(7)  During his first visit to Japan in 2016, Mujica was invited to speak to students at a university.  “I want young people to remember that the most important thing in life is not success but to keep going.  When you fall down, get up again.  If you are defeated, have the courage to start again from scratch.  Losing a job is not the end of the world.  If you end up in prison, you can get out.  As long as you are breathing, you can continue living.”  Mujica knows this because he has experienced it firsthand.  He was born into a poor family and was later imprisoned for 12 years for his involvement in political activities.  After his release from prison, he became a member of Congress.  Being elected president, he continued living a simple life while taking strong measures to combat poverty.

(8)  Mujica believes that the most important things on earth are “love” and “helping each other,” and he urges young people to do this: “Make friends.  Have a family.  Families are not only people who are related by blood, but include people who share the same way of thinking.  Don’t walk the path of life alone.”

(9)  Surprisingly, his relationship with Japan began in his childhood.  Many hardworking people of Japanese descent lived in his neighborhood and taught him how to grow flowers.  “Japan has an ancient history and culture, yet, since the Meiji Era, Japan has undergone rapid development.” he said.  “I think that Japanese people 150 years ago and I share similar opinions, but I’m afraid Japanese people of today do not.  They have forgotten the treasures of the past.  I doubt they are truly happy.”  How would you respond to Mujica’s message?

(1)  Assistance dogs, police dogs, and pet dogs—dogs are good companions to humans in many aspects of our lives.  This companionship began tens of thousands of years ago.  According to genetic research, dogs’ ancestors were wolves.  Some wolves realized that if they followed human hunters around, humans killed prey and they could get the leftovers.  Hunters also realized that they could tame and train the wolves to help them hunt.  These wolves gradually became “dogs.”

(2)  It is generally believed that as wolves became dogs, their bodies and natures changed.  They no longer had to hunt because they were being fed by humans, so their mouths became more rounded.  They also developed traits that helped them bond with humans, such as obedience, and fur color and ear shapes that are more appealing to humans.  The shape of their intestines also changed to help them digest human food more efficiently.  The wolf’s howl, which was used to communicate with other wolves, also evolved and became the dog’s bark, which is used to communicate with humans.

(3)  But how does a ferocious wolf transform into an obedient dog?  To shed some light on the mystery, Russian professor Dmitri Belyayev began re-creating the evolutionary process of how dogs were born.  He selected wild foxes, which are from the same canine family as wolves and exhibit a cautious and unfriendly attitude toward humans, as wolves do.  Beginning in 1958, his research group bred these foxes for 60 years, selecting foxes that seemed comparatively more obedient in each of the dozens of generations.  During this experiment, dramatic changes were observed in these foxes, not only in their behavior but also in their physical appearances.

(4)  In the initial stages of the experiment, no significant changes were observed in the foxes.  However, with the 6th generation came the appearance of an “elite fox,” or in other words, an obedient fox that behaved more affectionately and exhibited behaviors such as tail wagging, whining, and licking people like a pet dog.  Furthermore, when a 15th generation “elite fox” was living with humans, researchers observed signs of a deep bonding and affection between a human and the fox.  One day, much like a guard dog, the fox barked at a security guard that it thought was an intruder and stopped barking on command, suggesting that the fox had developed the loyalty of a dog.

(5)  The behavioral changes were also accompanied by physical changes.  As the experiment progressed, the domesticated foxes looked more and more like dogs.  For one thing, there was an odd change to the color of their bodies.  Some foxes had light brown speckles, while others were black with white patches of varying sizes.  Other striking changes also occurred to these foxes, too.  They grew droopy ears and curly tails.  They also had shorter bones in their legs and tails.  Their snouts were shorter, and their skulls wider.  In other words, their skeletal structure became more like that of a dog.