Quotation

Opening dialogue, introduction: l was 20. l wanted to be Japanese, it was my sole ambition. By chance, l was born in Japan. That should've helped, but chance is fickle. My parents were Belgian, not Japanese. They worked in Japan. When l was 5 they went back to Belgium, taking me with them. During childhood and adolescence, l dreamed of one thing: to return to Japan to become what, despite appearances, l was, a real Japanese. One day l bought a one-way ticket to Tokyo. l arrived with only my 20 years. Actually, l wanted to be more than Japanese. l also wanted to be a writer. l wanted to be a venerable Japanese writer. lt would be more complicated, but that's another story. No, in fact, it's the same story. === lronically, l'd met the only Japanese who wasn't part of this famous floating world, this world that suited me so well, where nothing is black or white, entirely yes or no, this world of impermanence. The Japanese feel more than they express.