It is just past noon. The kerosene gauge on my heater has turned red without me noticing, but for today, I think I\u2019ll stay right here, basking in this warmth just a little while longer. Outside the window, the damp snow of Sapporo is falling softly and silently, piling up on the ground. Amidst this profound silence, I sat alone, re-watching Episode 9 of Space Battleship Yamato<\/em>.<\/p>\n For 32 years, working out of an old house in Hokkaido, I stood guard over the operations of an auto-gas fueling station. I repaired equipment with freezing hands and spent my days working while covered in oil and grease. To a man like me, this anime is not merely a product of pure fantasy. Just before reaching retirement age, I stepped away from the field to care for a family member. Now, armed with a tool I barely understand (AI) I find myself writing this blog with fingers that are still unaccustomed to the task. My current doubts and stubborn pride seem to mirror those of the engineers I see on the screen.<\/p>\n To young viewers accustomed to the sleek aesthetics of modern animation, the artwork might perhaps appear dated. Yet, this episode is packed with the “truths of the workplace,” insights that remain as vivid today as they were fifty years ago. To my ears, which have spent 32 years facing down steel in the harsh northern fields, the “sounds of repair” played out in an anime from 50 years ago still resonate with a burning intensity today.<\/p>\n In reviewing Space Battleship Yamato<\/em> Episode 9, I would describe it as a deeply humanistic ode, one that celebrates the preciousness of “workplace intuition” (a quality we ought to re-examine in our current era of digital efficiency) and poignantly depicts the pathos of men buffeted by the turbulent currents of organizational life. This narrative is presented through the unique lens of an engineer who has spent 32 years steadfastly holding the line on the front lines of the workplace.<\/p>\n Lessons from Chief Engineer Sanada’s insights: understanding the true essence of “workplace intuition,” a sense that transcends mere data and metrics,and how to grasp the nature of physical phenomena.<\/p>\n The creative team’s sheer tenacity, manifested in the sound design of the 1974 Yamato<\/em> series, which achieved an artistic depth that digital technology alone cannot replicate.<\/p>\n A deeper understanding of the pathos of a man navigating the corporate world, revealed by drawing parallels between the enemy commander, Shulz, and the “modern-day workplace manager.”<\/p>\n Consider the scene where Chief Engineer Sanada is drinking tomato juice. Upon seeing the ice cubes clink and swirl within his glass, he conceives the idea for the “Asteroid Ring” (an asteroid-based defensive shield). As a web writer, I\u2019ve recently been learning about concepts like SEO and “abstraction” in information processing. Yet, what Sanada demonstrates here is the absolute pinnacle of that very concept.<\/p>\n What he observes is not a set of digitized data points. It is the “physical phenomenon” itself, unfolding right before his eyes.<\/p>\n During my own active career, there were countless times when I resolved a pump malfunction, the cause of which remained a mystery despite hours of poring over blueprints, simply by relying on the subtle “feel” of a vibration or the specific “pitch” of a metal-on-metal grinding sound. It is an experience I\u2019ve encountered, almost to the point of exasperation, time and again since entering the industry in 1992.<\/p>\n Merely stuffing one’s head with knowledge is a fundamentally different thing from truly grasping the underlying truth. That brief moment of silence from Sanada is the authentic reality of a seasoned engineer: the instant they fully comprehend a structure and discover its solution. Hearing the sound of that ice clinking brings back memories of the distinct scent of the old factories from that era, and the sensation of cold steel beneath my touch on a winter morning; it stirs a bittersweet ache deep within my chest.<\/p>\n When comparing the narrative style of this original series with that of its remake, Yamato 2199<\/em>, the evolution of the times becomes strikingly apparent. 2199<\/em> is undeniably precise and visually stunning. However, the 1974 original seems to possess something like a “gritty, visceral resonance of the soul” (for lack of a better term) that I simply cannot shake.<\/p>\n This is particularly true regarding its use of “sound.” The piercing, ear-splitting screech of the Reflector Satellite Cannon. In stark contrast, the deep, rumbling roar (like the very Earth shaking) as the Asteroid Ring deploys.