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Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods

Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods

By Hidemi Woods

This podcast is narration works of short stories from the books Hidemi Woods wrote. And her talking about them.
Hidemi Woods was born and raised in Kyoto, Japan. A singer-songwriter and an author.
Her stories and talking are about life in Japan, music, family, childhood, and embarrassing everyday-experiences.
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Routine Thief

Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi WoodsNov 09, 2020

00:00
06:07
Where's a Certificate?: Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods

Where's a Certificate?: Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods

This podcast is narration works of short stories from the books Hidemi Woods wrote. And her talking about them. Hidemi Woods was born and raised in Kyoto, Japan. A singer-songwriter and an author. Her stories and talking are about life in Japan, music, family, childhood, and embarrassing everyday-experiences.


Episode from

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠An ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Old Tree in Kyoto by Hidemi Woods⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HidemiWoods.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


Audiobook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: The Family in Kyoto: One Japanese Girl Got Freedom by Hidemi Woods ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠On Sale at online stores or apps.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Books,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Google Play, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Audible ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠43 available distributors in total.

Audiobook  :⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ On Sale at online stores or apps.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Books⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Audible⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Google Play⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Nook Audiobooks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,  43 available distributors in total.

Mar 08, 202425:41
Ice Cream Man: Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods

Ice Cream Man: Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods

This podcast is narration works of short stories from the books Hidemi Woods wrote. And her talking about them. Hidemi Woods was born and raised in Kyoto, Japan. A singer-songwriter and an author. Her stories and talking are about life in Japan, music, family, childhood, and embarrassing everyday-experiences.


Episode from

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠An ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Old Tree in Kyoto by Hidemi Woods⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HidemiWoods.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


Audiobook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: The Family in Kyoto: One Japanese Girl Got Freedom by Hidemi Woods ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠On Sale at online stores or apps.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Books,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Google Play, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Audible ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠43 available distributors in total.

Audiobook  :⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ On Sale at online stores or apps.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Books⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Audible⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Google Play⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Nook Audiobooks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,  43 available distributors in total.

Feb 09, 202432:08
A Toy Shoe Shop: Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods

A Toy Shoe Shop: Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods

This podcast is narration works of short stories from the books Hidemi Woods wrote. And her talking about them. Hidemi Woods was born and raised in Kyoto, Japan. A singer-songwriter and an author. Her stories and talking are about life in Japan, music, family, childhood, and embarrassing everyday-experiences.


Episode from

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠An ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Old Tree in Kyoto by Hidemi Woods⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HidemiWoods.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


Audiobook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: The Family in Kyoto: One Japanese Girl Got Freedom by Hidemi Woods ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠On Sale at online stores or apps.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Books,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Google Play, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Audible ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠43 available distributors in total.

Audiobook  :⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ On Sale at online stores or apps.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Books⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Audible⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Google Play⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Nook Audiobooks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,  43 available distributors in total.

Jan 06, 202427:44
My Uncle's Jobs: Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods

My Uncle's Jobs: Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods

This podcast is narration works of short stories from the books Hidemi Woods wrote. And her talking about them. Hidemi Woods was born and raised in Kyoto, Japan. A singer-songwriter and an author. Her stories and talking are about life in Japan, music, family, childhood, and embarrassing everyday-experiences.


Episode from

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠An ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Old Tree in Kyoto by Hidemi Woods⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HidemiWoods.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


Audiobook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: The Family in Kyoto: One Japanese Girl Got Freedom by Hidemi Woods ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠On Sale at online stores or apps.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Books,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Google Play, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Audible ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠43 available distributors in total.

Audiobook  :⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ On Sale at online stores or apps.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Books⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Audible⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Google Play⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Nook Audiobooks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,  43 available distributors in total.

Dec 08, 202327:19
My First White Guitar: Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods

My First White Guitar: Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods

This podcast is narration works of short stories from the books Hidemi Woods wrote. And her talking about them. Hidemi Woods was born and raised in Kyoto, Japan. A singer-songwriter and an author. Her stories and talking are about life in Japan, music, family, childhood, and embarrassing everyday-experiences.


Episode from

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠An ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Old Tree in Kyoto by Hidemi Woods⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HidemiWoods.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


Audiobook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: The Family in Kyoto: One Japanese Girl Got Freedom by Hidemi Woods ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠On Sale at online stores or apps.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Books,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Google Play, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Audible ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠43 available distributors in total.

Audiobook  :⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ On Sale at online stores or apps.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Books⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Audible⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Google Play⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Nook Audiobooks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,  43 available distributors in total.

