A workshop was held on Friday, April 5, 2024 at DAIKANYAMA TSUTAYA BOOKS SHARE LOUNGE to support participants in writing essays, inspired by the ideas and techniques discussed by five writers and critics.

 

The first half was a talk session by the speakers, and the second half was group work and a Q&A session. The moderators were Tatsuki Matsuda, a literary researcher and critic who teaches creative writing at a university, and Reo Takada, a poet and translator who has been friends with the speakers for a long time.

 

 

It was a lively event with plenty of interaction between the speakers and participants, and among the participants themselves.

After the event, we called for submissions of short essays on the theme of "Friday." From the submitted essays, each speaker selected one essay, which we will introduce below.

 

Mei Kawano Select
Shirayu "I can't dance well"

Selected by Reo Takada
Misumi Sawan "The Night in the World You Live in"

Nagai Rei's Selection
Chigusa Chiyu "What Appears on Tuesday Night"

Matsuda Itsuki Select
Yuhei Ogawa, "Muslim Congregational Prayer Days"

Moriwaki Tosei Selection
Takuma Suzuki "Friday is a Secret"

■ Mei Kawano Select
Shirayu "I can't dance well"

As usual, after finishing work, I walked down the stairs to the underground walkway leading to the nearest station to head to the station. My workplace is in the center of the city, and on the way to the ticket gate of the station, I passed many people on the large underground walkway. Today, the people I passed seemed to be happier than usual.
Come to think of it, today was Friday.
A few months ago, I changed jobs and my days off changed from Saturdays and Sundays to every Sunday and Monday. Now, I no longer feel like Friday is the weekend. In fact, on Friday nights, I feel depressed, thinking that I have to work another day. I sigh as I look back at the people who have already reached the weekend.
To begin with, I was not good at Friday nights. At my previous company, drinking parties were often set up on Friday nights. I hated drinking parties, so I always made up a desperate excuse and headed home. Then, as I walked like I was running away, I passed through the ticket gate, glancing at a group of people heading to the downtown area with a happy look on their face. When I returned home, I suddenly opened Instagram and pressed the story icon, and numerous beer glasses and the smiles of friends that my friends did not know appeared. I quietly closed the app and thought to myself that I was not good at spending Friday nights. But now, I don't need to do anything special on Friday nights. Because I have to work the next day. So I might even feel relieved.
Gen Hoshino has a song called "Week End." It's disco-style dance music, and during his live performances, he constantly encourages the audience to dance in their own way. He even tells them to get all messy. "To all the people dancing right now, go out onto the dance floor and shout your own dance." It's about dancing in your own way, or more precisely, living your own way. I've loved this song for a long time, and I've watched the live video many times and danced quietly at home. But I still don't know how to spend my time, and when I see people dancing happily on Friday nights, I wonder why my movements are so awkward.
However, by chance, I changed jobs and was thrown out of the old cycle. By distancing myself from the hustle and bustle of Friday nights, I think I'm feeling less anxious about the weekend. I'm thinking, "I'll just hang out at home this weekend." If I have the energy, I'll go see a movie. Little by little, I'm slowly learning how to dance.

[Comment from Mei Kawano]
The book is written in a natural and consistent style, making it an easy read. I found it interesting how the position of "Friday" has changed since he changed jobs, and how he fluctuates between his previous and current perceptions of the day of the week, and how he reexamines his sense of time, his relationship with his work, his relationships with others, and even his way of life.
Being unable to decide between what society expects of you and your own inability to go along with it inevitably leads to a critical view of the way that is expected of you.
I thought it was a good essay that managed to put "Friday" into perspective.

Megumi Kawano
Novelist, poet, and literary scholar. Born in Kanagawa Prefecture in 1991. In 2018, she won the 29th Utadan Award for her series "Lilith," and in 2021, she won the 65th Gendai Kajin Association Award for her collection of poems, "Lilith." In 2024, she published "Blue," a work nominated for the 170th Akutagawa Prize. Her other works include the short story collection "Utopia for Innocent Flowers," the short story collection "An Example of Moon-Surface Character Transcription," the full-length novel "Strange Disease Garden," and the essay collection "Becoming a Cute Pink Dragon."

■ Selected by Reo Takada
Misumi Sawan "The Night in the World You Live in"

It's not that I love solitude or anything, but I find myself alone a lot of the time.
There's nothing special about it being a Friday night like today, and I walk like a shadow through the bustling, glittering city on my way home.
Everyone passing by was laughing and excited, as if they had just heard some exciting news.
I can't help but smile a little.
I guess there are some people who don't like seeing people who look happy, but I don't think that applies to me.
I wanted to watch my favorite movie on Netflix, so I hurried home.
There's a movie called "Everything Everywhere All at Once" starring Michelle Yeoh that's a really strange film, but ever since I saw it it's been one of my favorites.
At each turning point in the protagonist's life, another version of himself, who made choices he did not make, is created, and each version lives in a different parallel world - one version is a successful movie star, another has mastered the art of kung fu. In one world, the fingers of both hands are sausages, he spends time with his lover, turns to stone in this world, and becomes a piñata in the other world...
The film has a grand worldview and setting topped with a generous helping of action and silly jokes, and no matter how many times I watch it, I always think it's a really strange movie, but for some reason I find it endearing.
And every time this happens, I imagine what it would be like if I had countless clones of myself living in parallel worlds.

At the moment you come to a crossroads in your life, you don't realize that you are being forced to make a very important choice.
Even if you later realize that it was a mistake, there is no going back and it will come back to your mind every time something happens.
When I was in junior high school, I chose not to make fun of the pronunciation of my partner in English conversation class.
Even though I was hurt by the first person I loved, I didn't intentionally say anything cruel to him.
As I was falling asleep, I received a call from someone I'd missed, and I listened to them talk all night.
What would your life have been like if you had taken that fork in the road that I, living in this body now, did not choose?
How was your day? What are you doing and thinking about tonight?
It would be nice if I was filled with sparkling happiness like the people I passed on the street.
Thinking of that scene made my mouth curl up a little.

I'd love for us all to talk someday, come to my house.
I'll prepare some easy-to-make feasts like the ones you see on TV, so just think about what you want to eat.
I reached for my iPhone to look up a recipe for roast chicken.

[Comment from Reo Takada]
The gentle sense of distance from others was striking. The story begins with her in a crowded street on her way home, and when she gets home, she watches a familiar movie again. The hypothesis is then presented: "What if I had countless other versions of myself living in parallel worlds?", inviting the reader and lifting her thoughts a few centimeters above reality. In the past, she has struggled every time she sensed even the slightest friction in her relationships with others. She has always given way without making a fuss. And yet, she is still satisfied with the way she lives her life. In the depiction of her simply coming home, opening Netflix, and picking up her smartphone, we can see her kindness, elegance, and firm attitude toward the world.
"The nights in the world you live in" are also the nights in the world I live in, spending time alone watching movies. Your gaze as you watch those days is sure to be a little lonely, and a little warm.

Leo Takada
Poet and translator. Born in Yokohama in 1991, raised in Scotland. Graduated from the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Letters, Sophia University. Bilingual poems include his first collection of poems, "SAPERE ROMANTIKA," the dialogue "KYOTO REMAINS" (co-authored), "FUTURE AGENDA" and two other pieces (Eureka), and "AFTER YOU" (Yomiuri Shimbun). His main translation work is the film "PERFECT DAYS" (production, scriptwriting, English subtitles).

[Participant Essays] Friday Night Essay Club - A workshop to reexamine everyday life through writing Mei Kawano x Reo Takada x Rei Nagai x Itsuki Matsuda x Toru Moriwaki (Part 2)