#3 Living Your Own Life Without Getting Constrained by Society’s Standards
ーQ．I get the impression that you’re especially skilled at finding what you love, whether it be work or fashion. Your attire today is vibrant and beautiful.
Kadono: I wore a lot of black when I was young. But when I started going gray, black became a bit unbecoming. That’s when I decided to start wearing more colors.
ーQ．How do you find such fabulous attire?
Kadono: I don’t really go looking for it. If it catches my eye, I grab it; if it’s on sale, I buy it. My daughter also picks things out for me, as she has a better sense, thanks to her age. I’m not interested in expensive brands. Even when I travel I don’t buy them. This ring was only two euros, for example.
Japanese fashion features fluttering styles and diagonal skirts. I’m not a fan. I prefer simple looks. As you get older, it gets more and more troublesome to fasten clothing, and I have a hard time finding clothing I like. Deep necklines are no good for older people, and long zippers are hard to reach. Therefore, I buy materials that I like and have my daughter’s friend make one piece dresses.
Kadono is very fashionable. You can see her daily attire in the book Kadono Eiko no Mainichi Iroiro (published by Kadokawa).
ーQ．As I speak with you, I get the impression you aren’t swayed by your surroundings. There are a lot people, including myself, who are wary of other people’s expectations.
Kadono: That’s just how Japanese people are. If you go abroad and ride on the coattails of other people’s opinions, you won’t find a job. You need to express yourself.
ーQ．It’s scary to think that you might miss out on what you really love simply because you cared too much about what other people think.
Kadono: It’s good to find something that you can do for your entire life. But you have to do more than just find it. You need to do it every day. If you don’t, it means you don’t really love it. You may get sick of it and stop doing it for a while, but if you really love it, you’ll eventually return to it. I believe finding that thing is what creates true happiness.
I also think that the number of words you carry with you — “your own words” — can greatly affect the way you live. There’s no set progression, but as you encounter words, these words get compiled into a dictionary of sorts and shapes who are. When you set off to do something, it’s these words that come forth from within.
Nowadays, few children enjoy reading books. This trend threatens Japan’s intellectual world and publishing industry. People who focus only on publishing books for adults probably don’t think about the importance of children’s books, but the truth is, if you don’t raise children with books, they won’t read them when they get older.
ーQ．I see. By finding “your own words,” you can live on your own terms and find happiness.
Kadono: Look to your right and left, and then decide for yourself. I don’t think that’s the world we currently live in. My daughter, who sees me live on my own terms, tells me, “You really lived as you pleased, didn’t you.” [laughs]
ーQ． Lastly, I want to ask you about something you wrote in When Fantasy Was Born (unofficial English title; published by Iwanami Junior Shinsho). Looking back on your life, you wrote that you have lived what you call an “inefficient life.” But I feel that it’s precisely the detours in life that make people special.
This book looks back on half of Kadono’s life and her creative secrets. Of course, the book also touches upon Kiki’s Delivery Service. The cover illustration was drawn by Kadono’s daughter Rio.
Kadono: There are a lot of authors who set out to become authors when they were young. But I didn’t set out to become an author; I happened to discover my path later in life. Sometimes, I’ve thought to myself that if I had started writing at an earlier age, I’d now be able to produce more mature writing and more impressive works.
But I don’t think that anymore. The amount of writing an author produces over the course of their life wouldn’t change all that much. It’s because I had a late start that I still have so much more to write. I want to continue to go on adventures and write many stories.
