Tsuyoshi the Cruel
There was a boy called Tsuyoshi. He had a cruel nature, and his hyper activeness was often harmful to others. It happened sometime after the womanhood education in the recreation […]
Education on womanhood
In the 5th grade at school, we were about eleven years old. One day, a school nurse gathered the girls in a leisure room after class. The curtain was drawn, […]
Maternal instinct
One morning on a train, a girl about five years old was sitting in front of me with her father. She peeked her face between the seats’ headrests, clearly wishing […]
The weight of a bed
For my new apartment, I purchased a bed. It was a queen size, made of reclaimed wood. The headboard was like a thick wall, and the delivery men complained that […]
Furniture
The new place was a corner room of an old apartment building. The view from the balcony was the other apartment across the street. The rent doubled, but the relief […]
Judy
Judy wanted me to move out, which I gladly agreed. Serena said she was surprised that I stayed for so long – 4.5 years – when I told her I […]
Insignificant truth about us
A few years after I saw Madame Butterfly, I was in Tokyo to go to university. I took English lessons outside the school to prepare for the study abroad program. […]
Ghost of Madame Butterfly
I first became aware of my identity in the context of race and gender when I watched (forced to watch) opera Madame Butterfly in the high school music class. A […]
Identity
Being identified as a Japanese woman gave me so much shame. People call us “subservient” as if we are a punching bag. “Stupid,” “naive,” “meek,” “timid,” “loose,” are other descriptions […]
Zen effect
I went on a meditation retreat because that was what woke people of the Bay Area did when they needed an assurance that they were not just the cog of […]