childhood memories

In this memory, I am about to turn six. The winter is ending. My parents are talking about moving out of our tiny half-dilapidated apartment and buying our first family home. Around the same time, many of my friends in the community of tiny half-dilapidated apartments are also talking about moving. Some of them have […]

In this memory, I am four years old. In the summer, my family make a trip to Tokyo, and during the stay, we visit a famous zoo in Ueno. My little brother is carried in the stroller while we walk around the park. It is a very hot day, and after walking for a while

The summer when I was seven, I visited my great aunt’s house in Tokyo with my mother. It was a very hot day, and even though it was already evening when we arrived, the hot humid air was felt inside the house as well. In the front room, both the TV and the fan were

In this piece of memory, my little brother is two years old. Every day, while I am at kindergarten, my mother takes him out on a walk in the neighbourhood. My brother leads the walk on his yellow ride-on car and my mother walks closely behind him. Their walk starts with a visit to the

I am five years old in this memory. My little brother is now two years old, and every day he runs around inside our tiny half-dilapidated apartment full of energy. Even though my mother has been careful to make our home hazard-free, due to the tiny space, our living area is filled with edges of

In this memory, I am nine years old, and today is Parents’ Day at my school. My class has prepared plays to present in front of our parents. This semester, we have been learning about the lifestyle of our grandparents’ generation, and these plays are about people’s daily life in Japan in the early 20th

I am five years old in this memory. My two-year-old little brother is crazy about buses. He has a large collection of toy buses at home, and his regular walk in the neighbourhood with his mother includes a specific bus watching spot where local buses come over to spend their out-of-service hours. Whenever and wherever

In this memory, I am five and my little brother is two. Recently, my mother is mildly troubled by the tightness in her back muscle. Instead of searching for a massage therapist nearby, which is too much luxury for her to even think of, she suggests a new evening activity for me and my brother.

I am eight years old in this memory. Every morning, after breakfast, I pick up my rose pink schoolbag on my back and reluctantly leave home for school. School is not an exciting place for me – I don’t feel comfortable being in a room with many people. I would rather stay at home and

In this memory, I am five years old. I’m coming back from our weekly group lesson at a local YAMAHA music school with my two best friends, our mothers and little siblings. Today, my mother is the driver, leading the crowd of nine people inside a five-seater. On the way, the adults decide to meet