Business for Punks!!!!! (A Book Written by a BrewDog Founder!)

Hi! This time, I want to introduce a book that I have recently finished reading. I mentioned the book in my earlier post, but at that time, I could not fully talk about it because I hadn't finished it at that time. But now I have! Yes! For a non-native speaker of English, it is actually an accomplishment to be able to say that I have read a whole book written entirely in English. And it's not a skinny book for beginners, you know? There's nothing wrong with skinny books for beginners and people who read those kinds of books, by the way! But finishing an English book which is read not by English learners like me, but also native (and mature) English speakers is making me feel so good about myself.

Ok, now let's move on to really talk about the book... The book is called, "Business for Punks," and it also has a subtitle which says, "Break All the Rules - The BrewDog Way." The author of this book is James Watt, and he is a co-founder of BrewDog. And yes, BrewDog is a brewery, and it was found in Scotland in 2007.

Now, let me talk about how I came to pick up this book in the school library. In order to get to this, I should first talk about how I was introduced to BrewDog and their one of their products. It was on Christmas Day last year that I tried Punk IPA for the first time ever. Before that, I had never heard of the company or their products, to be honest, which now I think was a total shame. My boyfriend and I went into a so-called "British pub" which was newly opened in his neighbour. We both love drinking, so you know, a new place to have drinks, and we needed to check that out. So, we went there, and on the menu, I found a beer called Punk IPA, and it really dragged my attention. It looked like it had a cool label on it, I am a beer lover, and I love punk in the first place. I love punk music, and punk spirit in general. So, it was natural that I ordered it, and gave it a shot. I have made lots of mistakes in my life, but sometimes, surely, I do make great choices. I didn't have lots of information about the beer; I didn't know about the company, and I had not idea how the beer would taste like. But oh my gosh, it was delicious!!! I had not had a beer which had a taste like Punk IPA! It was very hoppy, and... just so good! (I am so sorry, I am really bad at describing tastes...) I knew that I would come back to the store for that beer from the moment that I had the first sip. It was that good! I looked up "BrewDog" on Google, and found some information about the revolutionary brewery. You won't be bothered to look up online to gather some information about the product you just happned to encounter, or the company whose making it, unless you're interested in them so much, right? So... yeah, that was how I came to know BrewDog and Punk IPA.

Then, how did I find the book? To be honest, that was nothing but a coincidence. As I entered the school library on the third of February (I know the exact date because I tweeted a photo of the book on the day I encountered it. lol), I caught something blue, which seemed to me was similar to the shade of the label of Punk IPA, in the corner of my eye at the bookshelf next to the entrance. I looked back. And it was actually a book written by a co-founder of BrewDog! I don't know why this happened, though. I mean, why would I know why it happened?! lol I didn't know James had written a book on his business philosophy, and the school library does not know about me, and what I'm interested in obviously! But thank... Umm, I don't know whom I should be thankful for... lol But uh... thank you, whoever up there, and have a control over destiny or whatever you call it for letting me discover this book!

Alright, so if you think my personal anecdote is so boring, I have a good news for you! All the rumbling is finally over, and now it's time to go over the core messages which James is telling to the readers. I can't just go one by one, of course, so I'll do what I can do to introduce (only) a few of the essence of his words of wisdom.

First, he teaches us that we shouldn't be starting a new business. Instead, we should start a revolution, or "crusade" in his word. It's about your passion, mission, and how you want to make a change in this world, rather than creating a mean to get profits, and earn money.

"Businesses fail. Businesses die. Businesses fade into oblivion. 

 Revolution never die.

 So start a revolution, not a business."

I am not a specialist in business, nor do I have a plan to start a new business, but I can't agree with this enough. Some people say they want to start a business, own a company, and so on. Ok, I get it... if you're like 5 years old. But they're actually much older than that. They want their companies, but they have no idea or mission. I have been pointing out that that is not how it works, and how you start a project, but now I can verify what I am saying even more because of, and thanks to this book.

Second, James talks also about the importance of founding your brand, and creating your fandom (i.e., marketing). When you buy a product, it's not just about the product, right? The image of the brand that makes the product always follows. You buy a product not because it has a good quality, but also you support that brand. People love brands that they feel they can relate to, and people love brands that are engaging, and willing to be open, and close to them. If a company has a clear, straight passion, mission, and philosophy, they will build fandom. And fans want to support the company and the brand. They will proudly buy, and use the companies products, talk about them online, which is a good way of spreading your brand and products without having to pay a lot of money. If you have a clear vision, good product, and a well-established brand, each fan of you will automatically be ambassadors.

"By engaging and connecting with consumers, you can recruit them to your crusade. By properly laying the foundations, they become actively complicit in your mission, and in turn help you succeed." 

"Customers want to buy into a business that they can believe in; they want to buy from a business that bleeds, loves and laughs in the same way they do and that stands for the same things to boot."

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I love wearing makeup. And I feel like I see many cosmetics brands are following this rule. Customers are fans for each brand. They are not just looking for good mascaras, brow products, etc. They want products that have that logo they love on them. They don't just trust the products; they also trust the brand. And when a brand launches a new product, the loyal fans are waiting, and craving to get one. Ok, so I just wrote about cosmetics industry, but you can do (or should be doing, I should say!) the same thing in every business.

