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People eat food every day. Is it just to live? No, it's not .
Food is memory, and food is life.
About the Author
About the Author
Aya Kiyosawa, who is finishing her four-year academic journey at Akita International University, currently elaborates her imagination.
She spent about 18 years in Sendai City, her hometown, three years in Akita due to her university entrance, and in 2024, she experienced the normal life of a university student in Seoul, South Korea, for one year. Because of these experiences, she controls three languages (Japanese, English, and Korean). Now, Aya Kiyosawa has discovered her own possibilities in the field of creativity, based on her accumulated memories.
Her past, which involved engaging with music through piano from childhood, and her activities with AIU Rock Band Club before the study-abroad program, shape the music-based worldview that is now the core of Aya Kiyosawa's creative endeavors. Of course, her rich linguistic background has also had a significant influence. She writes lyrics and music on a daily basis, inspired by Vaundy and Ikuta Lilas, who are Japanese singer-songwriters in the same generation as her. 'UnimusIcA,' a theme song for the music event UnimusIcA at Akita International University, is one of Aya Kiyosawa's works.
Aya Kiyosawa's final project of ENG260 is a non-fictional short literature, composed of a micro story and four poems. The writing style that combines poems with a single story is a new attempt for her, but at the same time, the work purely reflects her creative thinking, which translates her experiences into music. Her collage and pictures taken with her own iPhone are attached to each poem as album covers.
Food Journey
Food Journey
There was a girl who loved eating — lived in a tiny community with unique friends. She was always surrounded by rich nature and kind people.
She was a busy person. Studying, designing, practicing singing, and working for school events until late at night every single day. She sometimes forgot to have dinner, or skipped it with intentions. Nobody knew. One thing clear was that the young girl was good at pretending that she lived healthily and happily.
A friend, now the closest one on the campus, had realized that the young girl was struggling with her own life and a bunch of things she had to deal with alone. Knew that she loved eating but she could not.
He accepted any aspects of the girl — she really loved eating but at the same time she loved working. He offered to make dinner every day and to have it together.
“It’s one of my hobbies,” that’s what he always said.
September Air
September Air
Cold, warm, clean and sweet
It matches well with a cup of coffee in the early morning
It must be hot with no sugar and no milk
Because she tastes the air
It carries her words
Any emotions can be melted
She feels it by herself
She learns to be a friend herself
September air
She likes it
She’s taking a bath with her favorite bath bomb
Inhaling the fresh fragrance of white birch
She senses October
The air will get deeper
The air will get colours
Then, she too will mature
The girl was sometimes missing her hometown. Her mother was good at cooking, and she loved it.
Autumn was the season when her mother made special dinners for her. That was a great memory from her childhood, even though recently she had been in a different place. But he always loved her hometown, where there was plenty of nature, fresh air, and kind people.
She tried to make her own dinner with a rich autumn specialite for her friend.
Tasting Autumn
Tasting Autumn
What’s new? What’s old? Autumn returns
We can taste yellow, orange, green, red, and brown
When you miss your home, try to make it
Our lives dress up and celebrate the harvest
What’s new? What’s old? Autumn returns
No one stays hungry when we sit together to be full
The warmth is the best in a year
We also dress up and celebrate the harvest
What’s new? What’s old? Autumn returns!
Make your hometown taste, make your taste from your memory
Share the dish and story you have
It’s the easiest way to celebrate the harvest
What’s new? What’s old? Again, autumn sings to us!
Our lives dress up and celebrate the harvest
Whenever she felt bad, struggled, or faced hardships in her life, she tried to be fine. Food always allowed her to be a little girl again, in this busy world.
One day, she suddenly started saying,
“I’m really, really wanting a pudding now. A huge pudding made of lots of eggs. It’s yellow, and covered with butter caramel. It should be cold enough, but it’s also warm, you know. ”
She did not know why she wanted a pudding so much—just knew the fact that she was dying to eat the golden pudding.
On the way home, during her bathing time, or even during dinners, she kept saying it.
Every single day, all day, all night. Finally, she had a dream of a pudding.
Her friend clearly understood that her desire for a pudding would not be fulfilled by making it by herself or by buying from a supermarket— actually she had bought puddings from shops several times before. He knew that someone had to make it for the girl, just like her mother had done for her, and more, he knew that he had to take turns.
Pudding
Pudding
Pudding-ding-dong
The golden bell rings
Sweet and a bit bitter, smooth sounds, ding-dong
Caramel covers the baby body like a blanket
Hard? No, it’s soft
Give it a try to touch the cheeks
You may fall in love with her, ding-dong
It tastes like your childhood
Home sweet home
The golden bell sings a lullaby
Warmth grows in your heart
New memory and old life, ding-dong
Pudding-ding-dong
On that day, she had a dream of a huge pudding again. But this time was different. She was fulfilled.
The girl, however, had been struggling with a conflict in her own mind. The pudding could not resolve it — she was suffering from the gap between her fresh heart and her body age.
Missing her hometown and wanting a pudding. These were too childish, she thought.
She turned 22 years old in September. It was already 22. She could not accept the fact that the day she had turned 20 years old was, already, two years ago from now.
What had she achieved in these two years? How much had she grown in these two years?
She despaired at the difference between what she was like right now and her image of a woman who was aged 22.
"I'm going to go to the bar tonight, after my part-time job. Do you want to come with me?"
The girl asked her friend. She felt she was mature enough only during drinking at the bar.
"Sure, I'm down."
At the bar, she ordered the master's recommendation. The master told her that the cocktail was popular among Japanese females from 1986 to 1991.
Soon after, she came to like the cocktail. The colour was beautiful, and the taste was also nice. It was special.
She understood why this cocktail had been popular among the Japanese ladies in the past.
Drink the Perfume
Drink the Perfume
Girls get confidence with perfumes
Purple makes girls beautiful and shiny
And purple hides girls’ love and makes them mysterious
Girls wear perfumes
Did you know which flower I chose for today?
It’s my precious day with you, at the bar
Girls with intentions
Purple makes girls powerful and thoughtful
It’s a spice, you know
When you’re drunk, you’ll sense it
Girls will be who they want to be
You’ll remember the air the girls brought
Drink the perfume, girls be strong
If you want your future to be bright
Do what you want, wear what you want
Purple helps girls to stay beautiful
She realized that she had been trying to be a grown-up. Still she wanted to be a little girl, but it was not allowed.
“I think I’ve found something important.”
She said.
“That’s cool, I did not know you lost something, though.”
“Same. But you know, sometimes it happens.”
The girl’s friend smiled.
She shrugged her shoulders and said,
“Now I’m ready to be mature.”
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