At that point, Noriko finally breaks down and begins to cry sobbing into her hands as the floodgates open - this young woman who has suffered in silence for so long, this good woman who refuse to believe she's good, for only the good doubt their own goodness, which is what makes them good in the first place. The bad know they are good, but the good know nothing. They spend their lives forgiving others, but they can't forgive themselves.

Changing your mind is probably one of the most beautiful things people can do. And I've changed my mind about a lot of things over the years.

After something crystallizes, I can write ferociously and write novels in six months, which in the past would have taken me two years.

For some reason, all my characters come to me with their names attached to them. I never have to search for the names.

Chance is an element of life. What I try to do is study what I call the mechanics of reality as carefully as I can.

Guilt kept me going. It was impossible not to blame myself for what had happened, but even guilt was a comfort. It was a human feeling, a sign that I was still attached to the same world that other men lived in.

Some people are great, and they approach each work with honesty, and that's wonderful. But when people have built up a sort of resentment or animosity for reasons that are hard to put your finger on, they read in bad faith.