And lastly, James tells us that if you're ever thinking of starting a business on your own, you need to be goddamn strong. And this means you need to take risks, be selfish, and be unreasonable sometimes to protect your mission and passion.

"On many occasions you are going to have to be ruthless, brutal, cold-blooded and cynical. This is OK. As long as it is done for the long-term good of what you are trying to achieve." 

"I love ignoring advice as much as every stupid muppet loves giving it to me. My advice, to those seeking advice, is don't even bother. Advice is for freaks and clowns. The thing about being driven is you need to know your own way." 

James says that everything you do needs to be motivated, and backed up by your mission. People will come up, and try to give you advice. But they don't know share the same passion and mission as you do, they don't really care about your company, and they're not going to take any responsibility if something (bad) happened to your company because you followed that piece of advice. But you care about your company because your life depends on it, you are going to have to take responsibility for anything that happens to your company, and you have the passion and mission. So, you should go, and do whatever what you believe in. Never try to please everyone. Stick to your mission, have faith, and work hard. That's what James is saying.

Alright! I won't give away too much information about what is written in the book, so if you want to find out more, you need to go get that book yourself. I actually want to say more to be honest, though! lol But before I start leaking more information, I probably finish this post. I really, truly enjoyed this book. My heart was pounding when I was reading this book! For real. My inner... uh, no, I think I am openly punk... Whatever. My punk spirit was very satisfied. And guess what? This book made me love BrewDog even more! I am being loyal, and I am actually writing about the company and their product on the Internet, so this is marketing too, right? lol

Ok, thank you for reading, guys! I hope I see you in my next post!

Being Busy Is Overrated!

Hi, thanks for stopping by! I hope you're having a great day, or if you're about to end your day, I hope you had a good one.

So this time, let me start with a question: do you like doing nothing? Me? I totally LOVE spending time doing nothing. I could just not leave my house all day, and do nothing all day long. Why am I asking this question? Because I feel like so many people are obsessed with being busy nowadays. They treat having nothing to do like it's a luxury for idlers. And I'm here today to tell them the importance of having time to do nothing, if you want to be creative. Creative spirits don't give a damn about your schedule, and how busy you are. Creative spirits do not come from busy minds. When you're too busy catching up on your daily hustle and your schedule, you won't have time for going forward, and going beyond. When you're too busy to take time for creativity, you can't expect any growth. I'm here to say, "Don't just say, 'Oh, I wish I could afford that time.' Make time for creativity and spiritual growth. Don't just live for your tasks."

"Wow, that's great! But... I'm too busy." Come, on! That's so lame. You can be busy, but don't let your busy-ness dominate and dictate your life all the time. I guess so many people love being busy because being busy make you look more relevant to society. Being busy makes you look like you're needed, and thus makes you look worthier. I sometimes feel like social media are exhibitions of how relevant people are to society. If you're a busy person, and you're agenda notebook is filled with memos of your schedule, you are likely to meet different people many times. You have many friends because people love you, and need you. You take lots of pictures with different people, and post them online. And your pictures get lots of likes, which makes you really satisfied. Me? I don't have lots of friends, and I don't go out that much. I do sometimes, though. So it's easy to guess that I don't post pictures of me with people, which is correct. And I don't have many followers, which means that I don't get lots of likes. I think I've never got more than 30 likes on Instagram to be honest. My sister even felt pity for me because of this! lol But that's ok because I don't care about how many likes I get. I don't care about how "popular" I am, or how important I am to society or whatever. I am just fine even if society don't think I'm important. I am just a small existence, and I am not born with any mission or task for society. I do whatever I want to do, and if people thank me or appreciate me along the way, that will be awesome.

I think people love being busy also for this reason: they feel like they're being productive. They live a productive life. But I doubt that. Is being so busy that you don't even have time to sit down with yourself, and have a little conversation with yourself, productive? I hate being too busy with my job and tasks for this reason. Jobs and tasks make me feel like I'm being productive when I'm really not. And at the end of day, I'll be too exhausted to have time for myself. I can only think about going to bed as early as possible to be ready for the next day. Daily hustle and responsive jobs. Creative spirits don't get along with them. I worked at a busy convenience store this spring vacation, and the work I did there was definitely a responsive job. I didn't create or add anything new. I was just there for customers, and answered there needs. There were so-called manuals for each task, and all I needed to do was to follow them carefully. It's not just about the work in a convenience store. Think about answering e-mails. That's responsive too. You can be so busy replying to all those e-mails you've got. You'd feel you're being busy and productive. But are you really producing anything? Treating customers, answering e-mails, solving problems, schoolwork, etc. These are all responsive tasks. I'm not saying these jobs are worthless. And you can't leave them all behind; you've got to do what you've got to do. But what is important is that you should make sure you should take time for things other than responsive jobs. You can use that time to add something new to your job, create a whole new thing from scratch, etc. I feel like so many people are busy catching up with their tasks and thing they've got to do, and neglect catching up with themselves.

