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]

  • She had no place to go

    My parents married by an arranged marriage.
    Marriage used to be a knot between two
    families, not individuals in Japan. A mutual
    acquaintance introduced my parents to both
    families with their photographs. Although my
    parents didn’t like each other, the tie as the
    family seemed favorable to their parents. My
    mother agreed with the marriage very
    unwillingly after the fortuneteller said that she
    would handle money by the million if she
    married my father.
    As for my father, he reluctantly obeyed his
    parents’ decision because he had never said
    ‘no’ to his father in his life. A month after the
    wedding, my mother decided to leave my
    father because she couldn’t stand to live with
    his parents any longer. She went back to her
    parents’ home but her father didn’t allow her
    to come back. She had no place to go and
    gave in to her dismal marriage. And I was
    born. I wasn’t the result of a happy marriage,
    but I embodied my mother’s resignation…

    Episode From An Old Tree in Kyoto /Hodemi Woods

    Audiobook : Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods On Sale at online stores or apps. Apple, Audible, Google Play, Nook Audiobooks,  43 available distributors in total

  • How did spend #Valentine’s Day? I went to the train station of my town by free bus that is experimentally operated limited-time and got food for dinner at a grocery store. #mountains #sky #Japan #valentines #valentine

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  • A Breakthrough

    Episode from My Social Distancing and Naked Spa in Japan by Hidemi Woods

    Audiobook : Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods On Sale at online stores or apps.
    Apple, Audible, Google Play, Nook Audiobooks,  43 available distributors in total.  

    A Breakthrough
    The day arrived unexpectedly that the spell under which I had been for a long time was finally broken.
    Because my mother had nurtured excessive self-consciousness in me since my childhood, I had cared about how I look, how I behave, and what others think of me more than enough. I would be drenched in sweat from chatting casually with others as a thought I should look my best tenses me up abnormally. I’m now aware that this nature of mine was the culprit that cornered me with pursuit of fame and wealth although I became a singer-songwriter purely from love for music in the beginning.
    On that particular day, I got in the communal spa of my apartment building as usual. It was an evening bath time for the regular residents and quite a few people were taking a bath there. Among them was this woman who had moved in about two years ago. My bath time coincides with hers every day and hostility toward her had gradually grown inside me. She is thin and beautiful, a little younger than I am. She is always posturing and self-assured. For some reason, she imitates almost everything I do in the spa, from the way of taking a bath to bath tools she brings in. Whatever she does gets on my nerves, such as her way of walking, washing, and talking. She practices beauty exercises in the Jacuzzi, and does the facial treatment in the hot tub. Those routines of hers irritate me immensely when they happen to come into my sight. Since I don’t figure out why I dislike her so much, I asked my partner one day. According to his analysis, it’s because she is the one I want to become but I know I can’t become. It sums up all envy. That explains it indeed.
    It’s common that people don’t wear a swimsuit at a spa in Japan. This communal spa also adopts the Japanese practice, and the hot tubs, the Jacuzzi and the sauna must be taken all naked. I’m not thin nor beautiful, and I know it’s no competition between that woman and me. Nevertheless, I hold my breath and squeeze in my chubby belly as much as possible spontaneously whenever I pass her by. It’s so silly of me to try to look better, even in vain, but I can’t help it.
    And the thing happened. I was taking the Jacuzzi when she stepped in and joined me. I stepped out right away because avoiding her was my usual habit not to let her see my unshapely body. I was squeezing my belly and walking beside her on the stone floor toward my shower booth hurriedly because I was inside her sight. Then, right in front of her eyes, my foot slipped and I saw in slow motion my body flying in the air like in ‘Home Alone’. I landed on the stone surface with my buttocks and my left hand…

  • The #dessert from the all-you-can-eat #lunch #buffet. #restaurant #cake #pudding #tiramisu #grapes #Japan

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  • excellent and beautiful

    My mother turns to a fortuneteller when it
    comes to a big decision. Every big decision that
    has fundamentally influenced her life was
    made by a fortuneteller, including her
    marriage. When my parents named their
    children, they of course had a fortuneteller
    choose the names. So, I was named by a total
    stranger. My parents each had their own pick
    for my name when they visited the
    fortuneteller and they also had a few other
    names as spares just in case. The fortuneteller
    picked ‘Hidemi’ out of the spares, which was
    neither of their picks. Most Japanese names
    are written in Chinese characters. Each of the
    characters has its inherent meaning. My name
    is composed of two characters. The character
    for ‘hide’ means ‘excellent’ and the one for ‘mi’
    means ‘beautiful’.
    In Japan, we are often asked the
    corresponding characters to the name when
    we give out our names. I always explain
    “Hidemi as in excellent and beautiful.” And the
    person who hears it almost always gives me a
    wry smile. I know what they think…

    Episode From An Old Tree in Kyoto /Hodemi Woods

    Audiobook : Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods On Sale at online stores or apps. Apple, Audible, Google Play, Nook Audiobooks,  43 available distributors in total