It’s true: Tsugumi really was an unpleasant young woman.
Leaving behind the town of my childhood, the quiet cycles of fishery and tourism that keep it running, I came to study at a certain university here in Tokyo. Now I’m having loads of fun, living in the city.
My name is Maria Shirakawa. I was named after the Virgin Mother.
Not that I’m particularly like her or anything—I’m not. And yet for some reason, all the new friends I’ve made since I moved to Tokyo tend to describe the way I am with words like “generous” and “levelheaded.”
The truth is that I’m just a regular flesh-and-blood human being, and as a matter of fact I have a fairly short temper. Though in Tokyo I often catch myself wondering just what that’s supposed to mean. People here are always getting angry about the smallest things—because it’s raining, for instance, or because some class has been cancelled, or because their dog took a leak in the wrong place. I guess maybe there is something slightly difference about me.
-- from Goodbye Tsugumi by Banana Yoshimoto
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So there I was in the book store and picked up a book for five dollars and it occurred to me: I ought to write more clearly. The circular style is good, but really, readers need to follow what you're saying. This is how you draw readers in. Then I thought I'd try to type up something by my favourite writers. I also read 'Tony Takitani' by Haruki Murakami today. Now I really want to see the film adaptation. That was my day.
