Emiko Jean > Quotes

“I don't have an American half and a Japanese half. I am a whole person. Nobody gets to tell me if I am Japanese enough or too American.”
― Emiko Jean, Tokyo Ever After

“I used to think the world belonged to me. But I was wrong. I belong to the world. And sometimes … I guess sometimes, our choices have to reflect that.”
― Emiko Jean, Tokyo Ever After

“Shout out to all the girls who apologize too much.”
― Emiko Jean, Tokyo Ever After

“Silence is the cousin of invisibility.”
― Emiko Jean, Empress of All Seasons

“I have snacks."
Ah, the real three words every girl longs to hear.”
― Emiko Jean, Tokyo Ever After

“Now I understand
How lonely the sun must be
The unending job
To rise again and again
Setting fire to all it sees”
― Emiko Jean, Tokyo Ever After

“Do not let your fear decide your fate.”
― emiko jean, Empress of All Seasons

“Born a foreigner
I carry two halves with me
Loose skin I pull on
To go places and don't fit
Like apple pie and mochi”
― Emiko Jean, Tokyo Ever After

“Feelings are a real son of a bitch.”
― Emiko Jean, Tokyo Ever After

“Grief is a powerful thing, and sometimes, if it's ignored, we can become lost in it.”
― Emiko Jean, We'll Never Be Apart

“The earth forgets but I will always remember

Karaoke bars

Pharmacies and cups of tea

And plates of dorayaki”
― Emiko Jean, Tokyo Ever After

“But if I had know I had a daughter, I would have found a solution." He studies me, waiting until my eyes raise to meet his. "I would have swum across the oceans. I would have scaled mountains. I would have crossed deserts. I would have found a way.”
― Emiko Jean, Tokyo Ever After

“what is grief but the other side of love?”
― Emiko Jean, The Return of Ellie Black

“I'm still a work in progress."
"Aren't we all?”
― Emiko Jean, Tokyo Ever After

“A heart divided cannot stand.”
― Emiko Jean, Tokyo Dreaming

“You should want to be better for yourself, not for someone else.”
― Emiko Jean, Empress of All Seasons

“People come undone all the time, Alice. We're all unraveling here. You've just done it in the most spectacular way. In fact, you could be our queen.”
― Emiko Jean, We'll Never Be Apart

“If you don't fly too high, you don't have too far to fall.”
― Emiko Jean, Tokyo Ever After

“Do I have a code name? II'm pretty sure I get a code name. I'd like to choose it."
His fingers fall from my elbow. A pity. "Yes," he says. "As a matter of fact, you do have a code name."
"I knew it!" My twirl is the glee-filled kind. "What is it? Sidewinder or Lightning or maybe Pegasus?"
"We were calling you Butterfly."
Huh. "That's nice, I guess." A little soft, but okay.
"Then, the tabloids gave you the moniker. The Lost Butterfly, so we had to change it."
I perk up.
"I suggested it," he baits.
"What did you suggest?" I look up at Akio with stars in my eyes. The possibilities are endless---Sunshine, Moonflower, Cherry Blossom. My thoughts are a runaway train. Maybe he likes me. Maybe he's not as mean as he seems. Maybe I've terribly misjudged him and this is just a rocky start to a friendship that turns to love that will last the ages. Our affair will inspire folksy campfire ballads.
It's the first time I see Akio smile. It's part evil, part satisfied, as if he's just won a bet with himself. "Radish.”
― Emiko Jean, Tokyo Ever After

“I am a lean tiger in winter. Come for me. I dare you.”
― Emiko Jean, Empress of All Seasons

“You are a world unto yourself. Build your own space. One meant uniquely for you.”
― Emiko Jean, Tokyo Ever After

“But often, Chelsey wondered if her father, if people in general, should spend less time protecting daughters and more time worrying about sons. The dangerous things boys do. How they might be raised differently.”
― Emiko Jean, The Return of Ellie Black

“I wish this wasn't what it means to be female -- it is not a matter of if something bad will happen, but when.”
― Emiko Jean, The Return of Ellie Black

“This is true freedom, to love oneself enough not to care what others think.”
― Emiko Jean, Empress of All Seasons

“Our bodies are not ornaments, they are instruments.”
― Emiko Jean, Empress of All Seasons

“At one point, she’d thought Taro completed her. Now she realized that he didn’t. She was complete by herself.

Marriage and love, they aren’t achievements.”
― Emiko Jean, Empress of All Seasons

“Originally I wanted to get to know my father. But it's bigger than that. I came to figure out who I am, where I'm from. Finding somewhere I belong.”
― Emiko Jean, Tokyo Ever After

“While I cry, Tamagotchi sleeps. He's not much of an emotional support animal. Our relationship is distinctly one-sided. I feed him treats and he burps in my face. Such is life.”
― Emiko Jean, Tokyo Ever After

“besides, even if you didn't need me... Maybe I need you.”
― Emiko Jean, We'll Never Be Apart

“I want to understand myself. I want to put my hands in the earth and pull up roots.”
― Emiko Jean, Tokyo Ever After