The Nakano Thrift Shop

Having to worry about whether someone is healthy enough to tolerate my fierce hatred or criticism before I decide to blame them - that's what I call getting old.

If sexual desire wasn’t the origin of Masayo and Mr. Maruyama’s relationship, then what was their love based on?

The one I love most in this world. I had no one to say those words to. I hadn’t even felt the desire to say them to someone, ever, I thought as I ran. There was still time before the last train, but I kept running all the way to the station, without stopping to catch my breath. The

It was as if everyone doled themselves out in such small portions. Never completely open, not all at once.

When you get old and long-sighted, you can't look your sweetheart in the eye from close up. You need a little distance, so that you can focus on each other. So that your faces don't look blurry- anyway, you need a little distance.

Could Takeo have died on the side of a road? That would serve him right! I thought at the idea of such a thing. But my smugness was soon dampened by the realization of how troublesome it was, just to feel that way—how troublesome it was, really, just to be alive. I wanted nothing to do with love! I wanted the stiffness in my shoulders to go away. I could probably put a bit of money into savings this month. These thoughts drifted by one by one, like tiny bubbles. The flowers I had put in the vase looked as though they were artificial.

My own way. Clutching the bouquet as I walked home, I repeated these words in my head. I had spent time with these young women for eight months. Some of them were a little mean, some of them were quite kind, some of them were slightly particular, and some of them were a bit odd. Did that mean that I was the one among them who did things ‘my own way’?

Takeo and I had some good memories . . . Yes, I would eat a diet rich in vegetables, seaweed, and legumes, and every day would be sparkling and bright, my life brimming with health and vitality.

You know what I mean? The newly opened bottle of wine clinked against the rim of my teacup, sounding a clear ring

But it's a good thing to earn money,'I said. Masayo laughed. 'Hitomi, you sound like an old lady! I am an old lady! "Oh, come off it! You're barely thirty! And then, even though we were already in our cups, we clinked a toast.