I have been writing a long essay about my life and thoughts recently. Well, I am the one who's typing the keyboard, but I let my creative spirits and spontaneousness moves my fingers. I write whatever comes up on my mind, and worry about the structure later. And it's a very fun activity for me to do. I don't have any assigned theme or anything, I don't have any deadline. Just me and a blank, white space. Well, talking about me and a blank, white space, this blog, too, is my way of spending time with myself, and being creative without any task or mission. But taking time for creativity isn't enough because creativity doesn't like schedules and deadlines. He loves showing up when he wants. Being creative isn't just for people doing creative jobs. We all can be creative. What is important is that we all have this mindset that we let our spirits and thoughts float freely. I get good ideas or lines for my essay or this blog when I'm not working on them. When I'm taking a bath, when I'm just taking a walk, when I'm feeling comfortable in my bed, etc. Creative spirits come to me when I'm not expecting.

Don't just live for your tasks. The true value of life is outside of tasks. If you're too busy taking time for doing nothing, talk to your agenda notebook, and still take time for doing nothing. You're good at dealing with your schedule, you busy people, right? lol Be idlers sometimes, even if you're busy. I believe many successful people know this. Their schedules are hectic. They are busy, but they don't have busy minds 24/7. They have been successful because they have taken time and mind space for new things (i.e., thing other than responsive jobs). Be creative and artistic at heart, even if you're not an artist. Liberate yourself from tasks and deadlines. Have a conversation with your creativity spirits and spontaneousness, and make friends with them. They will surprise you. Tasks and daily hustle don't make your life rich in the end. Do nothing sometimes. Value doing nothing because it's so underrated these days. Being busy isn't something you should be proud of or something you can boast around.

Makeup Shaming Needs to End. Now.

Hello! I just received a very special gift from my parents today. I got a huge, gorgeous box filled with chocolates, and it's from GODIVA! Yay! Oh, in case you're wondering, I am a hopeless chocolate addict. I live and die for chocolates. lol I was awarded with those chocolates because... I got a perfect score in TOEIC test (YES!)! If you do not know TOEIC, it's a test that measures your English abilities. There are two types of TOEIC test: listening and reading test, and writing and speaking test. But the former is more common, and what I took this time was that one too.

I have been studying or have been around English, I should say, since when I was five years old. I've always loved studying English, and have always wanted to be better at it. I did study English, but I always made sure that I find ways that I can improve my English skills without having to feel like I was "studying." I studied English in terms of memorizing lists of English words and phrases, preparing for English exams, doing English homework from school, and so on. On the other hand, I've always loved watching YouTube videos by English speakers, reading magazines and books written in English, listening to English songs, and so on to keep myself entertained. Not only those activities helped me have fun, they also helped me a lot in terms of letting me engage in "real" English. English in textbooks and CDs that come with them, and that in real life are different, you know? In real life English, people will speak faster, more casually, and with different accents, depending on whom you're talking with. So, if you're studying a foreign language, this is a small tip I'd give to you! :) Of course, it won't be a short journey (Remember, it took me 19 years to take a perfect score in TOEIC test!), and it's actually a never-ending journey because it's a language; you'll never every really "master" a language. You don't know everything about your mother tongue. In that sense, taking a perfect score in one English test is an achievement, but that doesn't mean I don't have to make an effort to better my English anymore, or I have come to the stage where I can no more better my English. To be honest, I think I still have so many things to do to be better at English, and there still are times when I want to spank myself for being terrible at English (lol). But if you can have fun studying that language, you're less likely to give up, and someday, you'll see how far you've come, and be proud of yourself. Have faith in yourself!

Oops, sorry. I was so excited that I just created a huge section where I talk about how you can study a foreign language. Wow. I hate it when people try to give me advice when I actually didn't even ask for one, but I think I just did give an unasked advice this time. Wow, Yuki, you're annoying. lol

Alright, so today, I want to write about makeup shaming. Let's go.

I've always loved playing around with makeup. I don't call myself a beauty guru, and have an entire room dedicated to things related to beauty like beauty vloggers. But I have a lot of cosmetics and beauty products (more than I need!), and I really love trying out different looks each day. Although there are many, many people who share the same interest that I have, there are many, many people who hate seeing people having fun with their makeup as well.  Well, people have different interests, and sometimes, you can't necessarily understand every interest. Some people love makeup. Some people aren't really into makeup. That's totally fine. That's not a problem at all. But... makeup shaming is a real problem.

It's a shame that some people don't see the artistic aspect of makeup. Makeup is not just a daily routine to look prettier. I think that's the key, you know? There are many different kinds of makeup. Those crazy, yet amazing looks that you see in movies (aka special effect makeup) are also called makeup. And that is art too. Art doesn't have to be just paintings and music. In special effect makeup, the core aim is not to make actors/actresses look cuter and prettier. They can be perceived cute or pretty as a result by the audience, but looking "good" is not their goal. Their goal is to transform. And that's where creativity comes in. There's no limit when you're talking about creativity. There's no "Wow, that's too much!" in art. Art and practicality don't always get along, and they don't have to in the first place. And those art and creativity can be applied to your daily makeup as well, by the way. You don't have to be an artist to be artistic, and art doesn't have to be an special occasion.

Makeup also helps you get in the mood, or zone. When in doubt, wear red. This really works. When I wear a bold, bright red lipstick, I transform from just Yuki to a fearless, fierce woman. I feel sexy. I feel more confident. I feel like I am ready to run the world. lol It's like tying your tie to head out to work. It does have an aspect of daily routine, but psychologically, what it does to you is more than a mere daily routine. There are meanings in that process itself.

