Original link: http://www.cnfeat.com/2023/04/18/Tokyo/
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layout: post
title: The place where you live now is your dojo
date: 2023-04-18
tags: [reading, cards]
description: Nothing is difficult in the world, only a stupid way.
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Everyone can create their own small universe. Pessoa’s eighth continent is in his own brain, Ohara Hiroshi’s ideal life is in two days off five days, and Yoshii Shinobi’s great world is in eight square meters in Tokyo.
and yours?
Pessoa said:
True landscapes are of our own making, for we are their gods. What they actually are to us is exactly what they were made to be. I have no interest in nor have I actually visited any of the seven continents of the world. I have traveled my own eighth continent.
Some have sailed every sea, but seldom sailed his own monotony. My voyage is farther than all others. I have seen more mountains than all the mountains that exist on earth. I’ve walked through more cities than I’ve built. The great river I crossed ran through an impossible world, flowing with certainty under my brooding gaze. If I travel, I can only find a vague replica of what I have seen without travelling.
Ohara Hiroshi is living another life of working two days off and five days off.
He commutes to and from big cities every week to work, doing nursing work for the elderly that most young people do not want to do. He usually cuts down on food and clothing, rents cheap small apartments in the suburbs, does not eat in restaurants, and almost always cooks for himself. He has not paid for anyone in the past ten years. I have cut my hair, bought a hair clipper, looked in the mirror and cut my own hair, just to work 2 days a week, rest 5 days, go to the nearby forest to observe wild birds, sketch, enjoy unmanned hot spring tourism, and did not measure myself by worldly success , earn enough money to live a life of leisure.
The 43-year-old Shinobi Yoshii likes to explore the world and discover himself in the center of the bustling city. she says:
This book introduces the life in an eight-square-meter room, and can also be used as a guide for exploring Tokyo. When I read the manuscript now, I found that, personally, this is another kind of daily record that I created by myself after leaving China. In this process, the eight-square-meter room and the tolerance of the city of Tokyo have played a lot. I want to quietly dedicate this book to those who are about to create a new life. Your “smallness” is not a problem, because the outside world is big enough.
You may be wondering how to live comfortably in an eight-square-meter place in Tokyo.
The monthly rent is also about RMB 3,000. You can go 90 kilometers away from Tokyo. The one-way tram takes more than an hour. You can rent a room with a kitchen, two bedrooms and one living room of more than 40 square meters. Why Yoshii Shinobi still chooses an 8 square meter room.
In this eight-square-meter room, what should I do with all kinds of “essential” living utensils and spaces?
What if there is no washing machine? Laundry can only be done in the coin-operated laundry room, about RMB 15 for one wash and dry
What if you can’t cook properly? I often settle lunch and dinner at “Standing Food” Yangmai Noodles. The lunch set at a chain fast food restaurant costs at least 20 to 30 yuan.
What if there is no shower room? Get an annual gym card, do exercise and take a bath early in the morning, if you need to take a bath, you have to go to the Sento, about 25 yuan a time.
What if there is no refrigerator? Vegetables, fruits and ingredients should be eaten on the day of purchase, or prepare a few foods suitable for storage at room temperature, such as rice, raw eggs, vacuum-packed oatmeal and various canned food, and there are convenience stores, supermarkets and small restaurants nearby to maintain.
What can be exchanged for this “inconvenience”?
As the author said: This eight-square-meter room really brought me a lot of happiness besides money. Because the space in the room is too small, the necessary functions of washing, bathing, entertainment or office had to be transferred outside, which naturally dragged me, a very “house” person, out of the door.
Relying on the fate gained in this process, she obtained a brand new possibility and unknown surprise.
Shinobu Yoshii loves roaming in the spiritual world, so much so that she spends a lot of income on various exhibitions and performances. For example, she mentioned in the book that she bought a painting “Winter is Coming” and spent two monthly rent. And because of this painting, she tried every means to go to Vladivostok, the city where the snow scene in the work is located.
She no longer has to face the helplessness and pain of missing the last train in the city, she can always find a way to go home, and basically doesn’t have to worry about staying overnight. She was free to parade around the city, leisurely rather than forced to go to all-night movies, and reach out to young people who are willing to watch all-night movies on weekends.
She can chat with the people who put coins in the laundry, cry with the owner of a small buckwheat shop, and talk about life with an old man who runs a coffee shop…
As a city, Tokyo is abstract for more people, but for Shinobi Yoshii, she is concrete, full of joys and sorrows, joys and sorrows.
The prosperity and culture of a city is the root of the city’s attraction, and it is also the result of the concerted efforts and struggles of the city’s residents. The material itself of a city cannot bring happiness to people, but the people here can, and the stories hidden deep in these people can-of course include yourself and the stories you create.
After reading this book, I thought: Why do I like to read the life thinking and lifestyle written by Pessoa, Hiroshi Ohara, and Shinobu Yoshii?
It is estimated that these three people with very different lifestyles have one thing in common. They are all willing to bravely explore the lifestyle that suits them, and they all create a bigger world in it.
The biggest inspiration they give me is-
This is true for everyone who lives in a big city or a small city. The world is big and the world is small, I come here, but I live there. A current place of residence is one’s own dojo. The dojo can be large or small, but the space for practice is infinite.
I once lived in an urban village with a monthly rent of 600 yuan in Dongguan and Zhuhai, and I have completely different mentalities. I lived in a house with a monthly rent of 2,500 yuan in Wudaokou, Beijing, and Zhuhai. These are two very different ways of life.
Thinking of this past experience, I realized that there are always some beautiful things in life that are worth exploring and discovering. My current specific lifestyle is worth recording in this era and in a way that belongs to this era.
From now on, you also start to care about the specific life around you, such as
- Sign up for a local volunteer organization and go to the elementary school crossroads to assist traffic
- Read the scam stories and drainage routines on the blackboard newspaper of the neighborhood committee
- Feel free to follow an aunt home after shopping for groceries and observe the people passing by her
- Infiltrated the team of elementary school students at 7 a.m. and recorded the conversation
- Enter an empty restaurant, order a dish, chat with the proprietress or waiter
- Go to the busiest local market at 4 o’clock and take 100 photos
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