Anna Matsushita

  December was approaching, and COVID situation seemed to have eased a bit, with lesser number of patient reported in daily news. However, situation was far from over. There was no vaccine available and we had to live under pressure to keep away from social gathering. As holiday season was approaching, I thought about organizing an event to celebrate Christmas and end of year more than usual. We all knew that we have to skip parties with friends and family for December. Why not organize an online event? I planned Christmas reading event, starting from Advent until Epiphany. The rest was quite quick. I picked up a Christmassy photograph, set schedule, jotted my idea on a social media for book lovers in Japan, and invited my SNS friends to the book club. I was glad to know that there were people who interested in the idea. Some of them were quite excited to read books on Christmas, especially those who have little children that they can read Christmas books with their kids. During our ti

  One afternoon in the beginning of December 2020, my mother suggested a lunch at her favourite café. It is called " Søholm Cafe ",   located in one of the shopping mall, known for its Scandinavian delicacies. My other likes the café for a good cup of coffee and exotic sweets from the north of Europe. It is quite popular café, usually filled with locals and you have to be very lucky to find a seat as it I always crowded. When we arrived, there were plenty of seats. At that time, the state of emergency in Japan was already lifted, but the number of COVID patients were on the rise again. Not many people were opting to dine out. We decided a quick lunch there. The café’s counter was already filled with festive seasonal delicacies like ginger biscuits. One new item was Tosca cake, nutty and sweet cake eaten in Sweden and Finland around Christmas time. We ordered asparagus quiche and chips. It was the first sit-down lunch after corona pandemic’s first wave was over. I haven’t eate

  On a warm weekend in November 2020, I visited Chigasaki Shonan Beach. This is a rural coastal area in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The beach is small and cozy, popular place for surfers and sports fishers. It is quite secenic, with Pacific Ocean right in front of you, with some islands over the horizon, and Tanzawa moountains on the west. I made a short trip during the state of emergency in Kanto area of Japan during COVID-19’s second wave, just to get away for a few moment to relax and inhale some fresh air. I suspected the beach is not crowded, and indeed there were only few people. Although it was slightly cloudy day, the visibility was good. I could see Eboshi Iwa rock clearly off the coast. The rock is called Eboshi, named after ancient cap called “Eboshi” worn by aristocrats in Kyoto back in 15 or 16th century. Usually there are swimming event to swim to the rock from the shore, takes about few kilo metres. The event might have been cancelled for 2020 summer. Far back of Eboshi

  November came and I was still out of job.  Just for a change from regular visi to job centre and endless search on the internet, I decided to treat myself a day out to the Enoshima Island.  The Enoshima Island is located off the coast in Shonan beach, near Fujisawa, Japan. The legend has it that a lonely dragon was desperate and angry with loneliness, causing terrible disaster to local area with endless storm. Then out of the blue, there came a beautiful goddess, which is said to be the Salasvati, speaking to the angry dragon why he is causing such a dreadful disasters. Dragon said that he want someone to stay with him. The goddess said that she will be with him as his wife on a condition that he will make an end to his  despair and guard the local area instead of causing natural disaster. Thus the island became famous for this romantic legend of dragon and Slasvati, couples from all over the world are visiting shrines, making wish for endless relationship. It was a warm day, and des

  One of the major incident after leaving the job was to claim unemployment benefit. It was the first time ever for me to be one the dole. Unemployment benefit is something that not people want to claim in everyday life. I have never expected to be in the situation like this before the Covid-19 pandemic. I have changed jobs before. But I didn’t receive unemployment benefit as I was unable to work straightaway because of injury or other health issues. In autumn 2020, I claimed my first unemployment benefit. The benefit itself is what I have already paid as unemployment insurance, however, I was so uncomfortable to receive this. I wanted to get paid for what I worked for. I continued sending out more resumes to various companies through my job agents. I wanted a position, just a small position where I could work. Unfortunately, it led me nowhere. 

  By the end of November 2020, I have been out of work for 2 month. I did regular walking around my neighbourhood, to keep fit, but it got too monotonous. I needed some change. One a sunny afternoon, I decided to cycle to the beach not too far away from my home. It was a warm day and the sea was calm. I did a bit of walking by the shore.  I came here quite often when I was a child. Me and my friends often came here, swimming, diving deeply into the water catching mussels or other seashells and took them home for dinner. These were fondest memory I have about this beach. It was refreshing. After looking and editing my resume on a computer screen for hours, I needed this short break to refresh my mind.

  While taking a regular walk, I began noticing bright yellow colours in my neighbourhood. It was the beginning of citrus season. In November 2020, weather in Southern Kanto was pretty mild, and trees became thick with citrus fruits. Some of the favourite fruits in our neighbourhood are bitter orange, yuzu, pomelo and kumquat. The bright yellow and orangne colours can be seen from the distant, simply lift up our spirits. Their sweet aroma are simply fabuous. There are many houses which grow citrus fruits in their gardens. It was such a pleasure to see trees very thick with bright yellow fruits.  Some of neighbours enjoy harvesting the fruits. They share them among neighbours and friends.