Escape to America

<p>I stayed in the USA from 1989 to 2008. However my purpose of moving to the USA was a little different from ordinary Japanese people going there.</p><p>Today it is said that there are many cases of depression in Japan. In the 1980s I was suffering from severe depression myself. I didn’t even know it was depression at the time but I still remember how I was horrifyingly distressed day after day. With the cold eyes of people everywhere I couldn’t help becoming conscious of suicidal thoughts.</p><p>In those days of agony in order to escape reality I decided to say goodbye to my old life in Japan and start a new life in a foreign country. As a result I headed for New York and ended up staying there for nineteen years.</p><p>In the new setting of a strange country I frantically went on living everyday without being able to give a thought to my illness. Then before I knew it I was not only free from my deep depression but was happy with everyday life and had regained the joy of living.</p><p>Since coming back to Japan I have come to miss my life in the US and cherish the memory of it. As I’m getting older I am determined to organize these experiences into a book for fear of forgetting them and my deepest gratitude to the people I met in the US.</p>