Photo/Illutration New employees are greeted with applause by senior employees at the joint induction ceremony of Tohoku Electric Power Co. and Tohoku Electric Power Network Co. on April 1. (Asahi Shimbun file photo) 

Some stories are simply unforgettable and here’s one I’d like to share with you.

It was told by a man whose father was a plasterer. Born and raised in Tokyo’s Fukagawa district, he was a craftsman to the core, and went everywhere in a “shirushi banten”—a traditional “happi” coat with his name and family business dyed on the collar.

The man remembers finding a wallet on the street when he was a child. As there was nothing in the wallet, he just held onto it.

But he was admonished by his father, who told him that the wallet could be of sentimental value to the owner, and that the right thing to do would be to take it to a “koban” police box.

Those were the words of a truly sincere person.

The man was born after the death of his three older brothers. When he was in high school, he told his father that he had no desire to take over the family business because he believed the English language would become more important in the coming era.

He couldn’t tell what his father thought. Still, the father told the son to do what he wanted to do and supported him in his own way.

Years later, the man was sorting through his late father’s belongings when he found a wallet.

It contained a crisply folded 1,000-yen ($7) note—the very 1,000 yen the man had given to his father out of his first paycheck.

Back then, his father used to tell him: “When you’re in doubt, just be like your dad. You won’t make it big in the world, but you’ll at least never go off the straight and narrow.”

This story appeared about 20 years ago in The Asahi Shimbun after winning an essay contest that asked readers to write what they admired about their fathers.

It was also mentioned once in this column.

I recall this story when spring progresses and I begin to see rookie company workers in their new suits. I imagine some of them will be receiving their first paychecks this week.

As for my own first paycheck, I feel stung by bitter regret because I don’t even remember how I spent it. What a crass son I was.

I can never go back to that long gone day.

—The Asahi Shimbun, April 24

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.