What is the "Shelf of Respect"? Collecting stories that never make it to bookstore shelves

🖋 What I put into the name "Shelf of Respect"

It has been quite a while since I started writing articles on note.

I have met many creators, and as a reader, and sometimes as a writer, I have encountered various voices and lives.

In the process, what I have come to realize in my own way is that it is not only "highly polished works" that move the heart.

note is overflowing with writing that you would never find on a bookstore shelf.

It is not the kind of skillfully crafted reading material written by professional writers—it is more like the chatter exchanged at a cafe in the afternoon, or the murmurs someone might jot down on their smartphone late at night.

Yet, among them, there are things that unexpectedly move the heart.

They are often pieces of writing that do not try to be overly polished, are somewhat clumsy, and even have a bit of that "human awkwardness"—but that is precisely why they contain real life.

The "Shelf of Respect" series is my own personal homage to the creators I have met on note who I felt a "human interest" in.

It is not about the quality of the writing or the flashiness of the work, but rather—perhaps even the person themselves hasn't noticed it—something that makes me feel a certain depth, as if this person is shining a light on the very act of "living" from a unique angle.

And it is a modest respect for the fact that they possess a sensibility I lack, and for the way they make me realize it.

The "Tabisora-san" I am introducing this time is one such person.

🖋 The "unspoken stories" that everyone carries

If you want to read polished writing, there are plenty of places to go at a bookstore. We live in an age where books by skilled authors are lined up, and stories that captivate readers are always within reach.

However, the reason I keep coming back to the space called note is not because I am looking for those kinds of completed "works."

Here, there are more simple, more clumsy—yet surprisingly real—"voices" of people living their daily lives.

It might be something they thought of on the way home from work, something they wrote down while obsessively pursuing their interests, casual conversations with family, pain they have carried without telling anyone, or perhaps a scene that caught their heart in a park at dusk—such fragments.

There are people who still take notice of and try to write down those small events that everyone else passes by without putting into words, and by reading them, there are moments when you are suddenly saved, thinking, "Ah, I wasn't the only one."

🖋 The presence of Tabisora-san

When I first read Tabisora-san's articles on note, it was not the "skill" of the writing that drew me in.

Actually, at first, I might have felt it was just a lighthearted diary, much like the author's own bright personality.
However, as I reread the articles several times, I noticed something.

—Wait? Just how much detail is this person "seeing"?

Whether it's about events or travels, in any genre, Tabisora-san's articles have a "density" of personal perspective.
It went beyond the skill of the writing; it was the very density of the "observations" gathered on-site.

Usually, even when I participate in or visit something, I tend to receive information "superficially" and leave it at that.
But Tabisora-san picks up even the smallest details and captures them meticulously through photos and words.
I had the impression that she was drawing a map that was uniquely her own.

"People who are genuinely enjoying themselves"—that feeling is contagious to those watching, isn't it?
Her perspective is packed with viewpoints that I would normally overlook,
and there were moments when I felt like straightening my posture, thinking, "Oh, when did I become such a boring person who only takes shortcuts?"

Tabisora-san is someone who gives you that kind of perspective.
She is someone who is unpretentious and straightforward in how she sees and conveys things.

🖋How to "play seriously" in a way only adults can

There are moments when I can't help but smile while reading Tabisora-san's articles.

It happens when I encounter her enjoying "special times" outside of daily life—like events, festivals, or exhibitions—not just like a child, but with an intensity that only an adult can possess.

If you look only at the surface of her actions, like immersing herself in the atmosphere of an event or getting merchandise, it might seem like lighthearted play at first glance.
But that is not the essence of Tabisora-san.

What she shows us is "an attitude of embracing extraordinary time in its entirety."

Letting go of shyness, facing what you love head-on, and enjoying it with your whole being.
That sincerity reaches me, the reader, directly.

Ah, facing play with such "resolve" is somehow cool—
I think that is the charm of Tabisora-san that makes me feel that way.

🖋Introducing Tabisora-san's articles through video.

This time, based on Tabisora-san's articles, I produced a short video of just over three minutes.

The world of video production I work in feels less like a documentary and more like something akin to a "re-enactment film."
So, this video is not reality itself, but rather an image of the "scenery that came to mind while reading Tabisora-san's note."

The featured article is "Kanda Matsuri"

If you'd like, please take a look.

▶️ Click here for the YouTube Short video

By the way, Tabisora-san posts videos not only on note but also on YouTube.
The editing is modest, and they have a somewhat "simple" home-video feel, but conversely, that allows the atmosphere of the scene to come through.

🎥Tabisora's YouTube channel

Actually visiting places, pointing a camera, and weaving words—
I feel that such tangible records harbor a nostalgic, human sense that is absent from the "polished videos" created by professionals.

🖋Meeting on note

When I encounter someone's writing on note,
the standard I always keep in mind is not whether it is "good" or not.

Rather than how they choose their words, how that person views the world and
how they live their life—
that is where I naturally find myself looking.

The perspectives and obsessions found in daily life,
the individuality that seeps through the edges of casual words.
That is what suddenly strikes my heart or makes me stop and think.

The series called "Bookshelf of Respect" is
a record of people I have introduced by gently turning the pages, with my own sense of respect for such "attitudes toward life" and "ways of seeing things."

Tabisora, featured this time, is also one of them.
Not through flashiness or technique, but in their own way,
someone who looks straight at their days and conveys what they have felt.

To be able to quietly and accidentally encounter something like light emitted by someone, somewhere,
in this sea of note.
I think that is exactly why I come here.

🔔Bell