Photo/Illutration The logo of the "Watashi no Oriori no Kotoba" contest in 2020 (The Asahi Shimbun)

In the print edition of The Asahi Shimbun, this column used to appear on the same page as the "Oriori no Kotoba" column, like two adjoining shops.

As such, the two columns stayed out of each other's business, but also supported and competed with each other in spirit.

Since Oriori no Kotoba, a short column about meaningful or impressive words, is no longer running for the time being, please allow me to raise some memorable quotes that won the latest Watashi no Oriori no Kotoba contest. The open contest for junior and senior high school students has been held annually since 2015.

About 29,000 entries were submitted nationwide for the last contest.

Haruna Tomita, a junior high school pupil in Sapporo, Hokkaido, quoted her grandmother as saying, "I don't need anything more than what I need to eat."

Tomita had been on the phone with her in Miyagi Prefecture, asking how she was coping with the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The older lady told her cheerfully in her broad Miyagi dialect, "Oh, it's a breeze when you compare it to the tsunami (of 2011)."

She went on: "I'm not wet and miserable, and I'm not cold. People tend to panic when they don't know what's going to happen. But so long as you can get up in the morning, eat and go to sleep at night, you don't need anything else."

Tomita said her grandmother taught her the preciousness of day-to-day existence, caring about loved ones and vice versa, and being able to eat properly.

Yuna Murakami, an Osaka junior high school student, wrote "himan" (obese) with a wrong kanji in a test. Instead of the correct character for "hi," she mistakenly used a similar-looking but differently-pronounced kanji that translates as "fat."

Disheartened, she told her older brother about her goof. But he quipped, "Hey, the 'fat' character looks better!"

And her father chimed in, "My belly is filled with fat."

Murakami recalled she was saved by her family's laughter.

"How you leave your shoes after you take them off tells a lot about who you are" was the quote cited by Kotoha Sasao, a junior high school student in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture.

Two years ago, her mother suggested one day, "Why don't you take a few days off from school?"

The mother had noticed her daughter had developed a tendency to leave her shoes (in the genkan) in disarray, and realized she was grappling with an emotional problem of some kind.

Murakami explained that even though her mother keeps reminding her nowadays to keep her shoes close together, she still leaves them any way she likes as a "daily report" of how she's faring.

All over the world, people are stung by words every day, but are also encouraged by them to pick themselves up and keep going.

I am eagerly awaiting the "reopening" of my "neighbor shop" that brings memorable quotes to readers.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 6

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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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