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Retirement approaches, and the words of Sawada Kenji – Julie – come to mind.
“Am I a rock singer? A ballad singer? An actor? Variety? They all mean different things. But to me, I am just Julie.”
Evaluation is for others. Julie tells us that it is pointless to insist that “the real me is different.” He is a true pro.

In recent years, evaluation has also become integral to academia.
But, whenever I see people complain, “If people were more positive, I would progress further,” I can’t help wondering what Julie would think.
“Would he tell the fans to ‘Praise me more’?” I wonder.

In the Showa era of professional wrestling, Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba scouted for smaller wrestlers to meet in the ring. They claimed it was “To make me look bigger.” This is one approach, certainly. But it is a different matter when you force your approach on others.

Indeed, somebody once said to me, “Were it not for Professors Ōtsuka Eiji and Isomae, younger scholars would be able to flourish more easily.”
I was honored to be mentioned alongside Professor Ōtsuka.
Evaluation should be determined by the recipient; not adjusted by the evaluator.
A failure to appreciate this fact risks turning academia into a put-up job worse than any wrestling bout. It’s a little scary.

So, now that I approach retirement, the question that matters most is how I evaluate my life as a scholar. All good things come to an end. It is finally time to bid farewell.