Quotation
Muses:
"Everything that one loves becomes fiction" - Amélie Nothomb
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"Thanks for loving our country, but we Japanese must face our misfortune alone."
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ln fact, there's no French word for what l felt for Rinri. The Japanese word "koi" came closest. "Koi" can be translated as both "carp" and "liking". l totally dislike carp, but l had a liking for Rinri. His company was to my liking. l was always happy with him, but also without him.
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l was dying to see the Japanese mountains in the snow. 90 minutes from Tokyo was a path that promised grand, inspiring views. Back then, l loved mountains almost as much as l loved Japan. l mean, Japanese mountains represented a sort of pinnacle for me. Come to think of it, they still do.
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Early on, the Japanese realized that talk is the bane of dining. For a time, the task of speaking was relegated to geishas. Today, we call them professional conversationalists. But really, they're still geishas.