A story about the "Japanese woman" I'm not | Japanese Generation

[00:00:02]Maybe I'm not a Japanese woman.

[00:00:05]I asked [music] to AI, "What is a Japanese woman?"

[00:00:10]Quiet, gentle, puts her husband first.

[00:00:15]Something doesn't sit right.

[00:00:18]What is this feeling?

[00:00:24]Friends, [music] family, maybe even my husband.

[00:00:29]Their image of me.

[00:00:31]Someone who says no, just like that.

[00:00:36]My sister, 4 years older, a little quiet, maybe.

[00:00:43]With our parents, when something's [music] hard to say, say it for me, you can.

[00:00:51]A salesman catches my husband on the intercom.

[00:00:56]So, I step in.

[00:00:58]"Sorry, we are all set. Thank you."

[00:01:02]Done.

[00:01:04]Anyone sharper than me?

[00:01:06]My daughter.

[00:01:09]She cuts cleaner.

[00:01:12]Quiet, [music] between us.

[00:01:14]Zero.

[00:01:19]Kawaii.

[00:01:21]Cute.

[00:01:23]Not a day goes by without that word.

[00:01:27]It just comes out >> [music] >> automatic.

[00:01:31]It's a safe word, probably.

[00:01:35]At a cafe, the food comes out.

[00:01:38]Kawaii.

[00:01:40]A haircut. Kawaii.

[00:01:43]Some character. Kawaii.

[00:01:47]One word covers everything.

[00:01:51]So, a kawaii person, what kind of person is that?

[00:01:57]Can't explain it.

[00:02:00]For me, kawaii means one thing.

[00:02:05]My granddaughter.

[00:02:11]That bossy husband type of marriage.

[00:02:15]My sister, my daughter, my friends, me.

[00:02:19]Nobody.

[00:02:21]An image from another era.

[00:02:25]Except my mother.

[00:02:27]Maybe. [music] He mails the newspaper.

[00:02:33]She's putting first for so long.

[00:02:37]Now [music] he can't manage without her.

[00:02:42]Putting first.

[00:02:44]We help each other, split the jobs.

[00:02:48]That's what matters.

[00:02:54]This one, I can do. My daughter, too.

[00:02:59]Good at leading the room.

[00:03:02]No.

[00:03:03]Not good at it.

[00:03:05]It just happened.

[00:03:08]Both of us, they call it HSP.

[00:03:13]Highly sensitive.

[00:03:16]We notice automatically.

[00:03:19]My daughter can't pretend she didn't.

[00:03:23]Me?

[00:03:24]Notice same mood.

[00:03:28]No pretending.

[00:03:30]No off switch.

[00:03:33]Honestly, it wears me out.

[00:03:36]You notice everything, don't you?

[00:03:38][music] How do you blend?

[00:03:43]It's just [music] the automatic kindness mood.

[00:03:50]Me, the sports club type.

[00:03:54]I know how to put up with things.

[00:03:58]But, that's for the game.

[00:04:01]Daily life, that don't carry over.

[00:04:05]I say what I need to say.

[00:04:08]Never carried overnight.

[00:04:12]How it goes.

[00:04:15]My mother and sister, >> [music] >> patient, probably.

[00:04:20]Up to a point.

[00:04:23]Past that point, >> [music] >> they blow up, big.

[00:04:29]My daughter, different.

[00:04:32]Strangely indifferent.

[00:04:35]Every complaint goes into notes.

[00:04:39]Dated, detailed.

[00:04:42]Then, one day, she has the evidence.

[00:04:47]Boom.

[00:04:49]No one can stop her. She doesn't [music] stop.

[00:04:53]Total victory, nothing less.

[00:04:57]That's her goal, apparently.

[00:05:01]A new species.

[00:05:05]The women of this family, [music] each have our own way.

[00:05:10]A little scary.

[00:05:13]Maybe that's a mainstream now.

[00:05:20]Once overseas, someone asked me, "Are there a black Japanese and white Japanese?"

[00:05:29]Every Japanese women there are, but me, pale.

[00:05:35]Me, never cared.

[00:05:39]Plenty of women [music] avoids the sun. True.

[00:05:43]Sunscreen, parasol, the full kit.

[00:05:48]My mother, my sister never without a hat.

[00:05:56]My daughter, the most serious.

[00:06:00]Daily face masks, skin care, loves of it.

[00:06:05]Against spots and wrinkles, she [music] said.

[00:06:10]As for me, she says it's too late.

[00:06:15]Can't do a peel, >> [music] >> natural is fine.

[00:06:19]Spots, wrinkles, natural is fine.

[00:06:24]Aging, no escaping that.

[00:06:32]So, nothing Japanese women about me.

[00:06:38]Hard to say.

[00:06:41]Can't figure it out.

[00:06:43]So, dinner.

[00:06:47]Getting hot these days.

[00:06:50]So, tonight the salad a bamboo basket.

[00:06:56]Somehow, the table feels cooler.

[00:07:01]Ingredients, there is something about them.

[00:07:06]Touching them, something settles.

[00:07:10]Nature's gift, maybe.

[00:07:15]Come to think of it, my grandmother used to say, "Don't cook in a bad mood.

[00:07:23]It's bad for the ingredients.

[00:07:27]And it reaches the ones who eat, too."

[00:07:32]It's Zen clean, quietly.

[00:07:35]How ours?

[00:07:38]Cooking and a bad mood just goes.

[00:07:43]Everything is settled back into place.

[00:07:48]Strange.

[00:07:51]Honestly, tired days, I grab something ready-made.

[00:07:57]But grandmother had her ways.

[00:08:01]Move it onto a plate.

[00:08:04]Say thank [music] you while you do.

[00:08:08]I was about 20.

[00:08:10]Not even married yet.

[00:08:13]Suddenly, some years since.

[00:08:17]Not following a rule.

[00:08:19]Nothing like that.

[00:08:22]Automatic mode.

[00:08:25]Just keep doing it.

[00:08:27]Not conscious.

[00:08:30]What is this?

[00:08:32]I don't know.

[00:08:34]Always there.

[00:08:36]That's all.

[00:08:42]AI's image of Japanese woman doesn't fit me as expected. [music] But cooking, I noticed I've become my grandmother.

[00:08:58]Her and still [music] me.

[00:09:02]Something grandmother bought me.

[00:09:06]That's enough.

[00:09:12]In your country, images of women, images of men.

[00:09:18]Do you have those, too?

[00:09:21]I'd love to hear. Leave a comment.

[00:09:26]Thank you, as always, for your support.

[00:09:31]See you next time. [music] >> Hey.