Ok, so now, I want to talk about something that really struck me personally. Some people think that people wear makeup impress others. I will never ever forget that moment when I a guy I knew said, "You won't be popular (among boys) with that amount of makeup (= much!)." Holy crap! It was like... six or seven years ago, but the feelings never get old. It wasn't just about makeup shaming. Well, he assumed that there's such thing as too much makeup in the first place, which is total nonsense. But he also assumed that I was wearing makeup to impress boys, which made me feel so offended. And he came up to me like I was a desperate, insecure girl that sought attention from boys. That was so humiliating. He made fun of, and looked down on makeup, and moreover, he make fun of, and looked down on me. Wow, that was so kind of him.

It's simply surprising that some people think we wear makeup to impress others, when the truth is that what they think is so wrong. I am not trying to impress anyone with my makeup except myself. I am wearing makeup to satisfy myself, not you, or anyone else. If you liked my makeup, and made positive comments on my it, that's pretty awesome, and I'll be so happy. But I'm all about making myself happy with makeup first. We makeup lovers just love trying out different colors, different shades, different looks, and we simple love the process. If I ever wanted to impress boys (and any other people in general), I would never wear blue lipsticks or black lipsticks. And I would just stick to brown eyeshadows, and play safe. You see, makeup is not just about covering up your flaws. If you think makeup is just about correcting and covering up, you know so little about makeup! Makeup does actually help making my nasty acne (lol) look less profound, but the real fun part is awaiting in the next stage, where you get to explore with all those colors and combinations, and that's the most delicious part of makeup. Don't just say the cream puff you're eating tastes bad when you haven't even reached the custard.

And, to all the people who claim that we makeup lover wear that much makeup because we hate ourselves, and we are so insecure about how we look without makeup; because we're slaves to makeup. Umm, actually, we're kind of slaves to makeup in a way that we love makeup so much. But let's be very clear and real. First, we're fine with being around without makeup; our love towards makeup doesn't come from insecurities. Yes, I go out without any traces of makeup. I've been to school totally bare faced, and spent the entire day. And I have done that multiple times. I do take pictures without makeup, and I don't mind at all posting them online, and let people around the world see how I look when I'm not wearing makeup. Secondly, hey, who doesn't want to look good? For real. Who doesn't? Everybody wants to look good. How can you blame that? No matte how you look, you'll always want to look good. And that's different from hating your appearance, and being insecure. Confident people want to look good too, and people try to achieve that in various ways. Makeup is one of those tools.

So makeup shamers, just back off. "You should be more natural"??? What is natural anyways? Human life itself is quite unnatural in the first place, isn't it? lol You don't need a "valid" reason to love something. You just love it because you love it. But when you go hate on something, you always need a valid reason. And I don't think makeup shamers have one to convince us makeup lovers to stop loving makeup. So bye.

...Ok, now I can finish this post. I don't really like to write little by little to complete a post, but this time, I had to. I've been working a lot, and have to sacrifice my time to do things I love, such as writing and reading. But I hate to live just for my work, so I am making sure I am taking time for reading and writing, even if it's a short amount of time, everyday. I hope you managed to find this article interesting! Thanks for reading!

Brief Life Update + Books I've Been Reading!

Hi, thanks for visiting my blog! I'm so happy that I've been able to upload this blog often during this spring vacation! School starts in less than a month, and it's sad to think that once school starts, it'll be harder for me to come here this often because I'll be much busier. But even so, I'll try my best to come here, write different things, and hopefully, entertain you all! So... stay tuned!

Actually, to be honest, I came here not because I had something in mind, and wanted to write about it. I just wanted to come here because I wanted to update my blog; I don't want to leave this place untouched for too long. So... I guess I'll write about what I've been doing.

I've been in my hometown with my parents. Parents can be annoying, but you don't have to cook while you're with your parents, so that's lucky! lol And I'm actually living a productive life here! I've been working at a convenience store on weekdays except Wednesdays, and on Saturdays. It's a very busy store, but I guess it's better than having nothing to do because being busy makes you feel that time passes faster, whereas when you're bored, 1 hour feels like 5 hours! Most of my co-workers are really nice and kind. Besides the part-time job, I read, write, and pretend like I'm a job-hunting enthusiast. If you have read my older post, you know I hate job hunting because the whole system is simply dumb. My parents are so worried about their precious little girl, so I kind of (only kind of) do sort of job hunting. lol I do show up to job-hunting conventions, but not to polish apples, and find companies that would hire me. I go those places to meet new people, talk with adults, see their presentations, and look for companies which I would want to work for. I believe good companies know students (potential employees) and them (employers) are equal, not them bossing around like they wear the pants.

About the reading... Have I told you I loved reading? Alright, I'll make it clear here: I love reading! There you go! lol For me, vacations mean lots of time for reading. I am currently three books, and I'm about to finish two of them. One is called "Business for Punks: Break All the Rules - the BrewDog Way" by James Watt (co-founder of BrewDog), and another one is called The Sound and the Fury (volume one) by William Faulkner. Business for Punks is a business book (obviously), and The Sound and the Fury is a well-recognized novel by a modernist writer, William Faulkner. Oops, I said it twice. It's really hard to talk about the novel. Even in Japanese. But it's very interesting, and even though the ages of modernism is a thing in the past, how he conveyed the story (stream of consciousness, which describes the inner world of the characters intensively through those characters' eyes) is still new, and fresh. And you'll have a glimpse of the era, when America had the slavery system. So, please read it, if you haven't! I can't wait to finish this volume, and start reading volume two.

