My son had vague aspirations of becoming a shinkansen driver, so when I stumbled upon this book and saw that the second occupation was shinkansen driver, I bought it without much hesitation.
Even though I have got to first read the book and distill the essence before I can share the insights with him.
Although reading in Japanese isn’t my forte, I kinda expected myself to finish reading it. My intuition was right. I finished reading it in 3 days, thanks to its captivating features:
-
“Shigoto e no Michi” is divided into three parts, with each part narrating the real-life journey of an intriguing character. It was easy to just focus on one story every day.
-
Noritake Suzuki’s artwork is breathtakingly awesome. Rather than an anime, I would consider his work as a collection of exquisite watercolor paintings. So realistic they were that I felt immersed in each character’s circumstances. These 1st two pages of each story displayed bright soothing colours, which sustained my motivation to read.
-
The life stories which were so refreshingly different from the lives of us Singaporeans. The baker decided to hone her baking skills in France before opening her own bakery. The shinkansen driver worked as a JR ground staff before attempting the exam to get certified as a driver. The researcher failed to secure a government scholarship twice but persevered on in her research. What is common among these disparate experiences is that they were all willing to spend time to pursue their dream. As a Singaporean, I admire their strong heart. Here, we are obsessed with making money, so even taking a gap year is one fraught with a lot of trepidation and devil-may-care courage. We equate exploring to falling behind our peers, so it was nice to read how these characters prioritised making others happy over everything else. Maybe this is the legendary ikigai that so many outsiders are enamoured with.
-
If I might critique, I did hope that Suzuki san had discussed the extent to which family influenced his characters’ career decisions. I only learnt that the researcher gave birth to a daughter after finishing her PhD thesis. After all, I rejoined as a primary school teacher because I wanted to simplify/streamline my caregiving arrangements. How could they remain so resolutely devoted to their convictions in the midst of everything that was going on in their personal lives? I have no grand aspirations as a primary school teacher, except that I hope students will avoid getting a sub pass for their PSLE. Is this enough? Am I shining enough light onto the world? This book forced me to think, which I guess was the best thing that could have happened to me at this late in the year.
今の本を読んで、いい勉強になりました。主人公は前に向いて強い信念を持っている姿、感動しました。自分自身も仕事のやりがいももう一度考えさせていただきました。たくさんの勇気をくれて、本当によかったと思います。ありがとうございます。