Hidemi Woods

Singer, Songwriter and Author from Kyoto, Japan.

>>> NEW ALBUM “Good Enough by Hidemi Woods” Streaming [Spotify] [Youtube Music] MP3 purchase[Amazon Music][Apple Music]

  • Living in The Mountains

    Living in The Mountains

    It’s April, and yet it has snowed hard here in the region where I live. The snow still lies about four feet. Under those conditions, though, I caught a pollen allergy out of the blue.

    I came home from shopping one evening and developed symptoms of a runny nose, sneezing and a thick head. At first, I thought I had caught a cold. As a person who fears pretty much everything, I always dread having a cold. I haven’t had it since 2005, by taking vitamin supplements daily, gurgling right after coming home and sleeping well. I couldn’t accept a cold despite those unremitting efforts. Besides, I didn’t have a fever or a sore throat. My partner told me those were typical symptoms of a pollen allergy, which he suffers every spring. That explained it, as I felt itchy in my eyes and Japanese cedars with reddish leaves have appeared out of the snow in places on the nearby mountains.

    I had never had a pollen allergy in my life. When I have it, it’s acute and so early. Even my partner hasn’t had it yet this year. Until I moved in here, I had had pleasant spring every year while my partner spent it miserably with sneezing and sniffling. Not to develop the allergy, I had used extra caution by wearing a medical mask outside even though I hadn’t had it yet. My long-term precautions didn’t pay off. Living in the mountains brought my efforts naught…

    Japanese TV networks have aired fewer and fewer US TV dramas and Hollywood movies in recent years. Japanese satellite TV stations air some, but more and more of them have been dubbed into Japanese. I really hate dubbed programs. They are poorly dubbed by disastrously bad dubbing actors. It’s decisively strange to see Brad Pitt talking in Japanese. And the lines are misinterpreted badly enough to ruin the whole story. I just can’t stand watching them.

    This spring, a couple of new satellite TV stations started to broadcast in Japan. One of them is a totally dream channel for me, which airs old and new dramas and shows from America’s ABC, in English, for free. Since the announcement, I’d waited for the broadcasting for months with indescribable excitement. The station handed out a free exclusive remote for the channel at Seven Eleven stores as its opening promotion. I rushed to get one at a store and had anxiously counted down the days until the broadcasting started by holding the free remote in my hand.

    When the D-Day finally came, I found nothing but a black screen on the channel. Amid enormous disappointment, I looked up on the Internet, and realized the satellite dish of my apartment building is too out of date to receive the new stations. The dish is communal and I can’t replace it. I wrote a letter to the board but haven’t heard from it. I have a very slim chance, as it would cost money.

    Every single day, I tune to my dream station in the hope that it comes on by some chance. And every time, I sighed to a pitch-black screen…

    I came through my first winter in this town that is famous for its long, severe cold and heavy snowfall, but the heater of my apartment didn’t. It got broken after heavy use of this winter. Although I used it for one winter, it’s 22 years old since the apartment was equipped with it when it was built.

    A repair person from a gas company came over and told me that an antifreeze leak had broken a small part in the heater. The broken part can be easily replaced, which makes the heater operate again, but the problem is to fix the leak. Replacing an antifreeze pump will stop the leak, only the manufacturer no longer makes a pump. My options are either replace the whole heater just for the pump, or continue to use the current one by filling antifreeze by myself while it keeps leaking.

    The heater is combined with the boiler for hot water that works fine. If I replaced the heater, it would replace the working boiler as well. And the cost would be mountainous. I strongly insist that a manufacturer should keep making parts for their products forever. The repair person replaced the broken small part for free on condition that I would consider getting a new heater from his company. I considered, and decided to use the current one until it completely breaks, fearing an impending failure day after day…

    Episode from

    Country Living in Mountain of Japan by Hidemi Woods

    Kindle and Audiobook available at Amazon.com

  • [[NEW ALBUM]]“Good Enough by Hidemi Woods”

    [[NEW ALBUM]]“Good Enough by Hidemi Woods”

     “Good Enough by Hidemi Woods”

    Streaming [Spotify] [Youtube Music]

    MP3 purchase [Amazon Music] [Apple Music]

    The Secret

    My family disagrees
    My friends are gone
    As I started chasing my dream
    Yet somebody oversees
    Cheering me on
    As I go on keeping my dream

    I’ve got the secret
    Only dreamers know
    After tons of pain and sleepless nights
    I’ve found the secret
    All the dreamers saw
    That can take me to new heights

    The universe helps me
    The universe tells me
    The universe encourages me to go be
    The universe leads me
    The universe shields me
    The universe illuminates me to be free

    My life has no guarantee
    My money is lost
    As I started chasing my dream
    Yet doing what’s right is glee
    At any cost
    As I go on keeping my dream

    I’ve got the secret
    Only dreamers know
    After lots of scoffs and heartless slights
    I’ve found the secret
    All the dreamers saw
    That bestows bliss and unites

    The universe saves me
    The universe aids me
    The universe exhilarates me to go be
    The universe fills me
    The universe heals me
    The universe initiates me to be free

    Don’t be afraid
    You’re not alone
    Completely free
    Creating a new world

