”The worst and the best day of my life” by Ryu Aomi

I was traveling across Japan to find where to settle then came across a fishing city 1.5 hours bus/train ride from Fukuoka City Center.  I wrote about it here. I moved to a fishing city near Fukuoka, Karatsu. 3 months have passed and the experience is much better than I intended. Today I want to share what I love about the city I settled in, Karatsu. The reason I love Karatsu 1. The location Karatsu is just 1.5 hours away west from downtown Fukuoka. I was looking for somewhere to settle within 2 hours of transport from the city center of Fukuoka. I even considered living in Fukuoka city center or in between Hakata Station and Fukuoka airport since it's so convenient and a budget to live. But I also love nature, and not very much a city person. Then I found Karatsu, where it's an hour drive from Fukuoka, and has both the sea and the mountains. Most importantly it is the hub to visit the smaller islands scattered nearby. You can access Iki Island from the ferry terminal of Karats...

 I wrote that I recently moved to Kyushu, the southwestern island of Japan. I moved to a fishing city near Fukuoka. I've spent about 6 months and cross passed with many people. And seriously. I believe in go giver. Being a genuine giver is the most important trait I thought it was just natural to be a giver, but apparently it's not. My grandpa was a giver. He was strict but a giver. My dad was actually the opposite, and I used to hate what he does to the people around him. So this naturally made me choose to be a giver. Which brought me many fortune that I've never imagined. Takers that act as givers The people in Kyushu are relatively in a lot better mood than the people elsewhere in Japan. I love their friendliness and more natural demeanor. But there are people anywhere, that take advantage of that.  And probably because I speak both English and Japanese well, some takers are after me. What I'm reminded of is to be very careful with takers that act like they're g...

After I read the book The Long Game, I started to look for something I will be interested in, something that I would like to do for decades. In Bali I was staying with the locals. During the traditional ceremonies I came across an opportunity to cook fish. Looking back this was a coincidence I came across that would change my life. I kept thinking about that cooking experience throughout my whole Southeast Asia trip. The locals didn't know how to cook the fish so I just imitated what was on Youtube and cooked it to aqua pazza. How one incident in Bali changed my life After coming back to Japan, I bought myself a kitchen knife then set off to Hokkaido. I placed myself in working in resort jobs across Japan to look for an ideal place to learn about fish and engage in cooking them. One of the first colleagues I met was an expert in fishing, and we fished a lot of yamame fish. We cooked in several ways, and it tasted out of the world. I also remembered the Bali experience. I decided t...

 I came across a moment where I became very interested in cooking fish. I came back to Japan, bought myself a kitchen knife in Kappabashi, then I've been studying the craft. I had the opportunity to work in Tsukiji, and now I even moved to a fish city Karatsu, spending time cooking local fish. The experience has been amazing and I understand fish a lot better than when I started. I wanted to organize what I learned so far, so that it helps me to navigate what I should study next. So, here is what I learned about fish in Japan. 1. Ideal environment for the best seafood Japan attracts fish as it is a natural, nutritious buffet. Japan is known to be industrial but it's actually very green. We have very green mountains close to the ocean, and the rivers push nutrients to the sea. Planktons and small food develops in the sea surrounding the islands of Japan. Fish take in these nutrients and become fatty. One interesting experience in Tsukiji was the fish shop I worked for loved sell...

  My first business didn't work out well. It did take me a while for me to recover mentally and financially. But 3 years in and I look back that it's not a big deal to make mistakes. It actually helps you to reflect on it, and gives you hints on how you could improve. Without failing it's difficult to improve and become better. It's about how you view and act towards failure that is crucial.  The more mistakes you make earlier in life the better Before starting the business, I always seemed to have the pressure that I had to succeed. Or to be right and correct all the time. But actually it's the opposite. I need to make a lot of mistakes, and learn to get back up as fast as possible for the next challenge. I realized this when my mother kept repeating that "I failed my business" every time we talked on the phone. My mom sounded like it was the end of the world while I was beginning to think it might be the start of something new. Well, when you lose a lot ...

   My favorite investment is gold. But my best reason might be different from the answer you get from Google. During the pandemic, my financial situation wasn’t very good and I needed money to pay my workers. I was selling my belongings, which were sold for a fraction of the money I bought them.  It helped very little. Looking back it was a good experience learning that my belongings I thought were a lot less valuable than I thought it was. But the only one that were priced more than when I bought it, was gold. Gold on an emergency In Japan we have a saying, "有事の金" which can be translated to “gold during an emergency.” I remember gold coming down like every other investments during the pandemic, but then there was a timing when gold surged.  So like I said earlier, many things I thought were valuable lost its value during an economic slowdown.  But one good reason you need to sell your valuables is in a financial emergency. Gold was the only thing that increased...