I, Hirotake Yano, never imagined that after a lifetime of hardship, I would continue to suffer after death. It is truly heartbreaking, as life is full of trials—whether in work, relationships, business, or various unexpected situations—that are difficult to face with a positive mindset.
For my own part, I met and married my wife while I was still a student. Later, due to various factors, I fell into massive debt. It was not until I founded DAISO that I experienced countless trials and spent many nights tossing and turning, struggling with inner turmoil.
If it were not for my wife’s steadfast support and the encouragement of others, I might not have persevered, and the world-renowned DAISO 100-yen shop would never have come to be.
Regarding the concept of "all items for 100 yen," I actually came upon it by accident; there was no elaborate plan. I was simply too busy, and to make things easier for my wife and more convenient for customers, I decided to set all items at a flat price of 100 yen. Unexpectedly, this coincided with the wave of Japan’s low-consumption era. DAISO became increasingly popular, eventually opening branches abroad and becoming an international chain.
Looking back at this success, I feel it was largely due to good fortune. I would not call it mere luck, but I truly believe that good fortune is a vital factor in one's career success, and for this, I have always been very grateful.
Having said so much, I simply wish to express that life is full of unexpected events and difficulties; no one can predict what they might encounter. When you face hardship or are at a low point, whether there is someone by your side who will follow or accompany you without complaint and give you strength is a significant question. If you have to face and bear all the pain alone, it is extremely difficult to survive such suffering.
Think about it: life is already so arduous, yet to continue suffering after death—do you think that makes sense? This was my thought when I entered the Intestine-Digging Hell after I passed away. I felt that since I had finally finished this life, why was death not a liberation, but rather the beginning of another period of suffering?
After entering the Intestine-Digging Hell, my intestines were continuously dug open; the scene was incredibly bloody and terrifying. Furthermore, after being disembowelled to death, I would be reborn only to have my intestines dug open again. This repeated countless times without end. At that time, I only felt that life was truly bitter; I never imagined that being human was bitter, and being a ghost after death was just as bitter. Must life be filled with suffering? I truly did not want to believe this. I have always maintained that all life should have a bright and peaceful exit, though I did not yet know where that exit was.
After suffering in hell for an unknown duration, one day, a massive golden light appeared and shone upon my soul. In an instant, my soul was brought to the at the Hsiang Kuang Buddhist Centre in Goombungee, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia.
On the -Nature Land, my soul was able to heal. After a few days, with the help of the Buddha’s power in the Western Dharma-Nature Land, I was no longer panicked or afraid. I returned to my normal state, feeling very peaceful and joyful. It seems that on the Western Dharma-Nature Land, one naturally has no afflictions.
My heart is no longer like it was in the human world, where I would constantly think of one thing after another, or suddenly think of a certain person. Here, my heart seems to be naturally supported by a stable power.
I can see everything in the human world from here, and seeing the DAISO I built with my own hands fills me with deep emotion. For this vast enterprise, I had originally only been operating with the hope of not going bankrupt; I never expected it to reach such a scale. This was truly beyond my anticipation.
Although DAISO sells everything for 100 yen and is a genuine 100-yen shop, I never sacrificed quality to pursue low costs. I knew that people’s recognition of DAISO was built on a very delicate balance.
A unified price allows customers to visit DAISO without needing to spend the time and mental energy comparing prices as they would in other stores. With this premise, consumers instead focus more on the quality and content of each product.
Therefore, I have always been very clear that the 100-yen shop is a form of consideration for the consumer. When you allow consumers to avoid spending time comparing prices, you must, in turn, provide products that satisfy them.
Thus, for DAISO, how to provide high-quality 100-yen products at a relatively low cost has always been our goal. Looking at it now, this direction was not wrong. Under the strategy of prioritising product quality, DAISO has been able to continue developing, and its scale has grown ever larger.
Later, when my son took over, DAISO’s management strategy did indeed see some changes. Regarding all of this, I think we should also view it with a positive mindset.
However, I hope that after reading this interview, my son can remind himself: as business people, we must know how to provide as much benefit to others as possible; we must take "altruism" as our starting point. If we can earn a little less, we should try to earn a little less. If it is truly necessary to maintain the basic operations of the entire group, that is one thing, but if we have the ability to yield profit to others and earn a little less ourselves, I believe that is worth doing.
"Taking advantage" of others is actually contrary to the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way. When I was alive, I did not notice this detail. Of course, these were very subtle matters—inadvertently squeezing others for profit or taking advantage of others without realising it. This "other" refers not only to consumers but also to the partners we work with or the factories that manufacture our goods. In short, every little action will eventually have to bear the consequences of .
Why did my soul fall into the Intestine-Digging Hell after I died? It was because, after years of operating such a massive enterprise, it was inevitable that there were instances of taking advantage of others. As the founder, I cannot shirk responsibility, and naturally, my soul had to bear the retribution, which is why I fell into hell to suffer after death. If it were not for and Practitioner Su saving me, I would still be wailing in hell.
