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“The Reason Why He Can’t Throw Things Away”

Today’s story-teller is Japanese novelist Shusuke Michio, 36 years old.

It is about “a bookmark.”

The story begins with the reason why he cannot throw things away. He has good reasons for that.

A lot of his belongings are given by people. Keeping things he got from people has become his habit since his first year in high school.

When he was in his first year in high school, he gave a bookmark made of pressed flowers which he made to a girl he liked.

He asked her if she was using the bookmark a few days later. She told him that there were bugs in the bookmark.

It seemed like he did not dry the flowers enough before he laminated the flowers between films. So, it started to get infested with some bugs which were like ticks.

He was horrified to hear what had happened to the bookmark, but he collected himself and asked her if she threw it away.

She said, “I have put it in the fridge…”

Michio says, “She kept the bookmark with bugs in the fridge. I was very touched by that. I thought it was a great idea that she kept it in the fridge. Moreover, I was very touched that she did not choose to throw it away.”

With this experience, he started to keep everything he received from people, even broken things.

It does not mean that he learnt to care about things from her. But he learnt that people who give him gifts would feel delighted if he kept them.

The NIKKEI 12/11/2009 by Shusuke Michio (novelist)

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