A perfect life requires a touch of bitterness.

I love delicious food so much that I find myself searching for restaurants, recipes, and online shopping information multiple times a day.

I don't eat many sweets, but there was a period when my curiosity was ignited after I started buying cakes for my wife on my way home.

I think I've pretty much eaten my way through the top 10 Tabelog rankings in Kansai and the top 10 nationwide.
There were even times when I drove an hour from Tokyo and waited in line for another hour just to eat them.

And, in agreement with my wife, this was our personal No. 1 cake shop in the country.

What makes it so amazing is that their use of the five flavors is superb.
The balance of sweetness and acidity is expected, but above all, their use of 'bitterness' is magnificent.It adds depth to the flavor, resulting in an elegant taste.

Furthermore, they skillfully utilize textures like fluffy and crispy, and
every time, I am impressed, thinking, 'Wow, they really get it!!!'

By the way, the only place in Tokyo I thought was as delicious as Patisserie S is this one, which has since closed down.

The owner-chef, Hidemi Sugino, led the Japanese team to win first place in a French competition for patisserie techniques.

Incidentally, when I looked into the lineage, I found that the owner of Patisserie S had trained under this Hidemi Sugino for about three years.That makes perfect sense.

I've digressed quite a bit, but I think life is exactly the same.

Each moment in life is something where you can only taste sweetness, acidity, or bitterness one at a time.

However, when you look back on the past and those flavors blend together, a life that has just the right amount of acidity and bitterness mixed into the sweetness becomes a flavor that is indescribably good.

A life of only sweetness would be too monotonous; it might be fine at first, but you would soon get sick of it.

Our bodies, not just our sense of taste, but our very lives, become deep and meaningful by fully experiencing the five flavors, leading to a good life.

Even a touch of bitterness becomes a good flavor later on. I want to live a life where I can fully enjoy every taste.