Hidemi Woods's Blog, page 4
August 8, 2025
the new Kyoto
When I spent 40 minutes aboard the bullet train bound for Kyoto from Tokyo, an alarming notion popped into my head. “Did I miss Mt. Fuji?” It’s around this time that Mt. Fuji comes into view closely in the bullet train window. Somehow Mt. Fuji is a special mountain for Japanese people. It’s said that seeing the first sunrise of the year from the top of Mt. Fuji brings a happy new year. Many of them want to climb it once during their lifetime. They regard it as something holy and good luck. I myself try to see it every time I take a bullet train to Kyoto, and pray to it for a good trip. It was cloudy and rain looked imminent on that day of my latest trip to Kyoto. Whether the train already passed Mt. Fuji or it wasn’t visible because of thick clouds was uncertain. The outcome of the trip depended on Mt. Fuji. I felt that this trip might end terribly if I couldn’t see it, and I looked for it frantically. “There it is!” Above the dark clouds, its top section poked out clearly. “I see it! A nice trip is assured!” I was relieved and in high spirits. While I jinx it when I don’t see it, however, I’ve had horrible trips even when I saw a clear Mt. Fuji. Although I duly understand an outcome of a trip doesn’t have to do with whether I see it or not, there’s a reason why I’m nervous enough to pray to the mountain.
A trip to Kyoto means homecoming and meeting my parents. Three out of every four visits, they give me a hard time. They insult me, deny me and complain everything about me. I sometimes feel my life is in danger when I’m with them because of their relentless attacks. Not to be strangled by them while I’m sleeping, I avoid spending the night at my parents’ home and stay at a hotel instead. I would rather not visit and see them, but I know it would make things worse. I couldn’t imagine how this particular trip would go especially as it was my first visit since my parents sold their house. They could no longer afford to keep their large house and its land inherited by our ancestors. Their financial crunch made them sell it where my family had lived for over 1000 years. They moved out to a small, old condominium outside Kyoto. Thinking about the situation they were now in, I couldn’t imagine their state of mind other than being nasty.
The bullet train slid into Kyoto Station after two and a half hours. I stepped out on the platform for the first time as a complete tourist who didn’t have a house or a family there. To my surprise, Kyoto looked different. I couldn’t tell what and how, but it was decisively different from Kyoto I had known. It used to look grim and gloomy as if it was possessed by an evil spirit. But now it was filled with clean fresh air and looked bright. I would see all but mean people, but they also turned into nice people with smiles. I checked in a hotel and looked out the window. Rows of old gray houses were there. I used to think Kyoto was an ugly city with those somber houses, but I found myself looking at even them as a tasteful view. I’d never thought having the house I grew up in torn down and parting with my ancestor’s land would change the city itself altogether. Or maybe, it was me that changed…
Episode from
Leaving Kyoto: I felt as if I had officially become an author by Hidemi Woods Kindle and Audiobook available , Click to Buy at Amazon.com
August 1, 2025
Nuns, Rich Girls and Jesus
I spent my schooldays from junior high to college at a Catholic school not for religious reasons but for my mother’s vanity. She wanted me to attend the most prestigious school in Kyoto in order to brag about it. With no religious background, I encountered quite a few unfamiliar events at school that held Catholic ceremonies regularly.
The school often celebrated the Mass, which was an entirely new and different culture to me and I hadn’t the slightest idea what they were doing. Christian students sat in the front row with white lace veils on their heads at the assembly hall. The priest gave them something that looked like a soft snack and they ate it. I regarded it as the believers’ benefits to have a snack during the Mass.
