Tōryūmon

A Koi that swims up stream long enough becomes a dragon.

This is the core sentiment from an old Japanese legend. Tōryūmon tells the story of a school of golden carp that battled against the powerful currents of the Yellow River. While many were swept back, one persevered long enough to clear the Dragon Gate waterfall. As a reward for it's struggle, the gods transformed it into a mighty dragon.

Originating from China, the story has embedded itself into Japanese culture as an allegory for perseverance. And may have played a roll in influencing the mindset of some great Japanese people.

Piston Rings

In late 1937, Soichiro Honda founded the company Tokai Seiki Heavy Industry with the goal of manufacturing piston rings for commercial giants like Toyota. Out of the first batch of 50 rings he produced, only 3 passed inspection.

It was an early lesson in dealing with failure as a diagnostic tool. All but 3 had failed, but for mr Honda, this wasn't a signal to quit, just simply that he needed to learn more. Passion would lead him nowhere if he lacked the technical competence.

Mr. Honda returned to education as a part-time auditor at Hamamatsu Technical High School to study metallurgy. He attended for about two years before learning what he needed. He did not bother to graduate.

Waterfall

I've persevered as an "indie" developer in this industry for over 10 years at this point and while I'm yet to leap dragons gate, I continue to press on. Regardless of whether Honcho will be my "leaping the waterfall" moment, I wanted to leave a little memento in the game I've spent so long creating.

You'll be able to visit the waterfall once I've finished preparing the new mountainous region. More on this at a later date.

Once you do get this update, and if you drive past this, remember the story of the Koi, Mr Honda, and even your humble author. Then, keep on truckin'.

Greg