①
Although Yoshio Sanpo was a very efficient worker, the stress from work became too much for him and he often used to be grumpy at home. Due to his own grumpiness, everyone in the family became affected by this pent up stress. An irritated feeling spread throughout the entire Sanpo household, like a vicious cycle.

②
One day, Yoshio happened upon the idea of sanpo-yoshi and was inspired. “May be there is something in this that could help me solve my own problems,” he thought and he became determined to start practicing sanpo-yoshi. He didn’t think he could do it on the same grand scale as the Omi merchants but he knew he could certainly try on a personal level.

③
Yoshio started by greeting his family members. Upon returning home, he greeted his son, Yoshitaro, in a booming voice, “I’m home! How are you?” Although it was clear that his father’s unexpected greeting perplexed Yoshitaro, Yoshio could clearly notice a happy, refreshed feeling within himself.

④
As his stress subsided, Yoshio realized that his family’s overall grumpiness was gradually disappearing. Now they began to share more smiles and happy conversations among themselves. Yoshio continued the practice of greeting his family members and his home is now a very cheerful one. Yoshio and Yoshitaro leave home together for work and school, with Yoshiko Sanpo sending them both off with a smile.

①
Although it had already been over one month since Boy A joined Yoshitaro Sanpo’s class at school, he was still not mixing well with his other classmates, and was always on his own looking lonely. Yoshitaro was concerned about Boy A’s situation, but for the moment felt unable to do anything for his new classmate.

②
One day, his father Yoshio explained the sanpo-yoshi concept to Yoshitaro, who started to wonder what he could do for Boy A to improve the situation. After giving it some thought, Yoshitaro had the idea of spending time with Boy A on his way home. So, after school Yoshitaro called out to Boy A, “Hey, let me walk you home!”

③
Being accosted so unexpectedly, Boy A was a bit slow to open up but as the two boys got to know each other, they realized they had a lot in common and could become good friends. Because Boy A was so good at studies he helped Yoshitaro with the parts of his schoolwork that were difficult.

④
Their friendship carried on for some time and soon there was a noticeable change in their class. As Yoshitaro and Boy A chatted happily together in class, other classmates gradually joined in. The circle of friends began to grow and grow amongst all the members of their class. Now, there is no one who feels alone in the class and everyone is enjoying a healthy and happy school life.

①
A neighborhood garbage collection point is located right in front of Yoshiko Sanpo’s home. Due to improper behavior by other residents using the point and animals that open the bags and scatter garbage all over, a foul odor wafts into Yoshiko’s house. She used to really get annoyed by this. She thought to herself, “Why should I suffer the consequences of their behavior when I always follow the rules myself?”

②
As her patience was wearing thin, she consulted her husband about the problem. Yoshio introduced the idea of sanpo-yoshi to her. She listened to the idea and reflected upon the fact that she was only thinking about herself in this situation. That’s when she got the idea to start cleaning up the garbage collection point everyday, so that everybody in the community could use it effectively and hygienically.

③
Maintaining the collection point was more difficult than she planned. However, her neighbors gradually understood her approach and the number of people who wanted to help began to increase. The garbage collection point that she once hated because it was so dirty was now carefully kept clean. And what’s more, the site has since become a meeting place, where women from the neighborhood gather to share information on many topics and help each other solve problems!