The school held the annual Candle Service near Christmas. Before my first-ever Candle Service at junior high, a Catholic sister told us to bring something from home as a donation for the Candle Service. She added for those who couldn’t think of what to bring, that bars of soap would do. I had no clue what the Candle Service was. All I could imagine was I would receive some sort of service from sisters. I looked forward to it because I thought sisters would serve cake or tea like a Christmas party, and I could get it just with a bar of soap. But as it turned out, we just stood in line holding a candle at the dark assembly hall and sang several hymns endlessly to the poor accompaniment of the orchestra club students. While singing, we got on the stage one by one and put a bar of soap or other donations into a cardboard box. When all the students finished putting their donations into the box, the service was over without any cake.
The school had a big, tall fir tree across from the entrance gate. It stood by the side of one of the school buildings like a wall decoration. Its top reached as high as the third floor of the building. Judging from its size, it was planted there when two sisters came from U.S. after WWII and opened the school.
Around Christmastime, the tree was decorated with ornaments and made the school look beautiful. I was a member of the student board when I was a sophomore. Until then, I hadn’t known that the decoration was a student board’s task. I felt exhilarating for the first time as a student board member. The boring board revived and every member had so much fun decorating the tree together. The tree was too tall to decorate the upper part from outside by a ladder. We got inside the building, put an ornament on the tip of a broomstick and stretched it out of the window of the third floor. Gold tinsel garlands were thrown toward the tree from the forth floor window. It was the biggest Christmas tree I had ever decorated.
I had had all those Christian events and classes in the Bible for years until college and yet I never really understood the meaning. I left school, got out into the world, and worked as a musician. Through the years of making music that hasn’t been paying, I feel I finally know why I continue and have spent so much time and energy to create a good song, which hasn’t brought me money or fame. It took a long time to understand, but better late than never, I suppose…
Episode from
A Japanese Girl in The Catholic School of Kyoto : Nuns, Rich Girls and Jesus by Hidemi Woods Kindle and Audiobook available, Click to Buy at Amazon.comJuly 31, 2025
The Girl in Kyoto by Hidemi Woods
The house was built when I was nine years old at the place where our old house was torn down because it was too old to live in. That old house was built about 100 years ago. My ancestors lived at exactly the same spot generation after generation for over 1000 years since my family used to be a landlord of the area. We are here for around 63 generations. My father succeeded the family from my grandfather, and I would have been the next successor if I hadn’t left home to be a musician. Because my father failed the family business and didn’t have the next successor for help, he had sold pieces of our ancestor’s land one by one. Now his money has finally dried up and he can’t afford to keep the last land where the house stands. When I dropped out college and left home for Tokyo to be a musician a long time ago, I thought I would never come back to this house again. I have made unplanned visits since then, but I assumed it would be the last visit each time. I was accustomed to a farewell feeling toward the house in a way and I departed with no particular emotions this time either. The cab was running through my familiar neighborhood where I spent my entire childhood. It was still shabby as it used to be. The cab drove through old houses of my childhood friends where I used to play with them, and under the overhead train bridge where I ran into perverts so many times. From the window, I saw the elementary school I went to, and the sidewalk my first song came to me while I was walking on. The bookstore where my father bought me my first English dictionary and also where he spotted his missing cousin. A place where a milk factory used to be that I waved to its plastic cows beside the gate every time I passed by in my father’s car. The old temple where my late grandparents used to take me and let me feed doves. Then something struck me and I suddenly realized. It wasn’t just the house I was losing. I was losing my hometown and departing from my childhood. I would never be in this neighborhood again because it was going to be an unrelated, foreign place from now on. Although I had always hated my neighborhood, that thought brought a lump to my throat and soon I found myself crying. I was stunned at this unexpected feeling. If I hadn’t been inside a cab, I would have wailed.