<\/p>\n \u25a0 The Sharpness of Light (Beams): Overwhelming Technological Prowess<\/p>\n \u25a0 The Weight of Rock (Mass): Defense Through Gritty, Tangible Substance<\/p>\n Through sound alone, the creators hammer this structural inversion, the act of “absorbing energy with mass,” directly into the audience’s minds. This represents a style of direction born of the creators’ sheer obsession, a level of intensity rarely achieved in today’s streamlined, digitally-driven production environments.<\/p>\n Allow me to take a moment here to speak about Shulz, a general in the enemy Gamilas forces.<\/p>\n In my youth, I viewed him as nothing more than a stock villain destined to lose. But now that I have passed the age of sixty, I see him as something else entirely: a field manager caught in the crossfire between an unreasonable upper management and the reality on the ground.<\/p>\n Chain of Command = Coercive demands from Dessler (Head Office) = Unreasonable demands from management that ignore the reality of the field<\/p>\n Resources = Defending a remote outpost (Pluto Base) = Budget cuts and personnel shortages<\/p>\n His End = A suicidal charge made solely to save face = Being saddled with the blame for restructuring or demotion<\/p>\n “Before us, there are no warriors!”<\/p>\n Such was his final cry. That was by no means a proud declaration of victory. Rather, I believe it was the final scream of a man who, had he not desperately convinced himself otherwise, would have been utterly crushed by the colossal structure of the organization he served.<\/p>\n Having spent 32 years defending the front lines at the very bottom rung of an organization, I understand. There are moments – for the sake of the company, for the sake of one’s family – when one must stifle one’s own convictions and simply say, “Yes.” In the figure of Shulz, we see the very embodiment of the “sorrow” that salarymen of my generation have carried on their shoulders.<\/p>\n Space Battleship Yamato<\/em> continues its boundless voyage, a journey spanning 296,000 light-years, in its quest to save the Earth. One of the greatest hurdles faced during the early stages of this journey was the battle fought at the fringes of the solar system, near Pluto. Despite successfully destroying the terrifying Gamilas forward base and its Reflection Satellite Cannon through sheer, indomitable spirit, the cost of victory was steep. Yamato<\/em> was left battered and heavily damaged, her hull riddled with wounds.<\/p>\n 1. The Sorrow of Those Denied a Return<\/span><\/p>\n Gamilas Commanders Shulz and Gantz, having been driven out of the Pluto base, find themselves haunted by the shadow of the ruthless Supreme Leader Dessler looming behind them. To these men, who had suffered a crushing defeat, Dessler issues a chilling command:<\/p>\n “Fight \u2014 and die.”<\/p>\n It is, in effect, a death sentence. With their return route to Planet Gamilas severed, the Shulz Fleet find that destroying Yamato<\/em>, right there before their eyes, has become their only remaining path; the sole way to survive and uphold their honor as soldiers.<\/p>\n 2. Shiro Sanada\u2019s “Ace Up His Sleeve”<\/span><\/p>\n Meanwhile, a grave situation is unfolding aboard Yamato<\/em>. The damage reported to Captain Okita is far more extensive than anticipated; as things stand, they can neither shake off the Gamilas pursuit nor effectively return fire. It is at this critical juncture that Chief Engineer Shiro Sanada steps forward. Taking a brief respite with a glass of fresh tomato juice, brought to him by Analyzer from the ship\u2019s “farm,” he begins formulating a truly earth-shattering plan: the “Asteroid Ship Project.”<\/p>\n 3. Dessler\u2019s Mockery and Shulz\u2019s Desperate Charge<\/span><\/p>\n Shulz, driven by sheer tenacity, manages to ferret out Yamato<\/em> from where it is concealed within the asteroid belt. Upon seeing Yamato<\/em> continuing its repairs while shrouded in a mantle of rock, Shulz misreads the situation; he assumes the ship is cornered and merely exposing its own pathetic vulnerability. However, this is precisely where Sanada\u2019s calculations truly come into their own. Activated by Susumu Kodai via the anti-gravity induction system, the rocky debris surrounding Yamato<\/em> begins to spin at blinding speeds. This is the “Asteroid Ring,” an invincible, rotating defensive barrier capable of deflecting enemy laser fire and shattering even solid ballistic rounds.