Rice-field-boy's diary

There were no people or cars on the road.  I wiped the sweat from my face  With the sleeve of my T-shirt. The sun burned on my skin. I took a sip of water that was left,  And regretted my rough plan.            It was summer and my boss and I had just arrived the day before at Noibai airport in Hanoi. It was the fifth time that we had come to Vietnam on business.             We had finished some work at the office then our cab took us to the hotel at 8 PM. We had a quick meal at the hotel restaurant, because my boss was tired from the long flight. After dinner, we parted ways with a promise to meet the next morning at 7 AM in the lobby.         　I was not as tired as he was. Instead, I wanted to exercise and move my body rather than rest it. The Hanoi Club where we were staying was a nice enough hotel, but it had no gym. Thus, I made plans to get up early in the morning and go jogging.            There are many lakes in Hanoi. I had jogged near the hotel several times, usually on a cou

Siblings influence each other.     Some for the better.  Some for the worse.    For example, I pretty much followed the same path of life as my older brother. We were born and raised in the same place. We enjoyed the same comic books and same music. In junior high and high school, I joined the same school clubs and wore the same haircut. After graduation, I even attended the same university!    You might think that it is natural to have a younger brother be influenced by his older brother since both are male siblings.    Here’s the catch.    We also have a younger sister and she followed the exact same path as we did.    We certainly walked the same path of life. but our characters were completely different. My brother was serious and cautious, always reading books. I am two years younger than him. I was a show-off and hated to lose. My sister is three years younger than me. She was carefree and whiny. but she was the kindest of our siblings. As a result, the following occurred.    W

       I have almost died twice. Surprisingly both times happened in the same year. But because I was just a baby at the time, I have no memory of these life-threatening events. So, these stories were heard from my mother.         Plus a little bit of my own imagination.         We were living in Paris for the year on account of my father’s business. One day my father went out to attend to business leaving my mother and the rest of us at home. My mother was cooking in the kitchen. My two years older brother was playing with LEGO blocks. I, on the other hand, was sharpening up on my less-than-perfect crawling capabilities. At that time, a fresh summer breeze stroked my cheek. The window was left open. My mother was smart, but she was a forgetful person. I was smart, too, but I was a quiet person.          We were on 8th floor. Birdsongs and good smells came from outside. At that moment I thought, “I can fly.”          I tried to approach the window to test the result of my training. Luc

      When I was young, I had an English class at the university. We had to write a journal every week. My good friend was going to take the class. He is Malaysian and he was an English teacher at an elementary school in his country. He said, “I will help you! So, let’s take this class together.” I usually helped him with Japanese. I like English  but I didn’t like  writing .       One day, the American teacher of the class returned our journal notes. My note was put on the top of the stack. When I took it, he said, “Your journals are always very interesting!” I was surprised. My friend said, “ Sugoi [you are great] !” and thumbs up. Since then I like writing.

 Where is your home town?       My home town is Kawanishi-machi that is in the south part of Yamagata-ken. It’s just a small country town. It is surrounded by mountains. I grew up near a rice field but I’m pleased with the town. I didn’t know how wide the world is. I was a child.       When I was a high school student, every day I went to the nearby city which is a little big and famous for beef. There are karaoke shops, convenience stores, and fast food restaurants and aren’t found in my smaller hometown. I enjoyed the city life with my friends. It was then that I decided to go to a bigger city after I  graduated.       After that I lived in both Sendai and Tokyo. I studied hard, worked hard, and played a lot. Thoughts of my hometown gradually faded away. The rice-field-boy had become a city guy. Soon, I had a family and I realized that they had become my personal hometown.       But sometimes, I miss the view of the mountains, the sunset, the sounds of wind through the rice field, th

   I have three dreams.     My first dream already came true. About 10 years ago, after the great East Japanese earthquake, I wrote on my facebook page. It was that time I decided to become a writer. I made a lot of Japanese readers since then and fortunately some of them became books. And some of them have been published on websites. I’m not famous, but I became a writer. The other day I was asked for my signature on one of my books for the first time! I may become famous soon, so I have to practice signing.      The second dream is small. I have a blog for my works. There are some novels that I wrote in Japanese. I want to put English introductions in them on my own, and distribute them by SNS. But my English is still a little poor, so I have to practice my writing too.      Finally, the third dream is a big one. I want to live in a foreign country, and teach Japanese, and write novels in English without translation. At that time, my son might be a high school student or university s