And about the business book... This also an awesome book, and I highly recommend that you read it! I think I will actually make a post fully dedicated to this book. I will write about how I came to pick up this book, how much I liked it, some main points stressed throughout this book, etc. I am guessing many people already know or at least have heard of BrewDog. If you a fan of BrewDog, go read it; you'll fall in love with them once again. If you happen to be not familiar with BrewDog, go get their beers, and you'll want to read this book to know more about them.

The one that I am still far from finishing is called "I Am a Cat" by the well-known, beloved novlelist, Soseki Natsume. It's weird to see the translation of the original title, but yes, this it it. I just looked it up on the Internet, and yes, you can read the English translated version of this book. You can find a copy on Amazon because they have anything! The novel was written in 1905, and this is the author's first work. In this book, the world of human society is narrated through a cat's eyes. It has a very unique perspective, and this is why it is still loved by people. There's no Japanese who do not know this novel! This novel is that famous!!! I remember reading the very first part of this novel (The whole story itself is very long!) when I was in elementary school. I am so excited because this will be actually my first time reading the entire book! Still long way to go, but I know I can finish this because the story is very interesting, and never tires me.

I tend to write long posts, so I'll keep it short this time! After I finish the books, I am thinking of reading "Ecce Homo" by Friedrich Nietzsche, and "The Sorrows of Young Werther" by J. W. von Goethe. Oh, and also "Silence" by Shusaku Endo. Has anyone of you already seen the film "Silence" directed by Martin Scorsese?! I really want to watch the film too, but first, I have to finish the book!

Ok, thank you so much for visiting my blog, and I hope I see you in my next post! Bye!

What to Say When People Tell You Your Major Is Worthless Because It's Useless.

Hi! The allergy season has come in Japan! To whoever suffering from, and tortured by those flying pollen, I know all of those pains too! Let's have a hope that there will be a cure in the future so that we don't have to suffer for the rest of our lives!

So, let me start today's topic with this narrative... I was talking about a gentleman I met at a job hunting event yesterday to my mom. I said, "...And he said that he graduated from UC Berkeley, and was majoring in Philosophy!" What my mom said as a response was, "Oh, that doesn't sound useful for getting a job!" ...Really? So, you mean studying philosophy is useless??? No, philosophy is awesome! I got excited when I heard he studied philosophy. I'm interested in philosophy too, even though I'm not majoring in it, and what I do is just read books, and study by myself in my free time.

And you see, this is why I hate having to think about our future career way early. If your major determines you future career, you actually have to think about what you want to do after you graduate from collage when you're in high school, and apply for collage accordingly. In Japan, when you apply for collage, you don't just apply for the school you want to go to, but you also need to choose what you want to study (=major). There are rare cases where you get to choose your major after you start your school life, but again, that's very rare in Japan. In most cases, you need to know what you want to study in collage when you're still in high school.

But that's not the only thing I want to say in this post. I'm here today to say that it is very petty that some people do not value things that are "useless" in their views. To them, perhaps economics is useful, medicine is useful, mechanics is useful, psychology is useful, computer science is useful, etc. Those things clearly better our lives and societies, help economy and technology develop. And some people think those things are the only things that matter. So, there's no reason to study philosophy, literature, history, etc? Because they don't invent new technologies, and better our lives??? Because you won't need knowledge earned by studying philosophy once you graduate from collage, and start working??? Can we just study what we want because for this simple reason: because we're interested, and because we're curious?

Well, it's awesome if you think you want to contribute to society, and work for people. And you can study what you study for that reason. I want to help people suffering from diseases, and therefore, I will study medicine, and be a doctor. That is purely amazing. But I don't like it when people rank different majors according to whether the major contributes to societies or not. All majors and studies are equally important. And ultimately, you should study because you're interested, not because what you study enriches people's lives physically. And you should not study expecting it leads to something. You should follow your curiously, not a goal.

Now, let's took at a wonderful example. Professor Yoshinori Ohsumi was awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine. What he said about his research (fundamental research) really talks what I feel. I just looked for an online article that talks about what he said, and I found one by The Japan Times. I remember what he said, so I didn't necessarily need to look for something I can cite from, but I thought it would be better to get help from professional writers so that you can understand what I am trying to say more easily and clearly.

"'I want to emphasize one thing here. When I started this study, I wasn't convinced that this would lead to (answers for) any questions such as those concerning cancer and human longevity.'"

"During the news conference, Ohsumi lamented that in Japan today, scientists often face pressure to achieve quick results that 'that are useful for something,' such as those that can be used for practical medical treatments within mere years."

 "He said he hopes science will be regarded as important in its own right, 'not something that is developed for practical purpose only.'" 

Ah! "Practical purpose"! That's the word! See? The professional writer did better than me! lol Every research should be done upon a practical purpose. "Ok, so why are you doing your research? Does it help us? What does it do to us?" And the correct answer is, "I'm not sure. It may be. ...We'll see." I am not familiar with science, but nowadays, I heard that fundamental research is not popular, and applied research (=the practical application of science) is more popular. And people want practical. If not many people want it, you'll get less fund, and that's what happening in the field of fundamental research. But not being practical doesn't mean it is worthless, as we all have learned from Professor Ohsumi.

