Photo/Illutration In this Dec. 23, 2014, file photo, a family sits down together to have dinner over candles on a blackout night in Takayama, Gifu Prefecture. (Minako Yoshimoto)

"Interpreter of Maladies," a collection of nine short stories by American author Jhumpa Lahiri, contains a work titled "A Temporary Matter."

The story begins with a married couple being informed of an imminent hour-long blackout in their neighborhood every evening over a five-day period.

The couple are no longer intimate and are living like strangers in their home. But the power outage makes them light candles and sit down to have dinner together for the first time in quite a while.

The wife goes on to suggest a game they could play during the daily blackout. Her idea is that they trade confessions of secrets they'd never told each other.

The secrets that emerge range from cheating in a test at school, exchanging a gift for cash surreptitiously, lying about working overtime in order to go out drinking with friends, and so on.   

The power outage provides the couple with valuable, much-needed time to be together.

I am sure the pandemic-induced self-quarantine is now making many people spend a lot more time with their families. I doubt everyone is trading their secrets, but they may be finding out things they never really knew about one another.

The "Hitotoki" column in The Asahi Shimbun's Osaka edition recently ran a contribution from a woman who said she recently found herself having an "adult" exchange with her fifth-grade daughter whose school is currently closed.

The woman said that when she apologized to her daughter for sounding off about something, the girl replied, "It's OK, it's OK. No worries. When you have a gripe, it's best not to bottle it up, right?"

Hearing that, the woman couldn't help laughing out loud, she recalled. 

Living in close confinement with people can get on anyone's nerves and lead to spats. But then, a small gesture of consideration or something that induces a smile can really defuse the tension.

To spend life in a family is to pile up shared "insider" experiences.

Perhaps we could turn these days in lockdown into an opportunity to look back on our family histories and talk together about our specific memories.            

-The Asahi Shimbun, May 14

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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