was President (from 1954), then International Commissioner, and Chairman of the National Board of the

Boy Scouts of Japan , headquarters = Hongō, Bunkyō, Tokyo , country = Japan , f-date = 1922 , members = 109,528 (2017) , website = http://www.scout.or.jp , affiliation = World Organization of the Scout Movement , pattern_head1 = baseball cap , color_hea ...

, the younger brother of . An engineer, he had a successful career in

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

shipping Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting Commodity, commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it h ...

and chemicals. He was also an accomplished author, published several books on

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

, and short stories in addition to scientific publications related to his work. He was the discoverer of Hakore hot springs.

Background

He became a Scout leader in 1916, and participated in the

2nd World Scout Jamboree The 2nd World Scout Jamboree was held from August 9 to 17, 1924 and was hosted by Denmark at Ermelunden. Prologue Great Britain held an Imperial Jamboree at Wembley, Middlesex at the beginning of August 1924, in connection with the British Empi ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

in 1924. He also participated in the organization of the 5th

Nippon Jamboree The is a Jamboree (Scouting), Scouting Jamboree held by the Scout Association of Japan, and is the largest Scouting event in Japan. "Scout" was added to the name beginning in 2018. Jamborees are held once every four years, and are abbreviated ...

in 1970 in

Asagiri Plateau The is located at the southwest base of Mount Fuji in Fujinomiya, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.The Asagiri Plateau is richly utilized for its pasture land and many dairy farms are situated along it. The elevation of the plateau is generally arou ...

Shizuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,637,998 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the northea ...

. Kurushima related an anecdote about two soldiers during the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

to visiting American Scouts in Japan. After a terrible battle, an American

Marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

was wounded in the jungle. He saw a Japanese soldier approaching with his

bayonet A bayonet (from French ) is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit on the end of the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar firearm, allowing it to be used as a spear-like weapon.Brayley, Martin, ''Bayonets: An Illustr ...

, but he was so weak that he collapsed and lost

consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is sentience and awareness of internal and external existence. However, the lack of definitions has led to millennia of analyses, explanations and debates by philosophers, theologians, linguisticians, and scien ...

, certain to be killed. When he awoke, he was surprised to find his wounds bandaged and a little note written in

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

near him. The marine was rescued and transported to a

field hospital A field hospital is a temporary hospital or mobile medical unit that takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely transported to more permanent facilities. This term was initially used in military medicine (such as the Mobile A ...

, where he showed the paper to the doctor and asked him to translate. The note said that the Japanese soldier had approached the marine to kill him, but when the marine fell he did the Scout salute, and as the Japanese soldier had also been a Scout, they were brother Scouts. The Japanese soldier could not kill the marine, instead he bandaged the marine's wounds, finally wishing him

good luck Luck is the phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of improbable events, especially improbably positive or negative ones. The naturalistic interpretation is that positive and negative events may happen at any time, both due to rand ...

and

goodbye Goodbye, Good bye, or Good-bye is a parting phrase and may refer to: Film * ''Goodbye'' (1918 film), a British drama directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Goodbye'' (1995 film) (''Tot Ziens!''), a Dutch film directed by Heddy Honigmann * ''Goodbye'' ...

.''

Boys' Life ''Scout Life'' (formerly ''Boys' Life'') is the monthly magazine of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Its target readers are boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 18. The magazine‘s headquarters are in Irving, Texas. ''Scout Life'' is pu ...

'' magazine http://boyslife.org/wayback/ In 1967, Kurushima was awarded the 43rd ''

Bronze Wolf The Bronze Wolf Award is bestowed by the World Scout Committee (WSC) to acknowledge "outstanding service by an individual to the World Scout Movement". It is the highest honor that can be given a volunteer Scout leader in the world and it is the ...

'', the only distinction of the

World Organization of the Scout Movement The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM ) is the largest international Scouting organization. WOSM has 173 members. These members are recognized national Scout organizations, which collectively have around 43 million participants. WOS ...

, awarded by the World Scout Committee for exceptional services to world Scouting, at the 21st World Scout Conference. In 1959 he also received the highest distinction of the

Scout Association of Japan The is the major Scouting organization of Japan. Starting with boys only, the organization was known as Boy Scouts of Japan from 1922 to 1971, and as Boy Scouts of Nippon from 1971 to 1995, when it became coeducational in all sections, leading to ...

, the

Golden Pheasant Award The is the highest award for adult leaders in the Scout Association of Japan. It is awarded by the Chief Scout of Japan, awarded for eminent achievement and meritorious service to the Association for a period of at least twenty years. It may be a ...

References

External links

Archive copy
1888 births 1970 deaths Recipients of the Bronze Wolf Award World Scout Committee members Scouting in Japan Chief Scouts {{Japan-bio-stub

Background

References

Further reading

External links