Now, let's go back to philosophy, literature, history, etc., things that some people think to be worthless because they don't have practical purposes. Some scientific areas are valued less than the others, but I feel like these days, in this technologically advanced world, people look down on un-scientific areas of studies and liberal arts. I am not dissing science. Science has provided us so many things. But what we really need to keep in mind is that science isn't perfect. There are so many important questions science do not have answers to. And I think that thinking about those questions are getting more and more important when people are leaning towards science. Because now, for example, ethics is not catching up with what science and technology can do. Think about the reproductive technology. It's not just a scientific challenge, but also a ethical challenge. We don't know how we should think about it, we're not ready for it mentally, and we don't have a decent law for what current technology can achieve. (This example is taken from a class I took in the last semester, by the way. I am trying to put this into my own words, but the original idea is from the professor.)

How about euthanasia? Well, science can do it. But is it ethical? Is it ok for a doctor to kill a patient if he/she wanted to? Maybe the patient didn't or couldn't leave a will for various reasons. In that case, is it ethical that the patient's family decide what to do? Or is it ethical in the first place to try to keep the patient alive when they are in a vegetated condition? Is the patient really happy? When a person does not have any consciousness, and you don't have much hope that he/she will recover, how should you treat them?

And technology is supposed to make everything more convenient, and make people happier. Yes, it has truly made things more convenient. But are we all happy? It doesn't seem so. Then, why is that? Actually, what is happiness in the first place? Why can't we liberate ourselves from the hell inside our heads when we can liberate ourselves from labor? We are good at trying to make ourselves physically rich, but it doesn't seem to fill our hearts at the end of the day. Fill our hearts? Ok, so why do we think we have hearts? Where do emotions come from? From our brains? Or from hearts? Souls? Are we all made up of physical objects? Are emotions just a result of chemical reactions or neurological activities in our brains? Or are our minds and bodies are completely different things?

Chasing practical purposes and uses is quick and effective. But I think it's like trying to build a fancy mansion on an unsolid (I meant not solid... Is "unsolid" even a word? lol) ground. You can make the mansion bigger and larger until it collapses because the ground couldn't hold anymore. You may think that some areas of studies are worthless because it's hard to see practical uses of them. But no, it doesn't mean that things you do not or cannot see do not exist. In addition, how practical the thing is isn't the only aspect you need to see when determining whether it's valuable or not. I am interested in philosophy and literature because they ask questions concerning the very root/basis of human beings. Although they don't make you physically rich, and they don't build robots and rockets either, they should be valued more not only by people who are majoring in/studying those areas. You don't have to be a philosopher to think about philosophical questions; you don't have to be a scholar of literature to read books, and imagine what those authors had gone through; and you don't have to be a historian to look at the past, learn from it, and discuss about our future. Like you don't fully know about yourself, we human do not fully know who we are. Do you think investigating these areas is worthless? No, I don't think so.

Reference:

• Yoshida, R. (2016, October 3). Japan's newest Nobel laureate, Yoshinori Ohsumi, touts importance of fundamental research. - The Japan Times. Retrieved March 6, 2017, from http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/10/03/national/science-health/japans-newest-nobel-laureate-yoshinori-ohsumi-touts-importance-fundamental-research/#.WL0nRDzXeEc

The Virtue of Being Authentic.

Hello to whoever kindly reads my posts! It can't really see each one of you in person, which is really sad, but I get to see how many people hopped into my posts. And it's always good to know that someone read my posts even though I blog mostly for myself. I'm not a famous blogger or anything by any means, so of course, I don't have a lot of viewers, and I know my blog doesn't deserve to be a big thing. If I really want to make this professional, there are many things to do. But at this point, I don't have a fixed schedule for this blog, and I don't really proofread each post to make them be better essays before I publish them. But wow, this is the Internet; my posts always manage to get viewers somehow. I must have been making lots of grammatical errors and misspelling words for countless times because English is my second language, and my posts tend to be long and droopy. But if you've ever read my blog, even just once, I am very grateful to you. So, thank you!

Alright, so today, I am going to write about how good and awesome it is to stay true to you. I can talk about this because I myself had to learn this through my life; I have a living experience. I don't and never will do this anymore, but I used to fake myself just because I wanted to look cool, and I wanted to be liked. I wanted to have lots of friends, and wanted to be in squads (We didn't have that term like 10 years ago, though!), because (at least I thought) those were how cool kids are. Now, I am nothing like that. (If you said to yourself, "Girl, I know that. I can see that through your blog," at this point, that is awesome! You know me, and you're in my team! Congrats! lol) I wish I had known better then, but I was even younger (I'm still young!), and you know, we're not Almighty Gods; we all learn something along the way.

