十歳のきみへ―九十五歳のわたしから (日野原重明 / Shigeaki Hinohara)
This is a book written by the famous doctor Shigeaki Hinohara at the age of 95, addressed to 4th graders. In the book, he shares his most important lessions in life. For example how one of his worst experience in his life - suffering from tuberculosis and being bedridden for 9 months at the age of 20 - eventually helped him a lot in his carreer as a doctor because he was able to be much more empathetic.
In the book, Hinohara talks about what “live span” means - what matters is not how many years you live, but how you fill the empty vessel that is your life. He talks about his experiences in the war and the post-war period when everyone lived in poverty. He also talks about the nature of wars and apologizes that his generation was unable to create a peaceful world.
Since it’s addressed to 10 year-olds, the book is written in a simple style. Hinohara also addreses potential questions the children might have and doesn’t make it sound like a lecture or a sermon.
I personally found it quite engaging to read and in parts inspiring. Especially when Hinohara pressed the reader to question how much (or little) of their lives they spend on others, not on themselves, it made me think. Hinohara proposes that spending time for others, even in the most mundane ways, is the best thing you can do, although our society and busy daily lives make it easy to lose sight of what’s important. He also talks about the importance of empathy and forgiveness.
The last part of the book consists of letters children have written to Hinohara after he held lectures in their schools. I loved reading these and how receptive the children were to Hinohara’s teachings, reflecting on how selfish they had been in arguments/fights with their siblings, or how they realized they should visit their grandparents more often and other ways they can contribute to the happiness of others.
夜市 (恒川 光太郎 / Kōtarō Tsunekawa)
I wrote about it in detail here. tl;dr: I liked the setting and the general premise, but wasn’t fond of the way it was written or how the story was constructed. I didn’t read the second story in the book.
がばいばあちゃんの笑顔で生きんしゃい！ (島田洋七 / Yōshichi Shimada)
I’ve proclaimed my love for “佐賀のがばいばあちゃん” several times, a biographical story about the childhood years Shimada spent at his grandmother’s place in Saga in the 1950/60s. It still the most charming and touching Japanese book I’ve read to date.
This is a semi-continuation or rather a collection of episodes from the time period covered in 佐賀のがばいばあちゃん. Each chapter focuses on one particular aspect of the life philosophy of Shimada’s grandmother to find joy in a life in poverty. It lacks the catharsis of the main book that focuses more on Shimada’s personal development, but was nevertheless very heartwarming, funny and inspiring to read. Shimada has written several more of these and I’ll probably read those, too, at some point.