In the huge sandbox called The Earth

 In the huge sandbox called The Earth

Qualia Journal

I must have published 100 or 200 books in Japanese. I have long stopped counting.

Even in a cozy market like Japan, it is difficult to grasp what is going on. I have been involved in book launches and publicity stunts here, but these do not necessarily correlate with sales. On the other hand, books that I barely paid attention to have been bestsellers.

When it comes to books I have written in English, those on ikigai, nagomi, and stoicism, and their translations into various languages, things become even more elusive.  

My ikigai book has become a bestseller in Germany, being the non.1 in nonfiction in 2024 and 2025. Ikigai is staying at no.2 position even this week. 

I was made aware of the German phenomenon by an e-mail from my editor Tanja Rauch. Otherwise I would not have had a clue. I heard rumors that my book is doing well in Switzerland, latin America, and southwest and central Asia, but I do not know the situations in detail.

I feel that the best I can do is to focus on what I write on my computer for the book projects. In the tiny corner in the huge sandbox called The Earth, I play on, doing my humble best.

You have the multiverse in your palm.

 You have the multiverse in your palm.

Qualia Journal

On Tokyo subways, you see people absorbed in their smartphones. What they are doing are different, depending on the individuals. After all, smartphones are supercomputers in your palm. You can do anything.

Yesterday I was reading Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's tale. At other times I was discussing quantum mechanics and information thermodynamics with ChatGPT. When I needed a break, I browsed X and posted some thoughts.

A smartphone is the gateway to a multitude of different worlds, and even if we share the same space on the subway, each of us could be exploring entire different universes. 

You have the multiverse in your palm. I don't know what my fellow travelers were doing with their smartphones yesterday on the Tokyo subways.