February 21, 2026 (Saturday)

The idea of keeping a public diary popped up in my head while I was spacing out on the bus this week.

I was thinking of writing for my friends and acquaintances. Here's my way of informing you what I'm currently up to. Twitter has character limits and paragraphs don't suit Discord.

I'm aware of neocities since quite some time ago, but I've never committed to building a presence here. If I hadn't signed up, I wouldn't have known that you could follow other users and leave a comment on the guestbook.

Friend or stranger, I'll introduce myself.

I go by the name Hiromi. I've got two explanations for its origin. The first, I switched a letter in the name Hitomi, as in the name of everyone's beloved teaching intern stuck wandering the hallways in sunset. The second, I removed a syllable from the kun'yomi of my Chinese name.

I'm Chinese in the sense that both sides of my family trace their roots to the Chinese mainland. My passport is green with a silly yellow bird on the cover; thanks to it I was barred from leaving Taoyuan Airport during layover. Growing up, I was robbed of mother tongue, culture, and history. At the same time I don't count as a full-fledged citizen. It's really a stupid game I have no desire playing.

I live in Japan since 2024. It's done much good for my sanity. Of course you have to put up with bullshit so long as you live anywhere on Earth, but here the upsides outweigh the downsides by a long shot. My eyes had always been set on this country. It took failure, resignation, and humility to finally accept that I can't live without Japan.

There's so much to look for in the future. For now I'm focusing on meeting basic needs. Getting enough sleep every day. Treating myself to good food. Simple things I had never been able to do.

Studies resume in April. There's much paperwork and grunt-work since I'm moving in a week, on March 1st. I'll be cutting down on job shifts to get used to the new environment.

At any rate, one thing at a time.