Nov 17, 202325:22
Image of a Marriage: Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods

Image of a Marriage: Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods

This podcast is narration works of short stories from the books Hidemi Woods wrote. And her talking about them. Hidemi Woods was born and raised in Kyoto, Japan. A singer-songwriter and an author. Her stories and talking are about life in Japan, music, family, childhood, and embarrassing everyday-experiences.


Episode from

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠An ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Old Tree in Kyoto by Hidemi Woods⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HidemiWoods.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


Audiobook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: The Family in Kyoto: One Japanese Girl Got Freedom by Hidemi Woods ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠On Sale at online stores or apps.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Books,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Google Play, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Audible ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠43 available distributors in total.

Audiobook  :⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ On Sale at online stores or apps.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Books⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Audible⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Google Play⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Nook Audiobooks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,  43 available distributors in total.

Nov 03, 202322:07
His Daily Plunder: Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods

His Daily Plunder: Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods

Oct 21, 202318:28
That Large Amount of Tears: Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods
Oct 07, 202325:18
A Song for Celebration: Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods
Sep 16, 202327:46
Become Successful: Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods
Sep 02, 202326:36
Protecting a Successor : Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods
Aug 19, 202326:25
the war reward certificate : Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods
Aug 05, 202332:01
outdated : Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods
Jul 15, 202328:58
my head on his arm : Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods
Jul 01, 202331:19
monopolize him : Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods
Jun 17, 202335:35
for the Emperor : Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods
Jun 03, 202331:42
the pit : Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods
May 13, 202324:39
 a local band : Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods
Apr 22, 202329:21
bean sprout : Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods
Apr 08, 202326:34
his toupee : Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods
Mar 25, 202323:50
a match : Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods
Mar 11, 202325:04
my yukata : Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods
Feb 25, 202336:06
TV talent show : Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods
Feb 11, 202331:56
the lessons : Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods
Jan 28, 202339:03
my mean big sister : Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods
Jan 14, 202338:58
money has wings : Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods
Dec 31, 202228:07
Christmas party : Talk and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods
Dec 10, 202220:04
A girl again! : Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods
Nov 26, 202244:32
labels : Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods
Nov 12, 202230:13
name : Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods
Nov 02, 202231:05
old woman : Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods
Oct 22, 202234:06
parental affection : Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods
Oct 08, 202225:05
distant relationship : Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods
Sep 24, 202229:02
a test of courage : Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods
Aug 26, 202215:20
ancestors spirits : Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods
Aug 06, 202220:36
talisman : Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods
Jul 19, 202223:05
Talking and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods : rainbow town
Jun 21, 202223:35
Talk and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods : fox
Jun 01, 202221:41
Talk and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods : end
Mar 23, 202221:38
Talk and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods : birthday
Mar 15, 202214:46
Talk and Reading from Japan by Hidemi Woods : persimmons
Mar 15, 202209:36
the thickest door

the thickest door

Episode from The Family in Kyoto: One Japanese Girl Got Freedom by Hidemi Woods

HidemiWoods.com

Audiobook  : Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods On Sale at online stores or apps.

Apple Books, Audible, Google Play, Nook Audiobooks,  43 available distributors in total.

the thickest door

In the summer of my fourth grade, I was in the hospital. It started as cold-like symptoms with a high fever. But I was left unattended because summer was the peak season for farming and my parents were extremely busy as farmers. To make things worse, my family had been rebuilding our house at the time and extra attention of my parents was paid to that.

About a week later, I vomited blood and fainted. That at last captured my parents’ attention and they realized the seriousness. When I became conscious, they had called a nurse who lived in the neighborhood and she was attending me. She suggested taking me to a hospital. After examination, I was diagnosed with nephritis. As the summer break for school was just around the corner, I was admitted to the hospital on the day the break began. Although I had been longing for the summer break as the precious time of my freedom, I was locked up in the hospital instead.

I shared the room with five other girl patients. Except for a very small or very sick child, parents weren’t permitted to stay overnight with the patients. They came during the visiting hours. I was nine years old and had never stayed outside home for such a long time before. I suffered from homesickness rather than from nephritis. My parents were too busy working seven days a week as farmers and only my mother visited me everyday. But she only made it less than one hour before the visiting hour ended although I was waiting for her all day long. No matter how desperately I begged her to come earlier, she prioritized her work and I got to see her merely forty minutes or so a day.

