I have always been a freelancer, so I rarely have the opportunity to wear a suit. There may be people in the world who say, "I don't have to wear a tie, but I like ties so much that I always wear one every day", but there is no one around me, and of course, I don't do that either. Neckties are quite painful if you're not used to wearing them. And it's hot in summer. But even I used to wear a suit and tie when I lived in Rome. The reason was that if I didn't dress neatly, I couldn't get a good table at a restaurant. Italy is a very clear-cut country in that respect. They look at people by the way they dress. They judge a person's status by the quality of the clothes they are wearing and how they are dressed, and they respond to them. So, after a few bad experiences, my wife insisted that I always wear a jacket and tie when we go to a restaurant. I don't want to be led to a terrible table, like a futon room, when I'm dining. So when I lived in Italy, I bought a number of ties to protect myself in restaurants. Armani, Missoni, Valentino, etc. Well, they were cheap because I bought them locally, but now they are completely useless. In Japan, people are not discriminated against by their appearance as much as in Italy, so the habit of wearing suits disappeared easily.

I only have to wear it once or twice a year. However, I am still a member of society, so there are times when I suddenly find myself in a situation where I have to wear a suit. It is necessary to have a set of suits for each season and purpose. That's why I sometimes make the decision to go shopping for a suit. It costs a lot of money and it's a real hassle, I think, but I can't help it. So when I go to buy a suit, I wear a suit. It's quite difficult to go into a shop dressed in shorts and sandals and choose a suit. I put on a suit and tie, put on leather shoes and put my mind into suit mode, and then I go and buy a suit. But when I think about it, this seems to be the most common situation in which I wear a suit. In other words, it's as if I buy a suit to wear when I go to buy a suit. That makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? Of all the suits I've bought, the one I remember most is the one I wore to the award ceremony when I won the Newcomer's Award in the "Gunzo" magazine. I was 30 at the time and didn't own a single suit, so I went to the VAN shop in Aoyama (around where Brooks Brothers are now) and bought an olive green cotton suit. It was early summer. I also bought a beige shirt and a brown knitted tie. I didn't have enough money to buy leather shoes, so I wore a pair of faded Converse sneakers. When I wear a suit now and then, I suddenly remember this cotton suit. I sometimes think that I should wear the suit more often now that I have it, but it's a hassle anyway. ......

Murakami this week.

That said, if there was such a thing as a 'diary of reincarnation', the story would surely never end.