It was always hard for me to love who I am. I've always been weird, and a bit shy. I didn't have lots of friends. Well, I have a younger sister, and we are far from being similar to each other. Most people don't even notice that we're related unless we introduce ourselves, and tell them we're family. We don't look alike to each other at all, and we are very different in our personalities also. My sister is very cheerful, optimistic, never take things too seriously, friendly, fun... Everyone sees why she has lots of friends. And she has always had lots of friends. I remember comparing myself with her all the time, and envied her. I used to think she was better than me, and I wanted to be like her. Well, I don't think my sister is the only reason I could not love myself, and felt inferior, though. But for some reasons, during my childhood, I always wanted to look pretty (because I thought I was ugly), be surrounded by people, and be popular, which, I thought, would make me a cool kid.

During the last year of elementary school, I started to fake myself. I wanted to be in a squad where pretty girls with pretty clothes belong. And I managed to get in. But oh my gosh, they were as mean as they were pretty. And I was so afraid to be hated, and to be kicked out of the squad that I pretended to be mean too, which I know, and knew was wrong. So basically, they were my first fake friends. And I was too scared to be real.

After I entered junior high, things really changed. I didn't go to the local school near my house, and instead, I took an entrance exam, and went to a different school from the students in my elementary school. During the first spring semester, I did everything to appear cheerful and cool, and I did succeeded. I made lots of friends, and I was in a group for cool kids in my class. And it felt amazing! That was all that I had ever wanted. But sadly, it didn't last long. During the fall semester after the first summer vacation in junior high, I noticed that I had lost many of my friends. I noticed that I wasn't surrounded by people. There were less people around me. I guess the reason why that happened is that people realized that I wasn't trust worthy. I wanted to liked by everyone, which is 100% impossible. In order to be liked by literally everyone, you have to give up consistency. And doing so, it costed me a lot afterwards.

But that's not the end of the story. Phew! During the next school year, I made really good friends, whom I still can proudly call them my friends. Here's why it happened. Every year, my school did a class reformation (or a class shuffle if that's easier for you to understand?) like most other schools do too. So, every April, when new school years starts, you have to check which class you are appointed to, and meet your whole new classmates. Oh, for those of you who are not familiar with Japanese school system, which is totally fine, here's a piece of information. In Japan, teachers come to classrooms, where students await, to conduct classes. In the U.S., each teacher has their own classrooms, and students show up to their rooms to take classes. But in Japan, it's the other way around. Alright, end of the excursion. So, during the second year of junior high, I was with different classmates, and luckily, I got to meet with amazing people. That's the reason. lol I made good friends because I was lucky! Those people who became my friends were all considered to be weird and different. Oh, sweet! I've always been told that I was weird and different also! And what was really eyeopening to me was that they were completely fine being who they are, and completely fine being weird and different. And thanks to them, I could tear down the shell, and be who I am. And they stayed with me for who I really am. No more pretending; no more fake friends. It was so comfortable being myself, and not having to be worried about whether they were going to hate me.

I am very proud of my friends. They are intelligent, fun to be with, and so down to earth. And we all hate the mainstream. lol Oh, and when you have true friends, you don't care about how many friends you have. This is an important lesson I learned. When you're around with good people, you don't fell insecure. And since then, I stay with people with whom I think I'm comfortable being around with. I stopped thinking I had to be popular, or being popular was the only way to be cool. And now, here I am. I still don't have lots of friends like people who do have lots of friends. I don't think I'm popular. I'm still the weird me. I stay at my house to quietly read books on Friday nights, instead of going out for drinks with people. My phone doesn't ring much with texts and phone calls from people other than my family and my boyfriend. But it's way better than having a bunch of fake friends, and faking to look cool.

Another characteristic my friends share is that they don't text or call a lot. We don't interact with each other much online. When we text to each other, that's because we need to, like when we want to check in with each other's schedule to make some time to have dinner together, or go out for drinks together. And when we're done with figuring out our schedule, and have agreed on a date, time, and a place to meet, you say goodbye. We follow each other on social media. But other than reading or seeing each other's posts and pictures, and liking them, we pretty much do nothing, although of course, sometimes we leave comments, and have a little conversation. Now, some of my friends live relatively close to my place, and the others live far away. But even though it's hard for us to meet up frequently, and we don't really utilize IT to contact each other, we know we don't have to constantly check whether we're still friends or not. And when we meet, even after several years, it doesn't feel awkward at all. We can always jump right into a fun conversation like it was the day before that we met last time.

I have these awesome friends because I chose to, and choose to stick with my real self. I am very thankful to my friends. I don't say this much to them, so I am saying this here. Being authentic feels good. Being authentic means you accept you're not for everyone. Sounds sad? It's not, actually. Denying, and ignoring that you're not for everyone is sadder. Only when you start accepting you're not for everyone, can you start being authentic. And if you're not authentic, you won't be surrounded by authentic people. Surrounding yourself with fake ass friends is the same as surrounding yourself with straw men. You won't get anything meaningful from fake friends. Instead, you'll feel empty, insecure, and lonely even though you're physically surrounded by people. So, be yourself, and be just be open for those who really cares about you. Don't worry, there's always somebody who likes you, if not everybody.

Live Your Goddamn Life!

Hey. I just got back to my parents' house yesterday. I'll be here until the end of this month. Wow, it's already March here in Japan, by the way. Time flies!

So... I was thinking about what I wanted to write about for my next post since I uploaded the last post. And I've decided to talk about my mindset concerning life. So here we go!