Sometimes my father also came to see me, taking my younger sister with him. In that case, when the visiting hour was over, I would see my parents and my sister off. They went into the elevator together and the door shut before me, excluding me alone. That was the thickest door I’d ever felt it was. I went back to my bed and lay down hiding tears from other girls and nurses. Maybe it hinted my future relationship with my family. The three of them still live together in their house that I left after I struggled and couldn’t quite fit in…

Feb 21, 202203:56
successor

successor

Episode from The Family in Kyoto: One Japanese Girl Got Freedom by Hidemi Woods

HidemiWoods.com

Audiobook  : Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods On Sale at online stores or apps.

Apple Books, Audible, Google Play, Nook Audiobooks,  43 available distributors in total.

successor

When I was five or six years old and visited my grandparents’ home, an acquaintance of the family’s showed up. He is good at fortune telling, at least known to the family so. My grandparents’ family deeply depended on fortune telling for almost everything, including my mother’s marriage and the building of their new house. They excitedly brought me to the man and asked him to see my future.

According to him, by just looking at someone’s ear, he could tell the future. Surrounded by almost all members of the family, I was made to show my ear to him. As soon as he saw my ear, he shouted, “Oh! This is an ear of a family’s successor!” I had never seen him before, and was introduced to him only as a child related to them. But in my family, I had been already looked on as a successor because I was a firstborn and there was no boy. Since the man uttered an accurate situation, they were so impressed and said in unison that the man surely could see the future.

I, on the other hand, was shocked. Succeeding my family meant living at the same house with my parents and bearing the same last name all my life. While I had been told I would succeed the family, I still had clung to a little hope of freedom and secretly enjoyed imagining my future. Although I had only a younger sister so far, my parents may have a baby boy in future and then my secret wish would come true. I could choose my husband by myself and could live wherever I want.

But when the man declared I was destined to be a successor, I saw my hope crushed. I felt all doors of possibilities slammed shut. Now I knew where I would live, what my last name would be, and even which grave I would be buried in. While I despaired, they congratulated me joyfully, as if good news was delivered. “Good for you! You are a successor! It’s your destiny!”

Decades later, the man’s fortune telling proved wrong after all. I left home and live where I want. My last name is unchanged all right, but of my own free will…

Jan 24, 202203:45
the evil world

the evil world

Episode from The Family in Kyoto: One Japanese Girl Got Freedom by Hidemi Woods

HidemiWoods.com

Audiobook  : Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods On Sale at online stores or apps.

Apple Books, Audible, Google Play, Nook Audiobooks,  43 available distributors in total.

the evil world

When I was little, my mother constantly said bad things about others. She believed that, even when someone was kind to her, there must have been some plot behind the nice gesture. To sum up what she talked about every day, there are only evil people in this world.

In kindergarten, mothers would fix a lunchbox for their kids and the kids would eat lunch with their classmates and their teacher. At one lunchtime, when I was opening a lid of my lunchbox, I inadvertently dropped it to the floor without having a single bite and it overturned there. I lost my lunch. While other kids laughed at me, my teacher, who had been trying so hard to make me play with other kids because I had ignored them and had hardly talked to anyone, cleaned up the mess for me and took me to a small candy store outside the kindergarten.

She told me to pick any bread I liked. I picked one timidly, feeling afraid what kind of trap this would be, as I didn’t have any money. She suggested one more. I couldn’t figure out what was going on and shook my head. She picked one more piece of bread by herself, took out money from her own wallet, and gave all the bread to me.

I was stunned. She bought me lunch. It was the first time that someone unrelated to me was so kind to me. Since then, I had started talking to her. Even after I finished kindergarten, I had kept exchanging letters with her and I still send her a Christmas card every year.

She was the first person who destroyed my mother’s theory of the evil world and taught me that there were some good people in this world…

Dec 23, 202103:02
crazy

crazy

Episode from The Family in Kyoto: One Japanese Girl Got Freedom by Hidemi Woods

HidemiWoods.com

Audiobook  : Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods On Sale at online stores or apps.

Apple Books, Audible, Google Play, Nook Audiobooks,  43 available distributors in total.

crazy

I was born at the small hospital in a rural area. Although not many expectant mothers checked in there, two baby girls were born on the same day, one of whom was I. We shared the newborn room, sleeping in a bed side by side. Before the birth, I’d had a possibility to have severe jaundice of the newborn.

My mother was told it would either leave a brain defect if I had it, or make me extremely intelligent if I didn’t have it. Instead of jaundice, I was born with a hip joint dislocation. My right leg had been regularly dislocated and hung loosely until I was one or two years old and my mother had to take me to the hospital each time.

