[Self-Introduction] (Updated 2026.1.19)

For my first post of 2026, I decided to do a self-introduction. Apparently, January 17th was my 2nd anniversary on note.

I had created my note account as a "for now" measure and left it as is, so I thought I would take the opportunity of the new year (even though 20 days have already passed) to write a self-introduction post◎

Basic Information about Saori Ando

I am Saori Ando. It is read as "Ando Koori." There is no particularly deep meaning behind "Ando" (wait, really?), but for "Saori," I have imbued it with the meaning of spinning words with letters and weaving small stories.

Living in Kitakyushu City◎ Born in Aichi. I spent about 7 years in Tottori (the city of Kitaro), and have spent most of my time since age 10 in Fukuoka (near Kitakyushu City and Fukuoka City). During my junior year of college, I spent about a year studying abroad in Bangkok, Thailand, and after resigning from my job, I also spent a year in Yamaguchi.

Since I was a child, I have loved reading and was good at Japanese. I spent 30 years dreaming of being a writer while being too afraid to write a single character because I was scared I wouldn't write good sentences.
I am the Sangetsuki Li Zheng type. It's fine if I turn into a tiger, but I've finally been struggling to write for now before I turn into one.

▼ I love my husband, who is 11 years my senior and whom I met at a town matchmaking party. I feel destiny every day.

▼ Raising my 0-year-old son born in September 2025. He is incredibly cute. Every morning, I am freshly surprised, thinking, "Did such a cute child really come from me?"

Before giving birth, I worked at educational institutions, and for the past two years or so, I have been involved in Japanese language education and teaching Japanese as a foreign language as a pseudo-freelancer. Currently, I am on break since I just gave birth◎ I don't feel like I can return.

Things Saori Ando likes

I am an omnivorous reader of novels and watcher of movies, with the exception of horror.

Favorite authors include Atsuko Asano, Kobo Abe, Hiro Arikawa, Nahoko Uehashi, Kaori Ekuni, Kenzaburo Oe, Hiromi Kawakami, Mieko Kawakami, Atsushi Nakajima, Shion Miura, Banana Yoshimoto, Lucia Berlin, J.K. Rowling, etc. (in Japanese alphabetical order, honorifics omitted).
As a child, especially in elementary school, I loved Okko's Inn, Kuro Majo-san ga Toru!!, and The Adventures of Princess Sheila. After going through foreign children's literature like Cirque du Freak, Eragon, and The Chronicles of Narnia, I read The Garden of Ryunnor, Tom Sawyer in the City, Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit, No. 6, Library Wars...and Harry Potter, etc. I only read series.
Also, Aki Misaki's Bus Jack and Shinji Nojima's Snufkin's Lover left an impression on me even as a child.
Novels that are like bibles to me are Atsushi Nakajima's Sangetsuki, Kobo Abe's The Woman in the Dunes, Kenzaburo Oe's A Personal Matter, and Banana Yoshimoto's Hachiko's Last Lover.
Recently, I am once again stunned by the greatness of Nahoko Uehashi. Also, I like works that feature things found in casual daily life.

Movies are something I suddenly started watching properly around 2019.
I love Call Me by Your Name, The Legend of Hei, Baahubali, and RRR. I also like Chinese and Hong Kong films. Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood for Love, Chungking Express, Happy Together, and Little Me. I also like Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith's The Karate Kid. I also love Ghibli, and Princess Mononoke, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, and Howl's Moving Castle are exceptional.
Favorite directors are Wong Kar-wai, Greta Gerwig, and S.S. Rajamouli.
Favorite actors include Anne Hathaway, Elle Fanning, Greta Gerwig, Saoirse Ronan, Jackie Chan, Tony Leung, Benedict Cumberbatch, Maggie Cheung, Margot Robbie, Léa Seydoux, etc. (in Japanese alphabetical order, honorifics omitted).

Dramas are mainly on Netflix. Mostly Korean dramas. I really love Hospital Playlist, Extraordinary Attorney Woo, and Thirty-Nine. I still like Princess Hours, Coffee Prince, and Secret Garden because I've been watching them since I was a child. Occasionally American dramas. I love Michael Schur's The Good Place and Brooklyn Nine-Nine because the balance between irony and morality is too good. Also the BBC version of Sherlock. The German drama Dark was also good. Recently I watched Stranger Things. I like it.

Anime favorites are Sarazanmai, BANANA FISH, and Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!. If I think I like it, it's usually Noitamina.
I also like PSYCHO-PASS, Golden Kamuy, BEASTARS, Odd Taxi, and Ranking of Kings. I usually watch them with my husband, and I'm the only one crying my eyes out. Recently I watched My Hero Academia. It was good...

My love for things just keeps overflowing...

Saori Ando's Interests

Education in General
Home education (children's mental and physical growth and the process, what parents can do)
Montessori education, Steiner education
School education
Japanese language education, teaching Japanese as a native language
Education for educators, such as parents and teachers

Language and Culture
I love language learning. I am currently studying English, Korean, and Thai.
I also want to study Mandarin, Telugu, Arabic, Indonesian, and others.
Since I majored in Japanese language education and minored in Japanese language teaching in university and graduate school, I also enjoy thinking about the Japanese language, not just foreign languages.
I also love the cultures of Japan and the world. Cooking, traditional costumes, religion... why did these take root? I like the cultural anthropologist Junzo Kawada, so I would like to visit Africa someday.

Travel
Since I have a strong interest in language and culture, naturally I also love to travel.
I have only been to Asian regions: South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Indonesia. When I studied abroad in Thailand, I backpacked around Southeast Asia for a month. If I were to go somewhere one more time before I die, it would be Luang Prabang in Laos.
If I hadn't gotten pregnant, I was planning to travel around the world with my husband ◎
I am the type of person who can eat anything and sleep anywhere. (Lately, I've become sad because I don't get excited unless it's a clean hotel)

Daily Life in General
Environmentally friendly living, ethical living
I want to expand the range of healthy and delicious dishes I can cook
Practicing seasonal handiwork and passing it on to future generations
I am also interested in Kampo, medicinal cooking, acupuncture, and moxibustion
Exercise for a healthy body (I like karate and badminton)
Cultural activities for a healthy mind (piano and music)
I want to cherish each day and live peacefully ◎

Creation and Writing
I want to write novels. It's hard to write them.
I am searching for what I want to write and what I can write. Basically, there are many slice-of-life stories.
I also like poetry and tanka, so I want to post more of them.
Essays are the focus of my note lately. Mostly about my beloved husband and son.

Last year, Itried Kindle publishing.
A total of 30 pieces. Stories that are fiction, yet somehow real, where my "love" for my husband seeps into the creation. If you are registered for Kindle Unlimited, you can read them forfree, so please do. There is also a paperback version.

Ah~. I want to write, I want to write, I want to write!
That is all from Saori Ando! Thank you for your support!

Self-introductions are cooler when they are short, but I ended up writing a long one... but I'm glad I understand myself again. And this year, my motivation for note is starting by relying on "#WhatAreYouTalkingAbout"...

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