４ Ａｐｒｉｌ， Ｔｏｒｉｋｏ Ｙｏｓｈｉｋａｗａ
文字数 2,611文字
An Unfamiliar Way
I’d like to go somewhere far away.
That’s what I long for, as I pass the days.
With no money and no job, it isn’t exactly easy going far away. Besides, the “far away” I yearn for, I’m starting to think, may not be that of physical distance. Whether it was Paris or Seoul or Marrakesh, I would always stick to visiting the tourist attractions and shops I’d marked up on Google Maps, always ordered the same dishes recommended in the guidebook. A complete slave to the iPhone. So, does that really count as “far away”?
On the first Saturday of April, I take a walk to the bookstore in the city to exercise my legs and find crowds of people, all devil-may-care, despite the clamor on TV about non-essential outings. Although, seeing as how I’m out myself, I guess we’re all guilty. Suddenly becoming fearful, I move farther and farther away from the crowds until I find myself in a quiet block of office buildings.
The wind is a bit nippy still. I clip down the street through an area I seldom visit, the spring skirt that I bought some time ago – but haven’t had the occasion to wear until now—snapping about me. I take a photo of a building’s exterior adorned with a company logo in tasteful mosaic tile, then stop to gaze at a sunburnt menu displayed outside an old-fashioned coffee shop, in wonder, as though it were a menu from a foreign land. Coffee, 360 yen. Rice omelet, 650 yen. The Belgian beer shop quietly opened for business while the sun was still high. I’ll have to come back for a drink after the Corona mess is over.
From what I assumed to be an ordinary business district, I felt as if I’d been shown a completely different side of a person whom I thought I knew well. Such a simple way to experience the same exaltation of travel, yet I felt my world map greatly expanded. I discovered a new continent that can’t be reached with an iPhone! Not that I would survive without my iPhone, but never mind that. Tomorrow I’ll go another unfamiliar way.
Translated by Takami Nieda/Arranged by TranNet KK
Toriko Yoshikawa
Born 1977. Won the R-18 Literature for Women By Women Award in 2004 for her work
I’d like to go somewhere far away.
That’s what I long for, as I pass the days.
With no money and no job, it isn’t exactly easy going far away. Besides, the “far away” I yearn for, I’m starting to think, may not be that of physical distance. Whether it was Paris or Seoul or Marrakesh, I would always stick to visiting the tourist attractions and shops I’d marked up on Google Maps, always ordered the same dishes recommended in the guidebook. A complete slave to the iPhone. So, does that really count as “far away”?
On the first Saturday of April, I take a walk to the bookstore in the city to exercise my legs and find crowds of people, all devil-may-care, despite the clamor on TV about non-essential outings. Although, seeing as how I’m out myself, I guess we’re all guilty. Suddenly becoming fearful, I move farther and farther away from the crowds until I find myself in a quiet block of office buildings.
The wind is a bit nippy still. I clip down the street through an area I seldom visit, the spring skirt that I bought some time ago – but haven’t had the occasion to wear until now—snapping about me. I take a photo of a building’s exterior adorned with a company logo in tasteful mosaic tile, then stop to gaze at a sunburnt menu displayed outside an old-fashioned coffee shop, in wonder, as though it were a menu from a foreign land. Coffee, 360 yen. Rice omelet, 650 yen. The Belgian beer shop quietly opened for business while the sun was still high. I’ll have to come back for a drink after the Corona mess is over.
From what I assumed to be an ordinary business district, I felt as if I’d been shown a completely different side of a person whom I thought I knew well. Such a simple way to experience the same exaltation of travel, yet I felt my world map greatly expanded. I discovered a new continent that can’t be reached with an iPhone! Not that I would survive without my iPhone, but never mind that. Tomorrow I’ll go another unfamiliar way.
Translated by Takami Nieda/Arranged by TranNet KK
Toriko Yoshikawa
Born 1977. Won the R-18 Literature for Women By Women Award in 2004 for her work
Nemurihime
(Sleeping beauty). Other works includeShabon
(Bubble),Gummō
ebian!
(Good morning everyone!),Shōjobyō
(Young girl disease),Midori
no
mi
(Mi for Midori),Hikari
no
niwa
(Garden of light),Marī
Antowanetto
no
nikki
rose/bleu
(Mary Antoinette’s diary rose/bleu),Joyū
no
musume
(Actress’ daughter), andBerusaiyu
no
yuri
(The lily of Versailles).