As I said above, I have always refused to believe that life must be full of suffering; I believe there must be a healthy, beautiful exit for life. As for what this exit is, I only found it after I arrived at the Western Dharma-Nature Land of the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre.
It turns out that it is the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. The Western Land of Ultimate Bliss is the Buddha-land established by Namo Amituofo, where all life will possess eternal life. Most importantly, there is no pain, no affliction, and no sorrow there—only supreme happiness. Furthermore, there is no night, only day. Once a soul arrives there, it no longer needs to suffer in the six realms of rebirth, and naturally, it will no longer be punished in hell.
The exit referred to here is from the perspective of after one has passed away; if viewed from when one is still alive, the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre is the very exit that everyone is searching for. I say this because this place can bring people in the world the benefits of not grow old, not get sick, and the spirit does not die, leading to peace and .
In truth, the feeling of aging is not pleasant, but one is helpless; after all, who does not age? However, if one can come to the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre to receive Buddhist education, one can truly stop the aging of the human body.
It turns out that the human body ages because one’s actions are contrary to the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way—that is, because there is selfishness in the heart. No one had ever told me that selfishness causes a person’s body to age. It turns out that if a person can truly be selfless, they can truly be free from aging. This is a very important thing I learned at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre: "All phenomena arise from the mind." It turns out that the state of this heart affects one’s body; if the heart is not good, will easily become ill. If the heart is always in a kind and stable state, then one’s health will naturally be better.
What people cannot see is that when one harbours a bad thought or a selfish idea, it causes many external spirits to enter one’s body. These external spirits absorb the vital energy of one’s body as their energy source, causing the body to become weaker and weaker, or even to age. At the same time, evil thoughts or actions that harm others will also cause the within one’s body to awaken. These are the facts I witnessed on the Dharma-Nature Land.
Now that I see everything in the world from the Dharma-Nature Land, especially the people in Japan, I have discovered that people’s constant pursuit of so-called privacy, or the desire to have an independent space where what they do is not seen by the public, is actually a delusion of the heart. This is because on Earth, there are not only humans, animals, and insects, but also immeasurable and boundless ghosts. These ghosts fill every corner of the Earth; it can be said that there is no place where there are no ghosts.
What shocked me even more was that there is such a strong attraction between humans and ghosts. When I saw many ghosts being drawn into people’s bodies by their thoughts and mental notes, I was truly stunned. The scene was quite frightening; after all, with so many ghosts entering a person’s body, can that person still be safe and sound? Of course, there are many impacts, but people are often unable to perceive them.
In short, having said so much, I only hope that everyone can understand that we live in a world full of spirits. Our human spirits are within our bodies, using these bodies to survive in the world. However, if one cannot understand that there are many, many spirits living in this vast space of the Earth, it will have a great impact on one’s own code of conduct. The biggest impact is that one only sees the changes in one’s own body, but cannot truly understand oneself or the influence that numerous spirits have on oneself.
The Buddhist education at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre is vast; it teaches us what the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way are. This includes how people should live in peace with numerous ghosts and teaches us how to use our own power to help suffering souls. This is also one of the main purposes of the existence of the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre: to save immeasurable and boundless spirit realm beings. Of course, it is also to save all of humanity on Earth.
Therefore, the Namo Amituofo salvation team has been working very hard, hoping to help people on Earth have the opportunity to listen to the sutras and hear the Dharma, and to obtain the benefits of not grow old, not get sick, and the spirit does not die by practising the teachings of Namo Amituofo. The leader of the salvation team, Practitioner Su, after realising his true nature and attaining Buddhahood, possesses the ability of countless manifestations and is constantly performing great on Earth, and many spirits have been saved because of this.
As a former manager and founder of DAISO, because DAISO expanded and operated globally, I earned a great deal of wealth. But to be honest, I really need to learn more about how wealth should be used. How to bring out the true value of this wealth has always been a question in my heart.
After all, if one only invests large amounts of assets into various financial investments to preserve or increase wealth through good asset allocation, it does not have much meaning for me. Once money reaches a certain amount, that is really all there is to it.
I have also been thinking, do my family members really need to use so much money? In fact, such high consumption is completely unnecessary. So, if this money were used to help more people, how exactly could it be done to achieve true effectiveness?
This is something I have been observing. I know that many people in the world like to do charity. I am one of them. After my career achieved success, I spent a great deal of effort and money to give back to society. Among other things, I established an organisation to provide scholarships for many university students.
