Today’s story-teller is Shigehiko Toyama, a professor emeritus at Ochanomizu University.
Firstly, Toyama says, “When I read Kan Kikuchi* writing, I was impressed with him saying: ‘I write nothing, even a line in the evening. I do not even think of writing.’ It has been 40 years since I read it.”
Then Toyama starts talking about the time in the morning.
*: Kan Kikuchi is a Japanese celebrated writer.
For example, there is an expression ‘Asameshimae’ (before breakfast in Japanese meaning ‘a piece of cake’ in English). He thinks it is interesting that the expression is used to mean ‘easy to do (piece of cake)’.
He thought working before breakfast might help to work efficiently. So he tried to change his habit to work in the morning.
Working in the morning does not mean just morning. It is important to work before breakfast. So, you have to be partly hungry to get the brain engaged.
So, in the beginning, he thought of skipping breakfast. But it is not good for his health, so he decided to have breakfast just before lunch time.
There is nothing wrong with it. There is a word ‘brunch’ in English.
Expressing his own experience, Toyama says, “In my personal experience, studying or working before breakfast is very efficient. I can easily finish work that I used to struggle when I was working in the evening. You have to be hungry to work on things which require tension and concentration. Before breakfast is the best time for it.”
And he believes that it is more efficient for corporate workers to go to work early and work extra hours than working overtime in the evening.
So he has been doing his work before breakfast. He feels foolish for not having done it earlier.
The NIKKEI 04/06/2010 by Shigehiko Toyama (professor emeritus at Ochanomizu University)
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