When I was living overseas,
people often told me
that Japan was truly
a wonderful country.
They would say
that Japan was easy to travel in,
and that people were polite,
kind,
and considerate.
There was even a chef
who excitedly showed me
how amazing a rubber spatula
from Daiso was.
That made me laugh.
When you are in Japan,
you are often surrounded
by gloomy news,
and it becomes easy
to lose sight of these things.
But overseas,
it was the complete opposite.
There was this idea that
“Japan is amazing.”
Compared with people overseas,
who often express things
quite directly,
I felt that Japan
had something special —
a quiet consideration
for others
that is not always put
into words,
and the ability to sense
and care about
how someone else
might be feeling.
To me,
that kind of Japanese spirit
was something truly wonderful,
something I had not found
in the same way
in other countries.
After talking with those
junior high school students,
I kept wondering,
“What is it that I can do?”
As I stood on the escalator
at Aomori Station,
waiting for the Shinkansen,
I kept turning that question
over and over in my mind.
I can teach sweets classes.
And I can do that
in English too.
A place where I could hold
sweets classes...
A café.
At that moment,
something connected
inside me,
and tears began to overflow.
38
