It is hard to be an individual in Japan.

I wasn't in love with her. And she didn't love me. For me the question of love was irrelevant. What I sought was the sense of being tossed about by some raging, savage force, in the midst of which lay something absolutely crucial. I had no idea what that was. But I wanted to thrust my hand right inside her body and touch it, whatever it was.

You have to make an effort to always look at the good side, always think about the good things. Then you've got nothing to be afraid of. If something bad comes up, you do more thinking at that point.

Sex is an extremely subtle undertaking, unlike going to the department store on a Sunday to buy a thermos.

Perhaps I'm just too painstaking a type of person, but I can't grasp much of anything without putting down my thoughts in writing.

It's like Tolstoy said. Happiness is an allegory, unhappiness a story.

I never trust people with no appetite. It's like they're always holding something back on you.