<\/p>\n 4. A Warrior\u2019s End: “No Warrior Stands Before Us”<\/span><\/p>\n Growing desperate as the tide of battle refuses to turn in his favor, Shulz makes his final choice: a “ramming attack,” a desperate maneuver staking the very pride of a Gamilas soldier. It is a suicidal charge involving his entire fleet. Yet, in an instant, Yamato<\/em> deactivates its Asteroid Ring and executes an evasive maneuver. It slams a rocket anchor into the onrushing enemy vessel, using it as a pivot to slingshot itself out of the deadly trap. Behind them, the Gamilas fleet erupts in a fiery cataclysm. To the very end, Shulz and his men cry out, “Long live Leader Dessler!” before vanishing into the dust of the cosmos.<\/p>\n There is a scene where the crew members are engaged in gritty, manual welding work out in the vacuum of space.<\/p>\n In modern sci-fi, it would be far more elegant to simply have the ship undergo automatic repairs via nanomachines. Yet, that sheer inconvenience, that palpable peril, of repairing a massive vessel while tethered by nothing but a single lifeline… that is precisely what transforms Yamato<\/em> from a mere weapon into a “colossal industrial plant” sustained by human hands.<\/p>\n Even the fact that Dr. Sado is constantly drinking sake would likely be deemed “inappropriate” by today’s standards. But in an extreme environment where death could strike at any moment, a place where no one knows if they will live to see the next day, if there isn’t someone there to laugh and embody the spirit of “It\u2019s going to be okay,” the human heart simply cannot endure. Thirty years ago, on a freezing night at a gas station, numb with cold yet laughing as we traded silly jokes with our coworkers, it wasn’t a manual that protected our spirits; it was that very “laughter.”<\/p>\n The heater clicks off with a sharp snap.<\/p>\n The next time you watch Yamato<\/em>, try listening closely; not just to the flashy battle sequences, but to the sounds of repairs echoing through the ship’s corridors, or to those few seconds of profound silence as the ice crystals swirl in the void.<\/p>\n In a world that constantly clamors for efficiency, for “correct answers,” and for maximum “time-performance,” this 50-year-old anime quietly continues to pose a question regarding the enduring weight of “Accomplishing something with one’s own hands,” even if it is done clumsily.<\/p>\n And so, as I tap away at this unfamiliar keyboard, I resolve to keep living my own life in that same gritty, hands-on spirit. Today, and every day.<\/p>\n After reading this article, what kind of “sounds from the field” resonated within your own heart?<\/p>\n In the Sapporo winter, iron exposed to the sub-zero winds lets out a screeching groan, a sound like a scream. Having spent 32 years in the field, attuning my ears to the subtle nuances of sound, I cannot view the resolve of Shulz – the enemy commander who met his end on Pluto – as merely the defeat of a stock villain.<\/p>\n Caught in a desperate bind between the ruthless orders of headquarters and a field operation worn to the bone, he chose not to flee. Instead, he burned his very life force to its last ember, shouldering the full weight of his responsibility. For our generation, those of us who ceaselessly mended the fraying seams of our equipment with freezing fingers, that clumsy yet utterly unblemished decision strikes me as the very epitome of how a true man makes his exit.<\/p>\n To fulfill one\u2019s duty not out of efficiency or calculation, but with a naked, unvarnished soul…has the modern world perhaps forgotten the true weight of such an act? When was the last time you took the time to carefully mend your own “fraying seams,” whether through the help of another, or with your own two hands?<\/p>\n Gazing out the window, I see no sign that the snow intends to stop anytime soon. The kerosene in my heater is finally running low, but this burning afterglow left in the wake of finishing Yamato<\/em> is something I wish to keep from cooling down, just a little while longer.<\/p>\n For me, a man who has spent 32 years tightening bolts with freezing fingertips and listening to the screaming cries of rusted pipes, the repair scenes in Yamato<\/em> are not merely animated sequences. They represent the very essence of “living.” Shulz\u2019s anguished cry, Engineer-in-Chief Sanada\u2019s quiet silence…all of it speaks to the pride of men who, in their own clumsy ways, strive to defend their assigned posts to the very end.