In my younger days, I was trying to write sophisticated prose and fantastic stories.

Whether it's good for anything or not, cool or totally uncool, in the final analysis what's most important is what you can't see but can feel in your heart.

So what’s wrong if there happens to be one guy in the world who enjoys trying to understand you?

Autumn finally arrived. And when it did, I came to a decision. Something had to give: I couldn't keep on living like this.

I've always liked libraries. They're quiet and full of books and full of knowledge.

The best way to think about reality, I had decided, was to get as far away from it as possible.

Hatsumi had a pretty good idea that Nagasawa was sleeping around, but she never complained to him. She was seriously in love with him, but she never made demands. 'I don't deserve a girl like Hatsumi,' Nagasawa once said to me. I had to agree with him.