Tettyo Saito is an up-and-coming author in the Romanian literature world, writing and publishing novels in the Romanian language.

But the 30-year-old resident of Chiba Prefecture’s Ichikawa has never visited the European country. He has learned to speak Romanian and write in the language on his own.

In fact, he is a "hikikomori," or social recluse. 

Saito describes himself as “a Japanese novelist who writes novels and poems in Romanian while living in Japan.”

“The story of how I, a 'hikikomori' who rarely leaves Chiba, became a novelist in Romanian without going aboard even once” is the title of Saito's autobiography.

The book sold more than 10,000 copies in the three months following its publication.

BECAME A SOCIAL RECLUSE AFTER GRADUATION

Saito said what made him become obsessed with literature was “narcissism.”

He used to think, “I read the works of Junichiro Tanizaki. I’m so cool.”

Saito read Tanizaki’s novel titled “Tade ku mushi" (Some Prefer Nettles) when he was in his final year of junior high school.

He was overwhelmed by the novel’s “senselessness.” Later he developed a desire to write novels himself.

However, he lost his passion after graduating from high school. Saito failed a university entrance exam and then experienced heartbreak in an extracurricular club at a university that was not his first choice.

He attended a university for the full four years.

But other students’ job-hunting activities felt foreign to him and after graduating from the university in 2015, he became a hikikomiri at his parents’ home.

At the time, he wasn’t even in a strong enough state of mind to be able to read books.

He was depressed but films were his savior.

Saito thought, “Even I must do something” and started writing film reviews on social media and blogs.

The number of notebooks in which he writes about films has reached 32 since becoming socially reclusive.

He has watched more than 2,500 films to date and one of these piqued his interest in Romania.

It was a film released in 2009 and directed by Corneliu Porumboiu, who is Romanian.

The main character in the film is a police officer who refuses to arrest a boy for offering hashish to his friends.

After his superior talks to him about the refusal, the police officer reflects on his ethics by reading a Romanian dictionary.

“(Watching the film) gave me a shock as if I were hit with a dictionary," Saito said. "I thought, in order to deeply understand the film, I needed to learn the basis of the culture (described in the film), namely, the Romanian language.”

He started studying Romanian every day.

LEARNING WITH THE HELP OF ROMANIANS ONLINE

While only several Romanian textbooks are published in Japan, he purchased and learned through them the basic grammar and words of the language. 

In addition, he sent friend requests to around 4,000 Romanians on Facebook to learn practical expressions of their language.

He also created a metaverse site that is filled with information related to Romania and learned the language by chatting with visitors there.

He started writing novels in Japanese and translating them into Romanian around 2018.

“For me, learning a language is a hobby," Saito said. "It’s not that I learn the language for my work. I can do that because it’s fun.”

He wanted people in Romania to read his novels.

So, he uploaded his novels on his Facebook page with a message saying, “I’m Japanese and write short novels in Romania. Are you interested?”

After that, a Romanian editor who manages an online literature magazine contacted him. His novel was published in the online magazine three days later.

Since then, he has written one or two novels a month, which continue to be published in the magazine.

They attracted attention in the Romanian literature world and were reported by the media there.

A book published in Romania in 2021 titled “Modern history of Romanian literature 1990-2020” described his works as “creating an interesting intersection from the cultural and linguistic viewpoints.”

'NECESSARY DETOUR' IN LIFE

Before he isolated himself, Saito used to panic when silence occurred in his conversations with people and he felt depressed over his lack of communication skills.

But he found he didn’t need to worry about such things online. He also felt he gained communication skills while learning Romanian.

“I realized I actually like talking with people,” Saito said. 

He expressed regret that it took him so long to realize that, but also said that such a period was a “necessary detour.”

He developed Crohn's disease, which is described as an incurable bowel disease, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For this reason, he still hasn’t traveled overseas.

But Saito hasn't wavered in his determination to continue to write, aiming to publish novels in Romania.

Yet, for now, he said his priority is “to become able to make a living.”

He added, “It’s OK to achieve it steadily and slowly, at the speed of walking. That’s my ambition now.”