Life is not like water. Things in life don't necessarily flow over the shortest possible route.

Understanding is but the sum of misunderstandings.

Start making excuses and there's no end to it. I can't live that kind of life.

In Japan, the writers have made up a literary community, a circle, a society. I think 90 percent of Japan's writers live in Tokyo. Naturally, they make a community. There are groups and customs, and so they are tied up in a way.

Either I'm funny or the world's funny. I don't know which. The bottle and lid don't fit. It could be the bottle's fault or the lid's fault. In either case, there's no denying that the fit is bad.

The honour of physical decline is waiting, and you have to get used to that reality.

I'm a writer. I don't support any war. That's my principle.