Jobs can be a clue to somebody’s character. A short- cut way of describing them. But only in a limited, stereotyped sort of way.

it was the only job offer I received. I didn’t put much thought into my application.

don’t go back home is because I couldn’t face the inconvenience of country life

But it feels such a huge effort to do anything about it. Basically I’m not very driven. Even writing a CV is a big hassle for me.

You can tell he’s doing exactly what he should be doing.

See, even previous jobs have the power to influence your image of a person.

This is what happens when you leave stuff up to other people.

‘You managed to find employment, you go to work every day and you can feed yourself. That’s a fine achievement.’

motive doesn’t matter so much as wanting to learn something new. That’s a good attitude to have.’

It’s fun, though, to reread a book

You pick up new things.

mean to say, reading picture books on your day off– that’s really cool. Like, so intellectual.

Saya’s innocent straightforward chatter is like a mirror reflecting the meanness of my own heart.

I probably just want someone to whom I can put on a brave face, and Saya presents me with an image of how I would like to be seen.

Like my toes inside my pumps.

He must have been listening to music while reading his book. Beside him is a bottle of iced tea and two small round packages wrapped in aluminium foil.

There are all sorts of companies and jobs out there. I am so ignorant.

sometimes I put my coat on the floor to sleep or went without a bath for three days in a row.’

Is that the japanese culture I am seeinh of long work hours

was working in order to eat, but I never had time to eat because of work– that seemed crazy.’

eat properly, sleep, and enjoy reading books and magazines because I don’t have to think about them from a work point of view. I’m fit,

People who find it fulfilling to completely immerse themselves in work and nothing else.

‘That’s not something you can plan. It made me think I ought to focus on what I had in front of me. Then maybe my efforts would pay off in unexpected ways and help me make new connections.

‘In a world where you don’t know what will happen next, I just do what I can right now.’

her mind, the mulberry top is transformed into a high- fashion item.

Deep inside, I know I looked down on her out of a warped sense of superiority at being a permanent employee, and young. I’d been on a stupid ego trip thinking I was better than her, and the woman in the canteen, come to think of it.

And I’m pale from lack of sleep, too. No wonder I don’t have much energy.

Like Kiriyama, but for different reasons, I too have not been living a decent life.

will not give up. I can learn how to do this thing.

But keep at it and you’ll learn along the way. This is what Mrs Numauchi had been trying to tell me!

think that I might be just entering the forest. I still don’t know what I want to do, or what I can do. What I do know is that there’s no need to panic, or do more than I can cope with right now.

place where I could forget everything. All the petty worries

It could be worse, I know, but it’s at times like this that I want to quit.

with all the work I have to do, it’s impossible to find the time for the necessary study and prep. But time is slipping away while I’m stuck in this office grind.

The days go by more happily when you have something to dream about. It’s not always a bad thing to have a dream, with no plan for ever carrying it out.’

‘Librarian Sayuri Komachi’s top- pick bookshop’, and the name of the store is Cats Now Books.

How could I mention that I’d like to quit my stable job at the company to open an antiques shop?

‘Cats, books and beer: surrounded by his favourite things,’

‘A parallel career means having two careers that are complementary, with neither being secondary to the other.’

might as well be at work right now. My job controls me. A job I don’t want to be doing.

depend on my job and desperately want to protect it. It has always been that way and no doubt always will.

Only ever doing work that I like, and not having to deal with idiots, or worrying about financial insecurity,

Humans only see what suits them most, and make that their main focus, but for plants…

‘I believe that a job secures you a place in society. So if you have a parallel career, you can have two places. With neither a side business.’

Owning a shop might have more advantages than I imagined.

‘You have to turn that “don’t” into a goal.’

Once I started to show my face here and there, I had encounters that led to all sorts of opportunities and connections.’

‘Everybody is connected. And any one of their connections could be the start of a network that branches in many directions. If you wait for the right time to make connections, it might never happen, but if you show your face around, talk to people and see enough

let off steam. If you don’t have a partner to share the mental stress, it’s exhausting.’

‘She said nothing, and went along with it. I’m forever grateful to her.’

‘If it fails? Is that not allowed?’

There is no main job and secondary job. Both are equally important. That could be true for a couple, too.

what makes the world go round?’

believe it is trust,’

Hina’s head is not in the clouds. It is only my stupid pride at being a man, and ten years older than her, that got in the way of my acknowledging her for who she truly is.