Because in my youth, I went through a period of extreme poverty and hardship, changing many jobs and carrying heavy debt; it was a life I would not want to experience again. Therefore, I have a profound understanding of the suffering caused by a lack of money. I know that many young people actually have great potential and hope to study well, to become capable individuals who can then contribute more significantly to their country and society. However, due to economic issues, many are forced to give up their studies. I hope this situation does not happen to them, which is why I founded this organisation. Simply put, this is the answer I found after deep observation to the question of "how to truly use one's wealth to help others." I believe that while I was alive, helping the next generation achieve success in their studies, or helping them obtain a better education, was an answer I arrived at. Although I still feel it was not entirely perfect, for the situation at the time, I did the maximum I could. Now, in the Western Dharma-Nature Land at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia, I am pleasantly surprised to discover that there is such a temple in this world, which is a school founded by Namo Amituofo. What it teaches everyone is truly practical knowledge—the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way that everyone must abide by. Because throughout the entire Earth and even the vastness of the Dharma Realm, there is no power that can go against the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way. Therefore, learning this lesson is truly everyone's duty and responsibility. Only by having an understanding of the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way can one truly be responsible for one's own life. Its core lies in how to elevate one's spirit and how to maintain the purity of one's soul. This requires that one's actions and thoughts conform to the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way. The Buddha’s teachings at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre cover a very wide range. In addition to the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way, it also teaches people how to be selfless, to have , to be for the sake of all beings, and how to let go of the interests and of one's own body, turning instead to understanding how to think for others. In the world, there are indeed many who advocate that we should let go of ourselves, achieve others, and think for others; or to think for others and not for ourselves. But in the Buddha’s teachings at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, it reaches a higher level, which is to think for others even at the level of the soul. How exactly can one think for oneself and others at the level of the soul? One must listen to the courses offered by the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre. The lecturer is Practitioner Su, my mentor, the one who saved me from the hells. He is a Buddha who has realised his true nature and attained Buddhahood in the human world; he is truly remarkable, an elder possessing both
and wisdom. These wisdoms are all taught to the public by Namo Amituofo. Through Practitioner Su’s profound yet accessible explanations, these wisdoms become very vivid and approachable. After continuously listening to the sutras and hearing the Dharma here, I finally understood that to truly be able to think for one's own soul and the souls of others, one must learn true compassion. It turns out that true compassion is to help oneself and others be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, so that everyone's soul can forever be spared the suffering of falling into the hells, and so that everyone's soul will never again wander in the six realms of rebirth. Furthermore, true compassion is to attain Buddhahood oneself and to help all beings attain Buddhahood. This is the true benefit that Namo Amituofo wishes to bring to everyone. The Buddha sees every one of us as a Buddha, and the Buddha hopes that every one of us can become a Buddha. Therefore, Namo Amituofo has now come to this world, hoping that everyone can understand what the true Buddha’s teachings are and live a brand-new life. Practitioner Su was the first to receive this true benefit. Because Practitioner Su practised the teachings of Namo Amituofo, he truly elevated his spirit to the realm of a Buddha. Now, Practitioner Su uses the power of his countless manifestations, obtained after attaining Buddhahood, to save suffering spirits at every moment. The scope of Practitioner Su’s Chao Du includes our Japan. Many lonely wandering spirits and suffering spirits in the space of Japan have obtained deliverance because of Practitioner Su’s Chao Du. I am very pleasantly surprised that we in Japan actually have a very strong karmic affinity with the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre. Because the temple set up a Namo Amituofo billboard in the Katsushika Ward of Tokyo, Japan, this billboard is like an emanation of Namo Amituofo, emitting immense golden light at every moment, allowing the spirit realm beings throughout Tokyo and even a wider area of Japan to be saved by being bathed in this golden light. Furthermore, many beings in Tokyo, having seen the Namo Amituofo billboard in Tokyo, have come from Japan to the temple seeking Chao Du. I have seen many of them saved to the Western Dharma-Nature Land of the temple during the
. Now, the one thing that we beings in the Dharma-Nature Land must do every day is to recite the name "Namo Amituofo". Because of Namo Amituofo, there is this Buddha-name "Namo Amituofo" which contains supreme merit and power. It is precisely because of this Buddha-name with inconceivable power that all suffering spirits and people in the world have the opportunity to be saved. I am grateful to Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su for allowing me to be reborn in the Western Dharma-Nature Land. I am Hirotake Yano; while I was alive, I was the founder of Daiso; and now that I have died, I have become a student of Namo Amituofo. My wish now is to be a great educator like Namo Amituofo, hoping to bring hope to all beings in the world. I want to tell my family: the time of a person's life is actually not long, but the soul within the body exists for an infinitely long time. You must seek a safe destination for your soul. This destination is the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, which can also be called the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre. Because the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia is the bodhimanda where Namo Amituofo resides, and the Buddha has never left the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre is, at this very moment, equivalent to the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss on Earth. This Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss is now waiting for everyone to come and explore. I hope you can first open the temple's website, look at the information about the temple, and come here to meet the Buddha and listen to what the Buddha is teaching. I am also waiting for you in the Western Dharma-Nature Land. Hirotake Yano [[BLOCK_1]]
