One day in 2011, my mother suddenly had a stroke. Afterwards I was pushed to my limits caring for her, with my head so muddled that I nearly crossed the road on a red light ? I was physically and mentally exhausted. It was enough to start changing my love for my mother into a sense of familial duty. I felt incredibly conflicted and there were lots of tears as I took her to the rehabilitation center while she recovered. We eventually made it through that time, and in February 2017 my mother and I were able to fulfill our dream of traveling to Ise. I used the Travel Memo from the Download City page on Hobonichi to confirm everything for our trip: which stairways to take to go the shortest distance when changing trains, lunch reservations, places where we could rent a wheelchair, which distances were best taken by taxi, and all kinds of things to ensure things were as easy as possible on my mother. I planned everything very meticulously to make sure it would be possible for her to make the trip. Things weren’t like they used to be, but with the support of my aunt and cousin, we were able to go on a mother-daughter trip again, and I couldn’t be more grateful. It was an unforgettable day.

Several days after our visit to Ise, my aunt casually showed me a photograph. It was a back view of me straining to push my mother in a wheelchair. Our life had turned upside down, and I hadn’t had any confidence in how to navigate this new life. I didn’t know if I was doing things correctly, or if there was anything more I could have been doing for my mother, or even a better way to do what I was doing. When I saw the back of me in that photograph, I looked so very strong and dependable. I felt really proud of myself!

I took out my 2017 Weeks and looked at that picture again for the first time in a while, but just as when I first saw it, seeing it makes me feel empowered. My mother has a hard time remembering anything since her stroke, so she probably doesn’t even remember that day.

(Riku)

When my grandfather passed away, it was less than a week after he fell ill and was hospitalized. “No, wait!” That must have been how everyone in my family, including myself, thought at the time. On my grandfather’s last day, we happened to be so busy that we could not answer family phone calls, which we usually would have noticed straight away, and by the time we arrived at the hospital, he was already barely conscious; he left his family unprepared for what was to come. I was grateful for the small mercies because, due to scheduling conflicts, the rituals that should have been over sooner ー the coffining, wake, cremation, and funeral ー proceeded one by one each day. The day after he passed away, my grandfather’s body returned home and lay quietly surrounded by the good old things he had collected as an antique dealer. Despite his serenity, his young great-grandchildren smiled and laughed around the coffin as they tinkled their bells, making the relatives joke. “It’s so noisy that Grandpa will come out as a ghost!” It was a very lively day. With each performance of each service, our family was getting ready to accept the death of the family member. Looking back at the techo, I find many things written in it, such as the casual comments of relatives, memories of my grandfather, and the stories told by the temple’s chief priest. It helped me keep my mind clear, writing about the feelings that I could only write about at that time. Sometimes, I would look back on a single sentence that I had written without much thought at the time and discover something new. It is a sad memory, but I am glad I recorded it.

(Ma-chan)

It was a hot summer day when my mother, younger sister, and I were about to drive for some shopping. I was waiting in the driver’s seat. My always-energetic sister, Sachi (30 years old at the time), tried to jump onto the back seat, hit her head on the edge of the car, and fell! I turned around to see what was going on, and what caught my eye was my sister on the ground with her underwear showing! I laughed so hard in tears, and it was such a shocking scene that when I came home a few hours later, I was shocked again at how lifelike the picture I had drawn as I remembered it. It still makes me laugh after ten years. The drawing is too pitiful to show to her husband, but I would like to show it to everyone at Hobonichi.

(izumi)

My unforgettable day is when I started to live alone for the first time, after turning thirty. I always knew that I had to move out of my parent’s house at one point, but I was unable to take the plunge because I kept thinking about the financial-side of things and all the negative thoughts. But I decided that I would finally move out, and after that, I found a place to live, signed a contract, moved out, and spent the first night on my own. I remember feeling restless because it was so quiet and I had so many things to worry about. However, I got used to it by the third day as if I had been living on my own for the past three years. Knowing how comfortable and freeing it is, I was feeling positive and thought of how I should have done so earlier and that things will work out in the end.

(Celavi)

My husband was at work one day doing sales. He told me how a customer had come up to him and told him he looked familiar. They couldn’t figure out what it could be, but it turned out the person had been a classmate of mine back in college. They’d apparently remembered his face from a family photo I’d set as my profile picture on Line. We hadn’t gotten in touch in ten years, and that person hadn’t even met my husband before because I’d met him after graduating from college. I’d be confused, too!

(Monsa)

Two years ago, on January 17. On the day of the heavy snowfall in Tokyo, I became one of the “xx people injured by snow-related falls in Tokyo” that the news was reporting on. I had unintentionally avoided an elderly woman walking from the other side and fell down in the process. It was a three-day weekend from the following day. I went to a clinic nearby to receive medicine just in case it started to hurt but found out that I had actually broken my arm. The clinic looked for a hospital that would be able to examine me, and I headed there with a taxi, thinking how something like this actually happens in real life, plans I have to cancel, people that I will cause trouble, all one after another.

Waiting for a week until the surgery. Being hospitalized before the surgery. Going to rehab. The pain that won’t go away. Undergoing surgery again a year later to remove the nails. These were all things I experienced for the first time in my life. My memories of this event have started to fade, but one thing that I’ve engraved in my mind is that you have to experience it to understand it. I did think so before, but this event made me think even more so. This day was a day that gave me the experience that, although imagining is important, that doesn’t mean you have fully understood it.

(Urara)

I bought a Hobonichi 5-Year Techo so that one day, when my son goes through rebellion and adolescence, I’d be able to think that it’s all part of my adorable son’s growth. I had written in it alongside my Cousin. In a letter from my son at that time, I found a message that helps me now. Because of this, I’m able to let bygones be bygones.

(Mayu)

On a clear night, I went to go see my grandma who lives on the second floor of a warehouse as I panted and huffed out white breaths as if to blow them towards the stars. “Grandma, I came to see you!” I said as I pulled out a piece of chocolate from my pocket that I brought in secret, and popped them in her mouth. I stashed away the candy wrapper in my pocket to destroy evidence. “I'll come see you again!” I said, to which my grandma replied “Thank you. Today turned into a wonderful day.” with a smile. She seemed truly happy. It was an exchange that only lasted for a few moments, but is unforgettable.

(Chikka)

I was taking a bath with my daughter who is three and eight months old. When I was washing my body with a towel, she said “I’ll do it for you,” and rubbed my back earnestly with her tiny hands. Her small hands that occasionally touched my back were precious and my heart was full. It turned into a moment I will never forget.

(yoko)

This is the day I went to go see the movie At the End of the Matinee, which stars my favorite actress Yuriko Ishida. I was so smitten with the classical guitar music played by Masahiro Fukuyama, who starred alongside her, that I went home too excited to sleep. As I lay in bed, I decided I would learn how to play classical guitar.
I’d never picked up an instrument before, so of course I couldn’t read sheet music, either. I was also entering my fifties, so all in all the cards were stacked against me. But I found a class, bought a guitar, and began music lessons. I was really discouraged at how difficult it felt, but in my third year, I was able to participate in a recital and start feeling like my dream was gradually becoming a reality.
Even now I’m amazed at how much that visit to the movie theater changed the trajectory of my life, which previously had no connection with playing instruments.

(Kana)