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Takahito

Ok, this encounter takes a bit of explaining. I saw him briefly over a week ago. He was busking in downtown Toronto and I was hurrying to class. It was such an unusual sight tha I asked him if I could grab a photo and he gave the ok. It was a somewhat cluttered photo and I wanted to do better but he was in the midst of performing and I was running late for class. I also suspected this young man might have an interesting story to tell and I hoped to catch him on my way home to explain my project and find out more about him. It was not to be. He was gone when my class finished. Meanwhile, I googled his website and discovered that my intuition about an interesting story was correct. His background was beyond amazing. I was even more motivated to meet him again and get a better photo along with a chance to speak with him. The next couple of times I looked for him downtown he wasn’t there. Today, on my third attempt to complete the encounter, there he was. Meet Takahito from Japan – also known as Duckman.

 

What I had learned from Takahto’s website that impressed me so much was his triumph over adversity and his positive spirit which I felt was a message that belonged in the Human Family project for its power to inspire. His story involves growing up in a single parent family with a mentally ill mother. He lost his two siblings at an early age and the unexpected loss of his onlyh friend. He suffered both emotional and physical abuse from mother and was removed from the home to live in an institution. He discovered the power of a smile to make others happy and adopted a false smile because it brought positive responses from others, something which in turn brought him pleasure. You can read Takahito’s version of this story on his website at www.tk-entertainer.com if you scroll to the bottom of the page. I was left with two feelings after finding out about Takahito. First, I was shocked that anyone would grow up in such disadvantaged circumstances. Second, I was filled with admiration that he found his own way to overcome such extreme adversity and not only survive, but thrive – through entertaining and bringing pleasure to others.

 

Today was my lucky day because when I exited the subway station downtown, I could hear the sound of Takahito’s plastic drumset. I had my camera ready and caught him between acts. I greeted him by name, reminded him that we had semi-met a week ago, and that after reading his website I was greatly impressed by his story and by his personal strength and positive energy. He shook my hand with his yellow-gloved duck hand and said “Thank you for reading it.” I quickly explained my Human Family project and said I had not had time to tell him about it last week, but would he participate? He said he would be glad to. I managed a couple of different poses, chosen by Takahito, and asked him where he got the strength to overcome his difficult childhood. He said “Making other people happy made me happy.” I asked what message or piece of advice he would like to share and he said “Have a bigger cup.” When I asked what he meant he said “It’s hard for me to explain.” I was concerned that our conversation was distracting him from performing for the lunch-hour crowd which is probably when he makes the most income. I did learn that he is in Canada on a 6 month visa so perhaps I will meet this remarkable young man again. I think we all have much to learn from his inspiring story. We exchanged contact information and he was delighted when I made my contribution to his fund and thanked me warmly.

 

This is my 549th submission to The Human Family Group on Flickr.

 

You can view more street portraits and stories by visiting The Human Family.

 

Follow-up:

Takahito was kind enough to write me an email explaining the meaning of his message “Get a bigger cup. It was so nice that I quote it in full.

"'Get a bigger cup'

I think everyone has a cup in their hearts. that can hold stress or sadness.

When I was a kid, the cup was really small. I cried a lot. I was stressed a lot.

then When I got over my past, I've got the biggest cup.

 

when the cup is full which means that you cannot do anything properly.

All I'm trying to do is absorbing the spilling water from people's cups^^

 

because my cup is the biggest. And if you can see the way of thinking that you have a cup, It would help people to be optimistic like me."

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Uploaded on October 30, 2017
Taken on October 26, 2017