Three Things I love about Japan

I used to be never really excited about Japan and its culture, but seeing these three things changed my mind a lot. These are few things that made me fall about it: an author, song maker, and an anime movie. 

1. Haruki Murakami

This author is my favorite author so far. His books have deep meaning behind its words. The stories that he offers is also different from another books. Most of the characters were elusive, introvert, and readers, so sometimes it makes me like reading my own feelings and thoughts. My favorite book of him is Norwegian Wood where I feel like I have a lot of similarity with Toru Watanabe, the main character of the book. I am currently reading IQ84 and still amazed reading it each pages. 

2. Haruka Nakamura

I am not an avid listener of instrumental songs, but this instrumental songs that Haruka Nakamura offers is magical to me. I like hearing the songs when the day is raining or when I'm on train, or simply when I need to hear something calming. 

3. 5 Centimeters per Second

The first anime that I watched is Spirited Away which is darn good. But this 5 Centimeters per Second is my favorite Japanese movie. It tells about the love of Takaki Tono to Akari Shinohara. It has three parts.This synopsis is edited from wikipedia:

First Part: Cherry Blossom

Takaki Tōno and Akari Shinohara grow closer because they both prefer to stay inside during recess due to their seasonal allergies.Upon graduating from elementary school, Akari moves to outside town, due to her parents' jobs. The two keep in contact by writing letters but eventually begin to drift apart. Takaki once planned to visit Akari by train, but his train delayed due to snowstrom. It is unbearably sweet how Takaki keep his promise to visit and Akari keep waiting for hours until finally they met at almost midnight.

Taken from here

Second part: Cosmonaut

Kanae Sumida, a classmate of Takaki, had fallen in love with him ever since meeting him in middle school but has never had the courage to confess her feelings. She tries to spend time with him, waiting long after school for the chance to travel home together. However, Takaki appears ignorant to Kanae's feelings and only treats her as a good friend. Kanae observes that Takaki is always writing emails to someone or staring off into the distance as if searching for something far away. It is later shown that Takaki's emails are not being sent to anyone, and that he has had recurring dreams which feature Akari. After a failed attempt to tell Takaki she loves him, Kanae eventually realizes that he is looking for something far beyond what she can offer and decides not to, though she acknowledges that she will always love him.

Taken from here

Third part: 5 Centimeters per Second (Best part!)

It is 2008. Takaki is now a computer programmer in Tokyo, while Akari is preparing to get married to another man. Takaki is still longing for Akari to the detriment of his lifestyle, which is acknowledged by an ex-girlfriend. A depressed Takaki later leaves his job, being unable to cope with his feelings for Akari. Akari goes through her old possessions and finds the letter addressed to Takaki. Takaki and Akari have a dual narration, both recalling a recent dream depicting the events of their last meeting in the snow and hoping to watch the cherry blossoms together again.

One day while walking down a road, Takaki and Akari appear to pass and recognize each other at a train crossing, where they had decided to watch cherry blossoms together thirteen years ago, right before Akari's sudden moving to Tochigi. At opposite sides of the tracks, they stop and begin to look back, but the passing trains cut off their view. Takaki waits for the trains to pass and sees that Akari is gone. After a moment, he smiles to himself and continues walking.

Indeed, for me the movie has a deep meaningful scene and conversation. For about an hour of the movie,  it turned my emotion upside down. Heart touching.

Taken from here

I always end up looking somewhere for your smile
At the railway crossing of the fast pace town
Even though I know you won’t be here
If life can be repeated, I’ll go to you many times over
There’s nothing else that I want
Nothing else is more important than you

Well, read, listen, and watch it by yourself if you would like to know more.