Cafe latte and sofa. Those are the two things I want when I go to a cafe. On December 19th, 2023, I found a perfect cafe in Krakow. It had a large armchair, an espresso machine, and a variety of sweets and sandwiches. I ordered a cheesecake and a cafe latte. I sat down in …
"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 …
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 …
Finding another lift was tough. I talked to 15 people or more, but all of them refused to give me a ride. Most of them showed compassion on me excusing they are heading to other places, but some of them looked at me as if I were a beggar. (Technically, I was a beggar asking …
As we arrived at Numazu Interchange, he got off the car and told me to remain in the car. I started to regret what I have initiated. Now it seemed not at all a good idea for a woman to hitch. I thought I knew the risks of hitchhiking, but being picked up by a …
On a summer night in 2004, I was standing on the roadside in Tokyo to hitch. In hindsight, I think I was too naïve to believe a woman in her early 20s can hitch to travel more than 500 kilometres (300 miles). But back then I really wanted to try something out of ordinary, to …
My essay received a prize at the 10th Osaka Advertising Essay Award. Below is an English translation of the original Japanese text. ------ This must be the most miserable face in New York City. I sighed as I looked at my reflection in the subway window. My skin was dry, my eyes got dark circles …
A Thousand Years 