About the time when my leg finally stopped getting dislocated, there was a piece of news in a local newspaper that a little girl was thrown into the river and killed by her parent. The victim was the baby who was born on the same day as I was and slept in the next bed to me at the hospital. Since both the town and the hospital were small, my mother and my grandmother remembered the name of the baby and the area she lived in. I was luckier and I outlived her without any more dislocation or jaundice. The latter should have resulted in me being extremely intelligent but my parents consider me simply crazy…

Dec 04, 202102:30
the house

the house

Episode from The Family in Kyoto: One Japanese Girl Got Freedom by Hidemi Woods

HidemiWoods.com

Audiobook  : Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods On Sale at online stores or apps.

Apple Books, Audible, Google Play, Nook Audiobooks,  43 available distributors in total. 


The family of my grandfather on my mother’s side used to be a landlord of the area and has lived on the ancestral land generation after generation. My grandfather succeeded the family when he got married with my grandmother. In the end, four generations lived together in the big house: my grandparents, their daughter and their son-in-low, their grandson and his wife, and their great-grandchildren. They had constant disputes but nobody could leave the house to keep their old family style.

My grandfather was unconscious for weeks in the hospital when his time was drawing near. A couple of days after his family decided to turn off his life-support system, their house was burned down to the ground. It was my grandmother who caused the fire. A candle she lit on the Buddhist altar made something catch fire and spread all over. No one was injured but the police questioned my grandmother persistently. She went to the hospital to see my grandfather and repeated loudly in his ear, “The house was burned down! It’s all gone!” She told my mother that she thought he heard her though he was unconscious, and he would die soon along with the house. As she said, he passed away the very next day.

I attended his funeral, worrying about how devastated my grandmother would be, because my grandparents were such a nice couple. On the contrary, she was fine and somehow gleeful. I wondered if their relationship was my grandfather’s one-sided love. Considering her life, it’s possible that she had hated the house all those years since she married into the family.

By the time the house was being rebuilt, she lived at a nursing institution with her daughter who had suffered from dementia and no longer recognized her mother. She herself gradually had health problems and spent the rest of her life in the institution. She died there and never lived in the new house…

Oct 28, 202103:24
prodigy

prodigy

Episode from The Family in Kyoto: One Japanese Girl Got Freedom by Hidemi Woods 

HidemiWoods.com 

Audiobook 1 : Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods On Sale at online stores or apps. 

Audiobook 2 : My Social Distancing and Naked Spa in Japan by Hidemi Woods On Sale at online stores or apps. 

Apple Books, Audible, Google Play, Nook Audiobooks,  43 available distributors in total. 


a prodigy

My great-grandmother was a geisha. She grew up in a remote village surrounded by the mountains and left home for a big city to become a geisha. She had a daughter by a patron and died right after she gave birth. The daughter was my grandmother on my mother’s side. She didn’t remember her mother at all and didn’t know her father, either. No one still knows who her father is, except that he was a rich and powerful name.

She was taken in and raised by her mother’s parents at their home in the mountains, but for various reasons, she was soon handed over to one relative to another. She lived in countless different homes of her relatives and changed her school for innumerable times in her childhood. At every school she attended, she was the smartest honor student and had never dropped to second.

One of her relative’s homes where she lived for a while was my grandfather’s. Years after she left, he told his parents that he wanted to marry her. She got married with him at the age of sixteen and moved in his house again as his wife. She settled down and got her family at long last. But only five years later, my grandfather was drafted for World War II and she was left with her two daughters, one of which is my mother, and her in-laws.

A former prodigy with no home and no parents found herself working hard as a farmer everyday in the fields with her in-laws…

Sep 28, 202103:04
what I do and Lousy Neighbor

what I do and Lousy Neighbor

Episodes with music are only available on Spotify.

Episode from Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods 

HidemiWoods.com 

Audiobook 1 : Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods On Sale at online stores or apps. 

Audiobook 2 : My Social Distancing and Naked Spa in Japan by Hidemi Woods On Sale at online stores or apps. 

Apple Books, Audible, Google Play, Nook Audiobooks,  43 available distributors in total. 

what I do 

I’ve completed my home studio by handmade soundproofing to my small apartment room and setting up instruments, equipment and the wiring. The software and drivers have all been installed on my computer. The only thing that remains to be done is start working on our new song.