So many things are considered to be right or normal just because many people think they're right or normal, and people have done those things for a long time. And so many things are considered to be right or normal because they are safe, and relatively have low risks. Those things are right not because they're right, or normal not because they're actually normal. The idea of what's right and what's normal are socially constructed. And what I want to say in this post is that... you don't have to follow these rules.

"Well, things have always been this way, so that's why." "It's just the way it is." Jeez, I hate these. I love questioning things. I love to stop and think, "Yeah, but why?" Why do I have to do this? Why do I have to believe this? What's so good about doing/believing this? Do I want to do this way? I love asking these questions to myself, or sometimes to people. The saddest thing is that not many people appreciate, and be passionate about these questions.

Right now, I'm in the phase where I am supposed to be working hard on job hunting. And I see many collage students around my age are doing so. In Japan, job hunting is an event, and it's merely a system. And it's ridiculous. Students are forced to think about what they want to do after graduating, and start working on it even before they actually graduate besides doing schoolwork. If you don't graduate with a secured job, you're a loser. I mean, no, you're not a loser, but society will label you as an inadequate loser. Your parents are going to be worried about your future if you still haven't been accepted by a company or companies around the same time as your friends. Ugh, and the dumbest thing is that you have to wear those plain, boring suits to job interviews. How are we supposed to show ourselves, and be different when the society has this tacit rule? Well, you could wear your favorite suit to interviews. It doesn't have to be plain black like everybody else if you dare. But many people do not have the courage to do so; they want to play it safe, which is understandable. You see now, don't you? Many people almost automatically reach for plain black suits for job hunting because of the socially constructed, tacit rule. It is considered to be normal, and also safe. But this is so boring, and does not satisfy me. It does not convince me that I should also wear one of those suits like everyone else when I go to job interviews.

Schools are lame too. Wow, I just said that. lol To be record, I love reading, and learning new things, and I am always open for discussions. But I hate those boring exams, and having to study for them. I am not saying I hate exams all together, and never to want to take any. Exams can be more interesting, and be more challenging this perspective. Exams should be based more on what students have thought about after, and also within each lecture, not on how well students memorize things that were talked about in class. Yes, we need to have basic knowledge to think. But I think many students tend to stop here. Yes, having knowledge is great. But what is important is to think beyond that. We need to use our brain. What does the knowledge add to you? Do you agree with the author, lecturer, opinion, etc.? How does the knowledge matter to you? Do you see any connections between that knowledge you learned today with some other things you've learned? We should think about these things more rather than just going over knowledge and facts for exams. And exams should ask these kinds of questions to see what students actually learned. Trust me, students cannot build up on what was covered in class if they do not have basic knowledge taught in class. Students who don't come to class, or review at home don't even have a base to think upon. So in this way, lectures can see how well students contributed to class, and study the materials discussed in class without asking them to present basic factual stuff.

Oh, and you know what? I thought I could learn whatever I wanted. I thought collages were filled with love for learning. They're just a bunch of curriculum. And it's sad to see that many students are ok with that. They just deal with those curriculum and schoolwork like their job. They do what they're told to do, and get credits as a reward. They go to school, go to class, do homework, study for exams, take exams, and when they're done with exams, they forget all the things they learned in those courses they took. I want to do things this way: I studied, and learned, and credits came along. I don't want to study for credits. I mean, you can study as much as you want, and go beyond lectures and courses, which is what I do. I actually read the whole book that was introduced in class if I want to, even if that's not required. If I'm interested in a topic, or a thing, I study about it besides schoolwork. Studying doesn't end in class. You should study through your entire life, even after graduating school. You should be curious, and always ready to ask questions. Just focusing on what you're majoring in, and things you are told to do at school are not enough. Why am I saying this? Of course, I can just quietly continue what I have done, and refrain from giving opinions. But I want more of this study-loving atmosphere. I want to share my feelings with other people.

You don't have to do what I do to get credits, and graduate from collage. They may think it's better to do some other cool stuff, and put some so-so efforts to schoolwork. I mean that's fine too. But for me, learning is more fun and important. Cool folks may think I'm weird, or even annoying. Yup... I know I'm weird; I've always been that weird girl in class. lol But I've learned long ago that I never have to be cool, and I never have to pretend to be someone other than me to be popular. I don't even have to popular. Popularity isn't justice. Being popular doesn't mean you have a better quality than those who are not. Being cool is not my priority because again, what is cool, and what is not are socially constructed concept. Cool kids, and uncool, weird kids... And cool kids are prior to weird, unpopular kids... Nope, I am not going to take that classroom hierarchy ruled by society.

Ultimately, life is meaningless; our existence is so insignificant. Brutal honesty here! So... what are you going to do? You can just stop thinking, and be numb (and also dumb???). You can just spend your life like a routine. You can play it safe, and live it safe. Being average isn't so bad. Or you could live your life this way: life is meaningless, I don't owe anything to anybody, and nobody owes me anything; I'll do whatever I want. And I'm the latter. I'd rather be revolutionary than following the path that has proven to be relatively safe by so many people. You don't have to do great things to be revolutionary. Some revolutionary people end up mentioned in history textbooks, but you don't have to be those people to be revolutionary. Just remember that you really don't have to follow the rules, do the same as what most people do, and believe in things that are considered to be normal. Ultimately, there is no restrains, and ultimately, there's no "I had no choice." You are what you choose to be. So live your goddamn life.