MESSAGE FOR EARTH
All around are people unrelated to us, forming our society, and outside our society lies an even bigger world. Considering these relationships, we begin to think that we must really live life to the fullest. This is what I would like to say to the children.
From "an interview by Comic Tom on Taiga Drama 'Buddha'"
Children tend to want to stick together as a group of close friends, just because it is the easiest thing to do. The scariest thing for kids is to be thrown into a group of people they don't know: that's why it takes a lot of courage to change schools. But we should think of it not just as something scary and feel uneasy about it: at the same time we should consider it a perfect chance to get to know ourselves in relation to the world. If we can muster up just a little courage, the world around us will expand before our eyes. We will make more friends, and we'll be more at home anywhere. If you can be just a little bit brave and say hello to someone with a smile, it can be the beginning of a friendship.
It's really hard to adequately answer the question of what "life" is. But I think it is of the utmost importance to really get across to our children the fact that everyone has to die, that this life of ours is limited, that we should live as fully as we can and not infringe on the lives of others.
From "Life: Why we can keep breathing even as we eat," Froebel-kan Co., Ltd.
To protect the ones we love, we can face even the mightiest of enemies: this concept appears in a great number of stories of heroes and heroines. And somewhere along the line, more people began to think that this is only something that heroes dare to do. But the truth is that each one of us lives day-to-day loving and protecting ourselves. The "hero" of the story takes this one step further, in displaying an understanding of the importance of love for another person other than himself. And the idea of "love" means to consider someone else's life as precious as your own. "Love" is equal to the concept of "oneself": that is, feeling that someone else is equal in importance to you. If we can really feel this, then it is not such an unimaginable thing to be able to put one's life on the line for another.
To endeavor to convey an awareness of the sanctity of life to our children through information: perhaps this is the most important stance that we adults can take in response to the "advancement of informationalization" that our society is undergoing at present.
From "Save Our Mother Earth"
Since Astro Boy is a robot, he knows no fear, and this is why he is capable of flying into the sun and thereby sacrificing himself. But you don't have to be a robot to do this: there are many people on this earth who are willing to sacrifice themselves for the good of many people. Looking through the annals of history, we can find portrayals of a huge number of such great men and saints. Unlike Astro Boy, it is not that these people had no fear. But like Astro Boy, they were fully aware of one thing, and that was love. While there may be courage that does not actually stem from love, it is probably mere recklessness.