Stop Relying on Your Salary: Asset Building Strategies from a Shogun’s Grand Chamberlain
Subtitle: Reclaim your life from endless troubleshooting by hacking the system with automation and timeless meritocracy.
🌟A behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the modern-day *Kibyoshi* series!
1. An Encounter with Rikugien, a Vast Scenic Beauty Sleeping in the Heart of the City
Stepping out of Komagome Station on the Namboku Subway Line and walking west along Hongo Dori, your eyes are suddenly drawn to an historic wooden nameplate and sign reading "Special Place of Scenic Beauty, Rikugien." Just a few minutes' walk from the subway exit, a deeply verdant space that feels like another world unfolds before you. Upon paying the general adult admission fee of 300 yen and passing through the imposing reddish-brown brick main gate, the hustle and bustle of the outside world completely vanishes as if it were a lie.
Chita, a chubby adult salaryman, steps onto the lush green paths of the garden with his sophisticated partner and former university classmate, the snow leopard Rachel, hoping to temporarily forget the stress of his daily corporate grind and the sterile notification sounds of business chats.
"Wow, I'm amazed such a magnificent daimyo garden suddenly appears just a short walk from Komagome Station. It's so quiet, you wouldn't believe we're in the middle of the city!"
As Chita lets out a voice of admiration, Rachel looks out at the surrounding trees with her cool eyes and calmly replies.
"This isn't just a pretty park, Chita. It's a place packed with intense ambition and a sense of beauty, as if the 'philosophy of life' of the person who built it has perfectly taken shape here."
At the starting point just inside, there is a Japanese umbrella rental service that foreign tourists gaze at with curiosity, creating a perfect fusion of traditional scenery and modern tourism infrastructure. Walking further into the park reveals the Daisensui, a massive pond boasting an overwhelming expanse of approximately 87,800 square meters—equivalent to about 17 Tokyo Domes. It features a strolling garden structure that circles the pond, and its sheer scale gives Chita the illusion of standing on the vast fairway of a golf course. "It makes you feel like hitting a difficult approach shot over the water. I almost want to ask a caddy, 'How many yards left?'" he mutters, struck by the high-level harmony of natural dynamism and artificial beauty. Stone bridges modeled after Togetsukyo and elevated teahouses are arranged throughout, ensuring the richly varied landscape never bores its visitors.
2. Who was Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu? The Truth About the Meritocracy That Climbed Through Medieval Society
The man who created this overwhelming garden spanning 17 Tokyo Domes was none other than Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu, famously known as the grand chamberlain to Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, the fifth shogun of the Edo shogunate.
Born in 1658 as the eldest son of a samurai of the Tatebayashi domain in Kozuke Province, Yoshiyasu was an illegitimate child, meaning he certainly did not start from a privileged environment. However, when he served Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, then the lord of the Tatebayashi domain, as a page, he won Tsunayoshi's absolute trust through his extraordinary practical abilities and loyalty. When Tsunayoshi assumed the position of shogun, Yoshiyasu was also promoted to a shogunate vassal; after serving as an inner chamberlain, he was appointed grand chamberlain in 1688 and elevated to a daimyo with a stipend of 12,000 koku. From there, he continued his meteoric rise to the ranks of senior councilor and great councilor, ultimately reaching the extraordinary position of lord of the Kofu domain with 150,000 koku—an unprecedented status in the strictly stratified society of the time.
In a medieval and early modern feudal society where "pedigree" and "bloodline" held absolute value even more so than today, Yoshiyasu achieved exceptional promotion relying entirely on his "merit" and the trust of his lord. On the political stage, he led the civilian government of the Genroku era, and he left behind a top-tier legacy as a man of culture, deepening his knowledge of advanced scholarship and waka poetry by inviting the greatest contemporary scholars and poets, such as Ogyu Sorai and Kitamura Kigin, to his mansion. As the lord of the Kofu domain, he is also said to have paid close attention to the lives of his people and governed with benevolence.