I’ve run out of excuses to avoid work any longer. I wrote the next song when I was having trouble with my neighbor who newly moved in a room next door to me in the apartment building that I used to live. At that time, I was so annoyed and at a loss why I should have endured this uncomfortable time. But in hindsight, it paid as I earned one new song.

Now, I’m getting down to select instruments, make sounds, arrange the song, record a chorus, rehearse vocals, record vocals, mix, and master. It’s lengthy, continuous, lonely work stretched over several years. Our last song into which I put a great deal of similar effort and time to complete, by the way, has turned almost no profit so far. This is what I do with my life at stake…


Sep 16, 202106:22
POW

POW

Episode from The Family in Kyoto: One Japanese Girl Got Freedom by Hidemi Woods 

HidemiWoods.com 

Audiobook 1 : Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods On Sale at online stores or apps. 

Audiobook 2 : My Social Distancing and Naked Spa in Japan by Hidemi Woods On Sale at online stores or apps. 

Apple Books, Audible, Google Play, Nook Audiobooks,  43 available distributors in total. 

POW 

Once, on the festival for the local shrine of my hometown, my favorite grandfather on my mother’s side and I were talking alone at the front yard of my house. He knew a lot about plants and taught me the names of trees in the yard. There was a rooftop space above the garage and it was surrounded by a fence. We went up the rooftop and my grandfather began to climb the fence.

I tried to stop him but he said he could walk along the top of the fence. He was a war veteran and had been a POW in Russia for many years. In those days, according to him, Russian soldiers made POWs climb up tall chimneys and shot them from the ground for fun. His fellow POWs fell or got shot to death. Luckier men continued to climb up and survived.

My grandfather was one of the latter. Although he was old and a little drunk after the festival meal, he balanced himself and walked on the narrow fence, which was merely 4 inches wide and 13 feet above the ground. Watching him easily walking on the fence, I understood how dreadful his life as a POW was. This must be a cinch for him compared to forced acrobatics. He jumped off the fence and said smiling, “See? It’s easy!” while I was crying for many reasons…

Sep 03, 202102:53
Jackpot and Sunrise

Jackpot and Sunrise

Episodes with music are only available on Spotify.

Episode from Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods

Audiobook : On Sale at online stores or apps.

Apple, Google Play, Nook Audiobooks,  43 available distributors in total

HidemiWoods.com

That casino was old and forlorn. Inside, it had the outdated concert  hall where gaudy revues and magic shows used to be abundant. Since the  casino lost its popularity and customers, the hall had been used as a  makeshift break area. Those who used up money for gambling and no longer  had anything to do sat there sparsely with vacant eyes, producing a  wretched atmosphere that perfectly matched the whole casino. My partner,  my mother and I was resting there after we lost most money. As it was  too gloomy to be sitting in the break area, my partner suggested that we  should use up the scarce rest of our money and leave the casino. Each  of us sat in front of our favorite slot machine. On the screen of my  slot, I came close to win with two matched pictures but the third one  didn’t come up in every turn. My mother and I quickly ran out of money.  Further down the floor, I saw my partner still playing. I left him there  and went back to our hotel with my mother. It was the last day of  our stay and I started packing for checkout. The hotel looked out on the  waterway that connected the hotel and the casino. For a brief break  from packing, I went out on the balcony of our room and watched the  waterway. Then I noticed something gigantic floating far up the  waterway. It was slowly flowing toward the hotel. The closer it got, the  more monstrous it became. It approached near enough to tell what it  was. A tall, triangular-shaped white condominium was carried on a  massive barge. Tied behind it was a white enormous sailing ship. They  were carried carefully from the direction where the casino located.  Considering where it came from and how unusual they were to be carried  along the waterway, I assumed that they were some prizes of the casino. I  called my mother to the balcony and we wondered what kind of person had  extremely good fortune like this. The barge and the ship stopped in  front of the hotel, right under our balcony. There was the third boat  tied behind the ship. A man was sitting in it almost buried in numerous  boxes and bags. It meant he was the winner. I gazed at the man with the  biggest possible amount of envy. And I gasped. The man who won all of  those was no other than my partner! I couldn’t shout, couldn’t scream  but was just speechless. I saw my partner getting off the boat and being  welcomed by the hotel staff. He gave them some instructions and they  hurriedly moved around. Soon, there was a knock on the door of our room.  The bellboys brought countless boxes of shoes and bags of brand clothes  into our room. Finally my partner came in. He said calmly, “It’s time  for checkout.” I told him that I hadn’t finished packing and he said,

Aug 26, 202116:05