I got into an argument with my boss at the quiet office, and feeling furious, I went alone to the park during lunch break and ate a FamilyMart rice ball. Convenience store rice balls used to be 100 yen, but now they’re 300 yen. I couldn’t taste anything through the stress. Everything made me angry and frustrated. Why does my boss keep cutting out parts of manuscripts he already approved? Why won’t he listen when I ask him to stop?
I remembered I hadn’t replied to my mother’s LINE message, so I sent a reply from my smartphone. A few minutes later, another message came from her: “The cactus flower I inherited from Mom bloomed for the first time in 20 years.” Attached was this photo.
Looking at the photo, I felt a deep sense of emotion. My mother always understands me. Just as this cactus, unchanged for 20 years, bloomed beautifully as if nothing had happened for 19 years, I want to be like that too.
My grandmother and mother lived in Gotanda, Meguro Ward, Tokyo. That’s right, let’s toast at an izakaya in Gotanda tonight.
Gotanda is where Sony was born. Their headquarters used to be located roughly halfway between Gotanda Station and Shinagawa Station on the Yamanote Line. When I was little, playing around there with my older cousins, I remember seeing groups of men in their thirties walking by, company ID cards dangling from their necks. Looking back now, that must have been Sony engineers’ lunchtime. A small company that started in 1946 with just 20 employees created the world’s first transistor radio, and then in 1979, it created the Walkman. While I was playing with my cousins at age five, right next door, those engineer uncles came up with the idea for a “machine to listen to music while walking,” creating the portable music culture that’s now commonplace worldwide.
I don’t know if that venture spirit lives on today, but Gotanda still has many startups. While it’s true offices are relatively affordable around this Yamanote Line station, you’ll find young professionals conducting business deals in cafes all over Gotanda.
Now, come nightfall, both the startup kids and the local old-timers transform into hungry foodies. Gotanda has plenty of interesting izakayas.
Today we’re heading to one of the most famous spots. The place is so cramped you might bump shoulders with the person next to you, but it’s cheap and delicious!
And so, the night in Gotanda deepens.
In this town where my kind grandmother and mother lived, I was once a “granddaughter” and a “daughter,” but now I’m raising a toast with my husband and the person next to me. My flower has bloomed fully. Grandma, Mom, thank you.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)