Yet, despite leaving behind such remarkable achievements, in later creative works like storytelling and television dramas—such as the "Mito Komon" series—Yoshiyasu has inevitably been stereotyped as a villain: "a bad guy who throws his weight around as the shogun's lackey despite lacking a proper pedigree" or a "mastermind of power." Yoshiyasu, who distinguished himself through sheer ability from humble beginnings, became ingrained in households across Japan merely as a foil to the popular vice-shogun, Mito Mitsukuni.
🎬 Go Deeper: Enjoy the four-panel manga with Rachel & Chita
3. The Loneliness of the Capable, and the Ironclad Rules of Capitalism Learned from the Structure of History
People who climb up from outside the entrenched system of pedigree using nothing but individual wisdom and overwhelming ability are likely destined, in any era and any society, to attract the jealousy and unfounded hostility of the existing privileged class and the masses. The structure of malice directed at Yoshiyasu is the very structural ordeal faced by anyone who shatters the walls of vested interests through merit.
However, those who create "assets" combining aesthetics and practical utility with their own hands—without being misled by the tides of history or the evaluations of others—provide us living in the modern world with powerful inspiration that transcends hundreds of years.
The special scenic beauty known as Rikugien is not merely a relic of the past, but the ultimate product achieved by a person who stuck to his own doctrine without relying on power or the gaze of others.
The essence is exactly the same in the worlds of investment and business. A way of life that involves constantly worrying about your superiors' moods within an organization and clinging to the seat you've been given might look safe at first glance. However, in a modern era where the speed of change is accelerating, continuing to rely on the drug known as a salary inside the cage of a corporate zoo is nothing more than handing over the initiative of your own life to someone else. A true wealth builder does not depend on existing systems, but rather builds mechanisms with their own hands that bring cash flow into their own pockets.
4. Pulled Back from Illusion to Reality, and Relentless Forward Progress
Captivated by the garden's profound history and the life story of an historical figure who adhered to meritocracy, Chita begins to speak passionately, thoroughly inspired.
"I see! Even without a good pedigree, Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu built this massive asset of a garden using his own merit and wisdom, which makes him truly amazing! I'm going to stop relying on my company's name and seize control of my life with my own two feet...!"
Just as Chita firmly makes this fiery resolve, the smartphone in his pocket suddenly starts ringing loudly. The chat notifications from his company are lined up with an enormous number of emergency revision requests from clients that must be processed today.
"Whoa, an urgent troubleshooting order just flew in from a client! If I do everything over by hand, my free time tonight is going to be completely blown away...!"
Instantly dragged back into the hell of real-world labor and holding his head in despair, Chita is met with cold, piercing words from his partner Rachel, who elegantly tilts her tumbler.
"If you have time to be impressed, why don't you run a Python automation script and clean up that annoying trouble right now? There is no such thing as free labor in life; miracles only happen to those who move their own hands to hack the system. Come on, Keep Going."
▪Disclaimer
The information provided on this blog is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute professional financial or investment advice. We do not provide third-party asset management or individual management services. Please make investment decisions at your own risk.
© 2026 Julius.inc / Kibyoshi Project. All Rights Reserved.
"This character and setting are the intellectual property of Julius Inc., based on its own doctrine."
■Author Profile
About the Author Kenji Kamioka
AFP (Certified by the Japan Association for Financial Planners), Licensed Real Estate Transaction Specialist
President and CEO of Julius Co., Ltd.An investor and media owner with over 10 years of business management experience in Asian countries: Thailand, and Vietnam. While actively managing real estate and financial assets through his own company, he promotes a lifestyle that leverages the structure of capitalism. He has authored numerous books.
Please click here for a list of my publications 👉Amazon.com: KENJI KAMIOKA: books, biography, latest update
▶ [Click here for author profile details.]
▶ [See the list of works here]