    Don’t let faith fade
    With much hope shown
    Need not worry

    I’ve got the secret
    Only dreamers know
    After bitter toil and ceaseless fights
    I’ve found the secret
    All the dreamers saw
    Shining my mind with insights

    The universe helps me
    The universe tells me
    The universe encourages me to go be
    The universe leads me
    The universe shields me
    The universe illuminates me to be free

    It’s the universe that will sustain
    Those who try to seek, strive to attain

    The universe saves me
    The universe aids me
    The universe exhilarates me to go be
    The universe fills me
    The universe heals me
    The universe initiates me to be free
  • Nature is A Luxury

    Nature is A Luxury

    Nearly one year has passed since I moved from a suburb of Tokyo to this small town in the mountains. Similar season reminds me of those hectic days in the previous year. Having spent a whole year in a new town, I like it here after all. What’s so special above all is varied beauty of nature, and comfort from songs of birds and brooks. I’ve realized nature is a luxury.

    Another thing I like about here is that this is a region where an earthquake seldom occurs. Although it is 14 months since the massive earthquake hit northern Japan, the Tokyo area has still had frequent small earthquakes. It’s also reported that the probability of a big one there within a few years is high. I would be crushed with stress if I still lived around Tokyo.

    Everything was new in my first year here and I had had exciting days with wonders. But I suspect that it will become boring from the second year on, as things may just repeat year after year. It would be terrible if it affected my brain and made it too dull to write music. Having a stress-free life is a blessing, but what if it has already begun to make me slow-witted…

    Episode from

    Country Living in Mountain of Japan by Hidemi Woods

    Kindle and Audiobook available at Amazon.com

  • A Woman with An Iron Heart!

    A Woman with An Iron Heart!

    The nearest train station from my home that I usually use has no station attendants on site. All it has are a ticket vending machine and an emergency phone. There’s no ticket gate either. A passenger gets a ticket from the machine and goes directly onto the platform. Upon arrival, they put the used tickets into a box on the wall. There are several no-attendant stations like that along this local line.

    That means it’s possible to ride free if you get on and off the train both at those stations. It’s kind of an honorable system that whether you pay for the ticket or not all depends on your conscience.

    Of course riding a train without a ticket is a crime. To crack down on it, a conductor sometimes makes spot checks on the train. He or she checks all passengers’ tickets and stamps on them. If someone has a ticket for the minimum fare, the conductor asks the destination and collects the full fare. Since many passengers make the payments on the train, I suspect the honorable system doesn’t work so well.

    I’ve once seen a passenger without a ticket caught by the conductor. She received the conductor’s severe rebuke and paid a lot of money. Some passengers try so badly not to be caught when a conductor begins the spot check. Their common ways are simply running away from the conductor by moving back and forth between the cars. A conductor sometimes gets off the train and steps onto the platform at a no-attendant station to check the tickets of the passengers who get off there. In those cases, a passenger who cheats on the fare walks toward the far end of the platform opposite to the conductor. The train eventually has to leave on schedule and the conductor doesn’t have enough time to go up to the passenger for the ticket. The passenger waits there for the train to leave with the conductor back on while pretending to rummage through his or her bag for the ticket that doesn’t exist.

    The most impressive passenger I’ve seen was a young woman who pretended to sleep in her seat when the conductor asked her to show a ticket. No matter how loudly the conductor asked repeatedly, she wouldn’t wake up. Although he almost shouted in her ear in the end of the persistent demands for the ticket, she was still asleep. I thought if she wasn’t acting, she was dead. After he went back, her acting finished and she woke up. Unfortunately for her, the conductor was as determined as she was, and came back to her again. She was caught this time, but pretended to look for her ticket and declared she had lost it somewhere. A woman with an iron heart! She told her departure and destination stations which credibility was questionable, and paid the fare to the conductor after all.

    A stingy person like me buys a ticket each time. Even so, I feel nervous and have shifty eyes every time a conductor walks through the train cars. That’s because I may or may not devise some ways to save money for the ticket, but I leave it to your conjecture…

    Episode from

    Country Living in Mountain of Japan by Hidemi Woods

    Kindle and Audiobook available at Amazon.com

  • My first hardcover! “Kyoto: The Last Successor to One Japanese Family / Hidemi Woods”

    My first hardcover! “Kyoto: The Last Successor to One Japanese Family / Hidemi Woods”

    “The Best Book of Hidemi Woods”

    Kyoto: The Last Successor to One Japanese Family / Hidemi Woods
    made me free
    A long time ago, when Japan had the feudal system, my family was a landlord of the area. It has come to a complete downfall over the years, but my family still clings to its past glory. For them, to succeed the family is critical. I’m firstborn and have no brother which meant that I was a successor and destined to spend the whole life in my hometown.

    But music changed everything. To pursue a career in music, my hometown was too rural and I had to move out. Back then I was a college student and moving to a city meant dropping out of school. My parents fiercely opposed but as usual, they left the matter to my grandfather who controlled the family. Considering his way to keep a tight rein, everybody including myself thought he might kill me.

    I could have run away, but I wanted to tell him for once what I want to do for my life. He answered right away “You can go.” He added, “You earned it by yourself. I’ve watched you all your life and I know you. That’s why I let you do what you want.” Although I had always looked for a way to get rid of him, it was him who made me free and what I am now…

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