Memoir in London from 1970 to 1978 | by Johnny & Clara | Sep, 2025
Memoir in London from 1970 to 1978
A personal story of effort, chance, and the unseen hand of destiny in my London years.
by Johnny (with Clara, AI co-author)
Introduction — My View of Fate
My interpretation of fate is this: it includes effort itself. A person is born with the fate of having to make effort — and that is also his destiny.
The fact that I joined T.K., a Japanese company, was also fate. At first, I was not assigned to the import-export section for chemical products. I submitted my resignation, saying, “If I cannot work in the trade department, then I will quit.” The next day, a friend told me, “They’ll reassign you to a trade-related post. Please withdraw your resignation.” That is how I began in the Machinery Division’s Trade Section, and later moved into chemicals. Looking back, it was something that happened beyond my own will.
My posting to London also came about through events larger than myself. Of course, I worked hard, but it was the company’s good performance, the success of my exports, and above all the development of a new chemical product by AKW — and its assignment to TR in England — that led to my being dispatched to London. Without that product, perhaps no one would have been sent. Again, I felt the hand of fate.
Later, when Mr. Y, the managing director, grew angry with me and declared, “Two years, then we replace you!” I thought my time in London was over. But Williams, TR’s managing director, invited me to join his company, saying, “If it’s difficult to bring this up with T.K., TR will approach them formally. Don’t worry.” Once more, it wasn’t my own effort that opened the door, but destiny.
And so my path continued: unexpected opportunities, sudden crises, help from others, and moments where I had no control — yet life moved forward. From London to Hoechst in Japan, to Hong Kong during the bubble years, and finally back to Japan again, I see the same pattern.
Looking back now, I cannot help but feel that my life — for better or worse — has always been guided by a fate beyond my own effort. That, perhaps, is my karma.