Choosing to do something because it excites you is the best reason of all.

The president trusts Taguchi, Taguchi trusts me. Trust makes the world go round.

The first thing I need to do is streamline my work in the office. No more unnecessary overtime.

are setting ourselves in motion, pulling on the invisible threads of our connections.

won’t make the excuse that I have no time any more. Instead, I will think about what I can do with the time I have.

such little consequence that they weren’t prepared to wait for me?

I could never get used to leaving work while it was still daylight.

What I find most trying is looking forward to sharing the housework and childcare at the weekend, but ending up having to do it all myself.

emotion and the suffocating feeling that comes as a result of being closeted alone with a toddler are two completely different issues.

Children don’t have the prejudices that adults do about insects we usually regard as pests.’

Every day felt like I was merely going around in circles, marking out time, day after day, and going nowhere.

she reminded me of the Disney Baymax character.

‘Yes. It gave me great respect for all the mothers of the world.’

But it’s why, whenever I feel happy or glad about something, I count my blessings and think to myself, Now, wasn’t that worth all the effort of being born?’

Being born is probably the most difficult thing we ever have to do. I am convinced that everything else that comes afterwards is nowhere near as hard. If you can survive the ordeal of being born, you can get through anything.’

‘The good thing about felting is that you can start again halfway through. Even after your project begins to take shape, you can easily change direction along the way if you feel that you want to make something different after all.’

‘Singles are envious of those who are married, and married couples envy those with children, but people with children are envious of singles. It’s an endless merry- go- round. But isn’t that funny? That each person should be chasing the tail of the person in front of them, when no one is coming first or last. In other words, when it comes to happiness nothing is better or worse– there is no definitive state.’

heart has two eyes to perceive that which is not visible to the eye.

From big things to little, there are some things we simply cannot force to go to plan, no matter how hard we

If I put myself at the centre of everything, does that mean I always see myself as a victim? And why I always end up wondering why can’t people do things that work for me.

isn’t it better sometimes to be honest about what you really want?

‘You may say that it was the book, but it’s how you read a book that is most valuable, rather than any power it might have itself.’

Applicants looking for a mid- career change need to have a range of skills to be immediately useful, in order to have an edge in the job market.

I was someone else now, on a different path. I had mine and she had hers. We each would travel through our own landscape.

Hearing her say ‘Happee’ in a faltering little voice was unbearably adorable.

‘This didn’t just come to you. It happened because you did something for yourself. You took action and that caused things to change around you.’

The thing that I had started had ended up making a connection in an unexpected place and bearing fruit.

The knowledge warmed me. Books, too, could be reborn. I thought of who might pick up this book and how they might react to it.

Books that made one look forward to tomorrow, or helped reveal hidden depths within oneself.

could change, and still be the same inside.

Banyusha had provided me with everything that was essential for reaching this point. There was value in all my experience. This appreciation of my own effort and my gratitude to Banyusha gave me a solid base to stand on.

had a revelation. I realized that when one reads or writes a novel, it is the Moon Eye that is in play.

He might not be doing his ideal job, but he makes a living and is still chasing his dream. I have a lot of respect for Seitaro.

‘People who make fun of me now won’t stop, no matter what the future brings. They’ll always find some angle to attack me with. But don’t worry, I’m okay with it. I don’t care what people who’ve never read my novels think.’

Haruki Murakami debuted

There’s no age limit on a writing debut. I figure everybody has their own personal timing that works best for them.’

If I’d said, ‘But I thought of it, too,’ nobody would’ve believed me. The golden boy always wins. Always.

But young and old might be relative.

‘He might be tough enough to survive any conditions and have special powers, but he sulks if he doesn’t get enough attention and cries at the drop of a hat. It makes you wonder what strength really is, doesn’t it?’

It made me feel so good about myself that every time I read a book after that, I wrote a report and gave it to Ms Komachi to look at.’

‘Like’ is a great word– one that can save people. Somebody likes me, and my pictures. Even if she was just being nice.

When he’s around, I can’t help feeling like the worst example of a human being ever. But I tried, I really did. I did my best to find a job, but I just couldn’t pull it

Her talented, dependable, successful son is coming home. Returning from a distant country by plane– something I’ve never even been on.

I’m still searching. Searching for somewhere I can be accepted as I am. Just one place is all I need. Somewhere to be at peace.