<\/p>\n The modern world has become far too polished, far too fast. In the shadow of buzzwords like “efficiency” and “time-performance,” have we perhaps forgotten that precious, tangible sensation of “touching and mending with one\u2019s own hands”? Rather than entrusting the fraying seams of our own hearts to others, shouldn’t we instead mend them ourselves, stitch by stitch, even if the result is a bit rough around the edges? To me now, having passed the age of sixty, spending time in such a way feels like the ultimate luxury, and the most truly human thing one can do.<\/p>\n Perhaps this blog, too, serves as a form of “repair” for me. With fingers still unaccustomed to the task, I tap away at the keyboard, confronting memories of the past. I would be truly happy if the sound of those keystrokes could light a small beacon of hope in the heart of someone out there, someone who is fighting a similar battle of their own.<\/p>\n Well then, I suppose it\u2019s time to finally heave myself up and go refill the kerosene heater. Here\u2019s to another day of grinding it out, staying true to myself, come what may.<\/p>\n Shiro Sanada<\/span><\/p>\n Yamato<\/em>\u2019s Chief Engineer and Executive Officer. A master at discerning the fundamental truths of any situation.<\/p>\n Juzo Okita<\/span><\/p>\n The ship\u2019s first Captain. A “father figure” who commands the absolute trust and respect of his entire crew.<\/p>\n Susumu Kodai<\/span><\/p>\n Chief of the Combat Division. A hot-blooded youth who matures into a true warrior.<\/p>\n Shulz<\/span><\/p>\n Commander of the Pluto Base. A tragic general who, despite being caught between conflicting demands, remained steadfast in his pride.<\/p>\n Leader Dessler<\/span><\/p>\n The absolute ruler of the Gamilas Empire. A charismatic figure who is both ruthless and elegant.<\/p>\n Dr. Sakezo Sado<\/span><\/p>\n The ship\u2019s Doctor. A boisterous, hard-drinking character who serves as the Yamato<\/em>\u2019s spiritual pillar.<\/p>\n Asteroid Ship Project<\/span><\/p>\n An ingenious stratagem involving encasing the ship in rock to achieve both camouflage and simultaneous repairs.<\/p>\n Asteroid Ring<\/span><\/p>\n A defensive system that spins a ring of asteroids at high velocity to deflect incoming enemy attacks.<\/p>\n Reflector Satellite Cannon<\/span><\/p>\n A powerful weapon system that uses satellites to refract a beam, allowing it to strike and corner enemies from their blind spots.<\/p>\n An illustrated analysis of Episode 9. We dissect the concept of “workplace intuition” as exemplified by Chief Engineer Sanada, alongside the gritty, craftsman-like spirit required to maintain a massive industrial plant while literally hanging by a single lifeline. <\/p>\n On the other hand, this infographic presents a unique analysis, rooted in 32 years of hands-on experience, that draws a parallel between the plight of the enemy commander Shulz (crushed by his own organization while stationed at a remote outpost with insufficient resources) and the modern workplace issues of understaffing and involuntary turnover.<\/p>\n Thank you for reading to the end.<\/p>\n <\/br><\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/may26\/132b01.JPG\")
<\/p>\nWhat you will learn from this article:<\/h3>\n
![](\"http:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/may26\/132b02.JPG\")
<\/p>\nChief Engineer Sanada: The “Eye for Essentials” and Field Intuition<\/h3>\n
![](\"http:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/may26\/132b03.JPG\")
<\/p>\nThe Use of “Sound” to Depict Energy Overpowering Mass<\/h3>\n
![](\"http:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/may26\/132b04.JPG\")
<\/p>\nThe Tragedy of Shulz, Viewed Through the Eyes of a Man in His Sixties<\/h3>\n
![](\"http:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/may26\/132b05.JPG\")
<\/p>\nDesperate Repairs and the “Star Shield,” The Full Scope of the Asteroid Ship Project<\/h3>\n
![](\"http:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/may26\/132b06.JPG\")
<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/may26\/132b07.JPG\")
<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/may26\/132b08.JPG\")
<\/p>\nRemembering the Weight of “Accomplishing Something with One’s Own Hands”<\/h3>\n
![](\"http:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/may26\/132b09.JPG\")
<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/mar26\/Kendad.JPG\")
<\/p>\nIn Conclusion: An Old Man\u2019s Musings<\/span><\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/aug10\/47401.JPG\")
<\/p>\nKey Characters<\/h3>\n
![](\"http:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/may26\/132b10.JPG\")
<\/p>\nTerminology & Mechanics<\/h3>\n
![](\"http:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/may26\/132b00.JPG\")
<\/p>\n