Finding My Roots: From the Slopes of Dan-no-Uura to a Legacy of Education

Finding My Roots: From the Slopes of Dan-no-Uura to a Legacy of Education

Have you ever watched a documentary or a video and felt a sudden, inexplicable rush of emotion?

Recently, while watching a YouTube video about the famous Battle of Dan-no-Uura (1185) - the tragic final battle where the Heike (Taira) clan met their end - I felt a strange stir in my blood. It wasn't just casual interest. It felt personal.

As it turns out, it is personal.

According to my mother, our family possesses a genealogy tracking our lineage back to the emperors of Japan through the Heike clan. For generations, our family crest has been the Maruni-mitsu-hiki (the kanji for the number "three" enclosed in a circle) - a classic mark of samurai families claiming Taira descent.

Learning about this sent me on a journey to reflect on my ancestors, particularly my great-great-grandfather, Shotaro Arase, and my grandfather, Kiyoshi Arase. What I discovered is a story of resilience, prestige, and a shared calling that spans over a century.

The Financial Mind of the Samurai: Shotaro Arase

My great-great-grandfather, Shotaro Arase, was a retainer of the Kokura Domain during the turbulent final days of the samurai era. When Kokura Castle was burned down during the Choshu War in 1866, Shotaro was right there in the thick of history.

He lived in the elite samurai district of Tenjinshima (right next to Kokura Castle) and served as a high-ranking financial official (Kanjogata), managing the domain's stipends and budgets. He was a man of immense trust and capability. Family lore says that back then, he owned one of only three gold pocket watches in the entire city of Kokura - a testament to his high status and the family's affinity for precision and leadership.

When Shotaro found himself without an heir, the samurai community rallied. In a beautiful display of traditional allegiance, two other local samurai families - the Takashima and Sugiura families - came together to marry a son and a daughter into the Arase line to keep the family name alive.

From that union, my grandfather was born.

The Master Educator: Kiyoshi Arase

My grandfather, Kiyoshi Arase, inherited the sharp mind and high integrity of the Arase line, but he channeled it into a new era: Education.

He graduated from the highly competitive Fukuoka Normal School (now Fukuoka University of Education), a prestigious path for elite youth at the time. He dedicated his life to teaching, eventually becoming the Principal of Tenjinshima Elementary School - serving the very community where his samurai ancestors once held their estate.

Even after retiring, his reputation for financial and organizational excellence was so great that he was recruited by the prestigious Kokura High School (famous nationwide for its academic excellence and legendary back-to-back baseball championships in the late 1940s) to manage their administrative and financial affairs.

Echoes in the Classroom

When I was an elementary school student at Kokura Elementary (the successor to Tenjinshima Elementary), the vice-principal at the time pulled me aside. He told me, "Your grandfather was the principal of Tenjinshima Elementary, and he took great care of me."

As a young boy, I just blinked in confusion. I didn't truly understand the weight of those words.

But the subconscious is a powerful thing. Decades later, when choosing my own career path, I chose to become a school teacher. I was guided, without even fully realizing it, by the invisible hand of my grandfather's legacy.

A New Chapter at 65

This year, I reached my own retirement at the age of 65. Looking back on my years in the classroom, I feel a profound sense of gratitude. The blood of the Heike clan, the resilience of a samurai official, and the noble spirit of a master educator have traveled through time to shape who I am today.

But this retirement isn't an ending; it's a transition.

Just like my grandfather, who stepped out of retirement to conquer a "new frontier" at Kokura High School, I feel ready to take my decades of experience and dive into a brand-new venture. The samurai spirit inside me is far from finished.

To the ancestors who preserved our name, and to the grandfather who paved my path: thank you. The journey continues.