"What is your name?" I had difficulty answering that question for a long time. My parents divorced when I was 12 years old. Back in 1994, divorce in Japan was not so common among middle-class families. In my class, I was the only child from divorced parents. In any case, my parents’ separation was not …
I wake up, pour hot water into a cup, open a window in my apartment and meditate. It has been a challenging 25 months. It's hard to keep my emotions in check. When a storm hits a mountain, the exposed, vulnerable trees fall first. Being on my own makes me vulnerable, just like one of …
There was nothing but snow and sunlight… and dogs. On New Year’s Day of 2022, I was standing in the middle of the snowfield in Kamikawa, Hokkaido. I looked around and breathed. I exhaled really deep - so that everything could evaporate. 2021 has been a tough year for me. I contracted covid, broke up …
177 cm. This is my height. In my native country Japan, where women's average height is 157cm(*1), it is considered very tall. Women who are the same height as me or higher make up only 0.03% of my age group (*2). That is roughly one in every 3,300 adult females. I hated being so tall …
In this blog, I usually write about positive memories I don't want to forget. But only this time, I'm going to write about memories I'd rather forget. I don't want to remember them. I wish I could wipe them off from my brain, erase them from my history, and continue to live on as if …
I met him when visiting Darwin. He was short and thin. He had curly hair and tanned skin. He had beautiful eyes and spoke in a tender voice. We both loved theatre. So we hit it off pretty quickly. I was invited to dinner at his place. He was an amazing chef. He loved gardening …
In my country, Japan, Christmas would look very different from Western countries. While for families, Christmas has become a season to buy children presents. For young people, Christmas is considered a dating occasion. Couples go out for a romantic dinner, exchange expensive gifts and (if the gift and the dinner work their magic) they end …
My mom became a single parent when I was 12 and my sister was 7. I have no idea how she managed to raise the two of us by herself. In the mid-1990s, divorce was not so common in Japan compared to the United States or some European countries (Single-parented households comprised less than 4% …
How many Christmas evenings do I remember? When I was a kid, I loved Christmas parties. My grandpa, who was a very outgoing entrepreneur, would take whole family to this large holiday gatherings of Rotary Club in Osaka every year. We all dressed up and enjoyed special dinner followed by magic shows, stand-up comedy performances …
My advice to the people.... have a dog, at least once in your life. Because they teach us some of the most important things in life: unconditional love, simple happiness and commitment. “Happiness is a warm puppy”, Charles M. Schulz said. I absolutely agree. To me, dogs and happiness are totally synonymous. The sky is …
A Thousand Years 