I found tall wooden shelves discarded at a garbage dump of my apartment. It was as good as new and I carried it into my place. March is the end of both the fiscal and academic year in Japan, which means it’s the season of a move. The shelves seemed to be a product of someone’s moving–out.

I cleaned it and made it my new shoe shelves. I felt so good seeing my shoes arranged beautifully on the shelves. The pitiful thing is, though, that almost all the shoes cost less than $20, mainly $10, and about half of them are worn out and have holes and cracks…

Episode From Surviving in Japan by Hidemi Woods