Life, fundamentally, does not go well. "Kanikama Life Theory" by Michiko Shimizu.

■ "Michiko Shimizu" was there

A little more seriously than when she is performing impressions on stage,
Michiko Shimizu wrote about
her life from childhood to the present.
There is no artifice here trying to craft
the image of the comedian Michiko Shimizu.
What comes across from the chosen words is
a monologue that reveals her true nature,
like a conversation held while holding
a glass of her favorite beer,
saying, "This is the kind of woman I am."
And it also makes one feel that
this is close to her real name, "Michiko Shimizu."
That is why you can feel as if you are listening right beside her.
Just as even a powerful professional baseball hitter fears before the season,
"What if I don't get a single hit this year?"
people live without exception while dealing with their own weaknesses.
In Michiko Shimizu's case, that is,


"a weakness that everyone has, where fear and laziness combine"
to make one throw away what is right in front of them.

That weakness first appeared on the day of her high school entrance exam,
and ever since, while calling it a "bomb" herself,she has lived while perhaps harboring vague anxieties,
but as you are led by Michiko Shimizu's words,
which calmly observe the confusion and hesitation of "Michiko Shimizu"
even while feeling somewhat down,and as you are drawn into a reality where she sometimes
wonders about her own minority consciousness,
you forget about such bomb-like weaknesses
and delve deeper and deeper into the subtleties of her life.

■ A marble of weakness and strength

However, while Michiko Shimizu has such weaknesses,
due to her obsession with "having people laugh"
and, above all, her rare talent,

she also speaks modestly aboutthe miraculous strength of luck that attracts connections
with big names like Tamori and Roku-chan.
In this way,
when a way of life like a marble,

where minus and plus, weakness and strength are mixed,
is told with a sense of distance that makes you feel her breath more than anything,
it provides a stimulus that feels like a soft hand knocking
on both the bitter memories and the hope I still cannot discard
that exist within my own heart.

■ On a planet filled with sadness

Since it is called a "Life Theory,"
I would like to introduce some clever quotes,
but if I started that, there would be no end to the brilliant phrases
from the ordinary people Michiko Shimizu has met,
or from her seniors in the entertainment world,
and from herself, which are scattered throughout.
However, if I were to choose one word
that I was happy to receive as a "Life Theory",

"It is better to know that the world is actually made not to go well."


This is the teaching from the female owner of her part-time job during junior college,which is also written on the obi.
And Michiko Shimizu, following this, says,

"In every age, and in every night, the earth is gently filled with sadness."

She goes on to say,
that "That is precisely why it is just right for people to try to live brightly."

■ A "damp" life theory

Perhaps because this world is "gently filled with sadness,"
a moist "dampness" accompanies the way Michiko Shimizu walks through the world.
However, compared to dry life theories
that say things like "Follow these success rules to live!"
it is far easier to accept as a personal matter,
and it reached the mailbox of my heart smoothly.
Just as when putting moist items into a plastic bag at the supermarket,
you naturally need moisture on your fingertips to open the bag without slipping,
a person's life also requires a moist, so to speak, wet sentiment
that knows a world "filled with sadness."
Perhaps that is what wraps this entire book in moisture and warmth.

*

If I may speak about my own life here,
it has been exactly 30 years since I became independent,
and for me, who has continued to endure unnecessary hardships due to my inherent clumsiness,
when I look back, only things that did not go well come to mind.
At such times, everyone feels their heart lighten a little
by imagining that they are floating in a sea of gentle sadness.*
The title "Kanikama" (imitation crab) likens her half-life,
which she has lived through the art of imitating others,
to imitation crab that imitates crab.

Readers will surely be able to grasp hints for a way of life
from this essay that make them think, "Maybe I'll try imitating that,"
or rather, "I want to imitate that."