During my second year in high school, I used to take an evening math class at a local cram school once a week. Every Tuesday, after school, I would hop onto a bus to the railway station. The cram school was located at the other side of the station, and I used to walk through […]
Bucatini all’Amatriciana Read More »
The first birthday present I remember receiving in my life was the one from my parents for my third birthday. That day, I accompanied my mother for her shopping to the city centre as usual. We walked through the arcade stopping here and there for different errands. Then my mother took me to a MacDonald’s
My First Birthday Present Read More »
It was when I was in Grade 5. I was walking back home from school with a group of my close friends as usual. We were half way through when a silly argument started. A random woman had passed by us, and we started comparing the person’s appearance to our mothers’. It was one of
About a decade ago, I happened to spend one month in spring in Boston attending an English language program. I home-stayed in the northern suburb of the bustling city and commuted every day to the city centre to attend the lessons. After the classes, I would pick a place to spend my afternoon exploring the
Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 Read More »
During my early childhood, when my family used to live in a tiny half-dilapidated apartment, we depended on a small kerosine heater to provide warmth in the house during the winter season. In my hometown, the temperature hovered around 0 degree Celsius in the winter, and with the poor insulation of our apartment, it was
“Who is your favourite musician?” Whenever people ask me this question, after thinking for a moment, I answer “J. S. Bach.” My answer is always the same, but I hesitate because I sense that it’s probably outside of the range of answers they expect to hear. J. S. Bach is the world famous music composer
When I fell in love with J. S. Bach Read More »
When I was five, since I started going to the kindergarten, I caught a cold more frequently than before. Whenever I became sick, my mother would prepare a bedding for me and tell my little brother to stay in another room so that he didn’t contract the virus. Our house was a tiny apartment, and
When I was five, one day, my great aunt visited us in our tiny half-dilapidated apartment. Since she lived in Tokyo – 2 hours away from my hometown by the bullet train -, we couldn’t see her often, but she was one of my favourite relatives and I always looked forward to meeting her. She
Where are the gifts? Read More »
Throughout my childhood, my father used to read me bedside stories. When I was six, he started reading The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. In the Japanese translated version, the whole series consisted of six books, and it took us three years to complete the whole thing. Every night, I would
Playing Frodo and Sam Read More »
It was when I was a college student in Tokyo. One day, I had an appointment to meet my friend at a train station. My friend did not live in Tokyo, and she needed to change trains a few times to come to our meeting place. When I got to the station, I received a