I’m a place where Wallace lives on? Is that how you make a place for somebody– one person thinking about another?

I believed I could never have a normal working life. Now I was starting to wonder. How much had my own thinking limited my opportunities?

I’ve been playing the victim, a misfit with unrecognized talent in a society overrun by rapacious corporations.

didn’t believe she was speaking truthfully. Because I don’t believe in myself and I don’t believe in other people.

If I can draw just one picture that leaves a mark in somebody’s life and is remembered, then I can find a place for me.

It’s weird how ideas keep springing into my head now, as if a stopper has been removed. Yet when I had all the time in the world, I never had a single idea. I didn’t even feel like drawing.

Working here has given me a glimpse into how much thought and care goes into making life better

I had no idea there were these other kinds of jobs in my neighbourhood. It gives me hope to keep looking. There’s a chance I might be able to find the perfect place for me after all.

the general norm for an adult who’s no longer a student is to be working.

Filling out CVs, sending them off, getting interviewed and waiting to be chosen, is not the only way to go about it. You can do it like this, too. Just get on with the task in front of you and people will see what you can do.

This seems incredible at first, but then I smile. It’s an awesome story. Everybody should have their own story.

extremely simple truth. In the long, long history of evolution, without doubt, I am living now, in the present.

worrying lack of hobbies.

now I no longer work for a company I am no longer acknowledged by society at large.

shaken to realize that all my relationships had been business ones, and that I had no real friends after

The dry clothes smell of sunshine.

she thinks that anger is futile, because she has already given up on me.

Nobody says my name out loud much these days. The last time was at the dentist’s, a month ago.

What am I looking for? A new way to live from now on, perhaps?

Each game has its own drama that forces you to think about life and death.’

you are in contact with the poet’s soul and their attitude to life, your response to their poetry becomes even more powerful.

If I’d kept it up and studied one page a day, I might be fluent by now.

Could it be even more challenging than learning the rules of Go? I close the notebook.

Yoriko is what you might call a ‘driver on paper’.

Or is it simply my human ego that dictates this way of thinking?

if you don’t work, there are no days off. Never again will I enjoy the anticipation of freedom and feeling of release at the thought of taking time off work.

‘With poetry you don’t have to worry too much about the finer nuances of meaning. Just enjoy the feel or sound of a poem as you read it. Imagine it however you like.’

But having only ever worked at one company, I can’t think how one would go about finding another job.

inorganic substance such as glass, despite being transparent, can have the effect of being a solid barrier of sorts.

But that’s not what I think about whenever I begin something new. I do whatever moves me– that’s all the reason I need,’

The police make a lot of noise when they’re searching but they don’t go around telling people when a case is solved.’

What is society? Is the company the whole of society for you, Mr Gonno?’

what is happening on the other side is irrelevant, doesn’t it? Remove the partition, however, and instantly you become part of the same world.

I believe that every kind of contact between people makes them part of society. And that goes beyond the present moment. Things happen as a result of our points of connection, in the past and in the future.’

both faces of the sea, its beauty and ferocity?

I’m really into the POP displays. Because the books I recommend feel a little bit like my own.’

Only Shinpei Kusano knows what he actually saw. Yet each reader can have their own interpretation, which is a good thing.

people with jobs are not the only ones who make society function?

‘You told me that if you only ever look in front, your view will be quite narrow. So whenever I feel stuck or don’t know what to do, I try to broaden my view. Relax my shoulders and walk sideways like a crab.’

Whenever people interact, that is being part of society. And the things that happen as a result of those points of contact exist in the past and the future.

Believing that life is a linear journey that stretches straight ahead of us. If I look sideways now, what will I see?

Just as every day is equal in value and no less important than all the others. The day I was born,

Readers make their own personal connections to words, irrespective of the writer’s intentions, and each reader gains something unique.’

feeling devastated because I’d been fired, when in fact I hadn’t lost anything. I myself was no different from before. I’d simply left the company I worked for. That’s all. I still had the option to derive joy from my work and happiness from spending time with my loved ones. It all just depended on me, and what I did from then on. That’s when I realized that I wanted to work freelance in future.’

It’s amazing what a difference doing something just once can make.

have always thought of things in terms of whether or not they could be useful to me in some way. But that may have become my stumbling block.

My plan is to appreciate every new day. And take a wide view of things.