The Girl in Kyoto: Bittersweet Memories of One Traditional Family in Japan Kindle and Audiobook available at Amazon.comJuly 29, 2025
July 24, 2025
Sunrise / Hidemi Woods
LISTEN FULL TRACKS [AmazonMusic][Spotify][AppleMusic] HIDEMI / Hidemi Woods
Sunrise Worked so hard Did my best Yet my life Never got better Tell me when I can rest So much I don't know Doesn't matter Life is cruel Full of pain Whom would I Call for a helper? Will it shine? Will it rain? So much I don't know Doesn't matter Worries are around me always In any ways Let wind dry away the tears To clear my eyes Even through this lonely, dark night I'll be all right 'Cause there will come Another sunrise Did I win? Did I lose? Where should I Look for the answer? Am I rich? Am I poor? So much I don't care Doesn't matter Problems wait and see how I face in any case Bad thinks fall upon me sometimes Good ones may likewise Even toward this dreary, bleak sight I'll be all right 'Cause there will come Another sunrise Worries are around me always In any ways Let wind dry away the tears To clear my eyes Even through this lonely, dark night I'll be all right 'Cause there will come Another sunrise Going slow It's my walk Feel no need Ending up faster People talk Let them talk So much I don't care Doesn't matter Doesn't matter Another sunrise SunriseLISTEN FULL TRACKS [AmazonMusic][Spotify][AppleMusic] HIDEMI / Hidemi Woods
July 22, 2025
July 17, 2025
The Lousy Neighbor / Hidemi Woods
LISTEN FULL TRACKS [AmazonMusic][Spotify][AppleMusic] HIDEMI / Hidemi Woods
Lousy Neighbor No matter where you move No matter which place you live in Right next to your door, they settle in You wish you could remove Only they will never give in Instead, to the end they dwell in Banging, stamping, drumming, clumping, They have got kids shrieking all day Laughing, yowling, shouting, howling, They have frolic every Friday Dancing, leaping, kicking, jumping, Why'd they set your anger to prime? Persistently, all the time The lousy neighbor's all around Bothering its neighbors with no ground The lousy neighbor's breathing on Until everyone else is all gone Love your neighbor, Lousy neighbor It could your snug room It could your lifetime dream house Right next to your door, war breaks out You wish them consume Everything to raise your eyebrows Instead, their bullets don't run out Beating, thumping, knocking, stomping, They know how to rub the wrong way Braying, calling, roaring, brawling, They know craft to stand in your way Crying, yapping, jawing, yelping, Why'd they drag you into this clutch? Consequently, hate so much The lousy neighbor's all around Bothering its neighbors with no ground The lousy neighbor's breathing on Until everyone else is all gone Love your neighbor, Lousy neighbor How could you teach Evil sinners Their out-of-reach Proper manners They are mad brutes Not worth two hoots Even so can you forgive? Is there mercy you should give? The lousy neighbor's all around Bothering its neighbors with no ground The lousy neighbor's breathing on Until everyone else is all gone The lousy neighbor's won't refrain From driving you completely insane The lousy neighbor's won't suspend Chasing after you to the world's end You, lousy neighbor You, noisy monster You, lousy neighbor You stick forever Love your neighborLISTEN FULL TRACKS [AmazonMusic][Spotify][AppleMusic] HIDEMI / Hidemi Woods
July 15, 2025
July 10, 2025
I faced the first crucial decision unexpectedly
We all face decisions every day, big or small. It may be as trifling as what to eat for lunch, but sometimes it is as important as what decides a course of our life. And the big one often comes abruptly like a surprise attack when we least expect it, unguarded. I faced the first crucial decision unexpectedly on my 20th birthday.
In Japan, 20 years of age is regarded as the coming-of-age and there is a custom to celebrate it. When I was 20 years old, I lived in a big house with my family. My parents had a hefty fortune inherited by my ancestors as it was before they failed in their undertaking and lost every thing. For them, my coming-of-age was such a big event that they had bought an expensive sash of kimono for me months in advance for a municipal ceremony held in the first month of the year. Since I defied the custom and didn’t attend the ceremony for which the sash was wasted, my parents determined that my 20th birthday should be memorable at least and planned a party.
Click to Buy at Amazon.comMy School Days in Kyoto: A Japanese Girl Found Her Own Way Kindle and Audiobook available at Amazon.com
