幸せへのセンサー

by Banana Yoshimoto, 吉本 ばなな

「幸せってそもそも何でしょう？　59年間生きてきてわかった、幸せっていうのは、つまりこういうことじゃないか。こういう考え方をしたら自分にとっての幸せがどういうものかわかってくるはず。ということを、お話ししてみます。」吉本ばなな


幸せはオーダーメイド。
いつでも、自分に合わせた形で取り出せる。

・何が耐えられて、何が耐えられないか。自分の体のセンサーを信頼する
・周りに合わせながらも「自分は本当はこう思っている」ということはわかっておく
・普段は仮面をかぶって、自分らしさは家族や友人など少数の人に発揮する
・シュミレーション通りに行かないことを情熱を持ってどんどんやってみる
・誰と何をしたか、いちいち人に言わない。自分しか知らないことを作る
・弱っている時は、優しい言葉で話せる人、気持ちが安らぐ人と過ごす

152 pages, Paperback

Published May 9, 2024

About the author

Banana Yoshimoto (よしもと ばなな or 吉本 ばなな) is the pen name of Mahoko Yoshimoto (吉本 真秀子), a Japanese contemporary writer. She writes her name in hiragana. (See also 吉本芭娜娜 (Chinese).)

Along with having a famous father, poet Takaaki Yoshimoto, Banana's sister, Haruno Yoiko, is a well-known cartoonist in Japan. Growing up in a liberal family, she learned the value of independence from a young age.

She graduated from Nihon University's Art College, majoring in Literature. During that time, she took the pseudonym "Banana" after her love of banana flowers, a name she recognizes as both "cute" and "purposefully androgynous."

Despite her success, Yoshimoto remains a down-to-earth and obscure figure. Whenever she appears in public she eschews make-up and dresses simply. She keeps her personal life guarded, and reveals little about her certified Rolfing practitioner, Hiroyoshi Tahata and son (born in 2003). Instead, she talks about her writing. Each day she takes half an hour to write at her computer, and she says, "I tend to feel guilty because I write these stories almost for fun."