thousands of games played in the history of shogi, we only know a small portion about the game. Every time Habu plays shogi, he feels like he is starting “a journey into an unknown territory.” And that is what he finds fascinating in shogi.

The Earth has about 200 countries and each has its own culture. So what do we need when we have to work together with people from different cultures? The answer is understanding, respect, and proper communication skills. Communication through language is important because it is the basis of other human activities. Communication is a tool that allows us to talk about various situations with different people. Using communication, we also learn and expand our knowledge and human experience. But Wakata Koichi says, “To make a successful mission, communication skills are essential. But consideration for others is more important.” Wakata is the first Asian commander of the ISS, an international space station project that has been running for 15 years. Let us learn to act as citizens of the world and view it in a different way.