Episode 217: Breakfast at the Imperial Hotel, and Being Called 'Are You Stupid!?'

A weekday in mid-April. I take the 6:00 AM train. It's a time when I'm usually still asleep.
I'm surprised to find more people on the train than I expected. Even at this hour, the seats were completely full.

Where am I going so early in the morning?

To the breakfast buffet at the Imperial Hotel.

It all started with Misae-san, who attends the same ballet class as me. She's a Taiwanese woman around 60 years old; her Japanese is fluent, though sometimes a bit broken. However, she doesn't use the indirect way of speaking that Japanese people do, so she's a pleasant person to talk to.

"I like your dancing. It's clean and has no bad habits. It's a feast for the eyes. That's why I'm treating you."

For that reason, I was invited to a buffet starting at 7:00 AM.

7:00 AM.
Are you sane? I thought.
I'm usually the type to decline most invitations. Especially at 7:00 AM—that's impossible. But this time, my heart leaped at the thought of wanting to go. And on the day, I woke up at 5:00 AM, put on makeup, and applied fragrant oil to my hair. My favorite blouse and skirt. Cute, dangling earrings. Fully set, I boarded the early morning train while yawning repeatedly.

It's my first time entering the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. My feet sink gently into the carpeted floor. The ceilings are high. The stair railings are thick and magnificent. My back straightens naturally. Just between us, I headed straight for the restroom first to calm my excitement, which I was about to let show.

There were also friends of Misae-san at the breakfast gathering, making for a group of ten. The oldest was 93. Everyone's age and profession were completely different. Incidentally, I was the youngest.

The venue was on the 17th floor. Pure white tablecloths. I wonder if these forks and knives are silver. They are very heavy. The morning light streaming in from the large windows was refreshing, and just sitting in the chair was already satisfying enough.

I immediately went to get some food. Croissants with strawberries inside, fluffy scrambled eggs, and so on. I piled things on my plate that I would never eat at home, and returned to my seat.

Sitting across from me was a man in his 40s. He apparently works at a trading company and was heading to work after this. The conversation naturally turned to work.

He seems to be vaguely worried about whether he should keep working at the same company. But he's in a situation where he hasn't found anything in particular that he wants to do.

"I want to live as I please."

It's a common phrase. But executing "living as one pleases" is easier said than done.

The conversation turned to my work, and I simply replied, "I'm a writer."
When I was approaching 30, I also felt a chill imagining myself working at the same company until I was 60. So, I'm someone who ended up jumping out of the company I was working for to try living as I pleased.

When I told him that, Misae-san, who had been listening to the conversation, said,

"Are you stupid!?"

She shouted loudly from diagonally across from me.

"By the time you turn 60, this world won't even exist anymore!"

She was cackling. It was assertive and overwhelmingly real.

"Do what you want to do, eat what you want to eat, and meet the people you want to meet. That's all there is to it."

That's the right answer! Giving a thumbs up, Misae-san went to get more food.

They were people who ate well.
And they were people who laughed well.
The more energetic people are, the more they eat; the happier people are, the more they laugh.

Misae-san often said that Japanese people don't say what they want to say clearly.
"People in Taiwan are all equal. They say exactly what they think. They don't care about what others think. If someone is in trouble, anyone will help them. That's why everyone is happy."

Past 8 o'clock. The trading company employee and I stood up, saying, "We have work to do." But Misae-san and the others didn't seem like they were going to move for a while, saying, "Can I have a refill on coffee?" and "Let's have fruit next."

When we went outside, it was just a typical weekday morning. People walking toward their destinations with expressionless faces. There were many people, but all you could hear were the sounds of footsteps.

Was the space from just a moment ago a dream?
I felt a strange sensation.

Eating a special breakfast in a wonderful space like the Imperial Hotel.
It is luxurious enough.
But I feel like that isn't the only reason I wondered if it was a dream.

Eating breakfast while laughing with someone.
Surely, this was the greatest luxury of all.

"Do what you want to do, eat what you want to eat, and meet the people you want to meet. That's all there is to it."
A world where my current daily life might not continue until I turn 60.
I choose the path that makes my heart leap.
I don't need a reason.
That is the right answer.