#459 My Personal Best Note Award 2025

Among the note articles I read in 2025, there is one that stands out as the most artistic, resonant, moving, and useful piece—a work I truly want to share with as many people as possible. I have selected it as the sole winner of the "Best Note Award 2025."

The Best Note Award 2025. It is a prize I established entirely on my own. It has no authority or prestige. This is the inaugural year.

The first-ever Best Note Award 2025. The glorious grand prize winner is... drumroll please... da-da-da-da-da-da-dan!

Riko-san's "A Gentle Moment Worth a Cup of Coffee".

This piece really resonated with me, moved me, and above all, it was gentle and beautiful. First and foremost, I just want you to read it.

To begin with, I was immediately drawn in by the opening, a casual phone conversation with a friend that makes you feel like a story is about to unfold. The way the author connects her own experience—a snapshot of daily life—with the customs of an Italian café is so stylish. As you read on, the meaning behind the title begins to emerge. The word choice for this title is also sophisticated and wonderful.

The kindness that radiates from Riko-san's writing reaches the reader. It makes the reader, as a fellow noter, want to write a kind article and share it. The way she concludes with "I want to cherish that heart" leaves a lingering impression, as if kindness itself is circulating.

Interpreting the "suspended coffee" as "coffee of mutual aid" is another example of Riko-san's kindness. I could feel the spirit of 'Pay it Forward,' and because the sentiments I hold dear overlap with the heart and wishes that Riko-san wants to cherish, I was deeply moved.

If someone like me were to write about this, it might come across as preachy. But in Riko-san's hands, it makes every reader feel happy. I realized that this kind of writing is something I could never imitate, nor could it be reached by AI.

Riko-san, congratulations on winning the grand prize!