“Renaissance!” – Yamada Rui 53rd’s Autobiography
In elementary school, he excelled in sports, academics, and even received chocolates from girls on Valentine’s Day (In Japan, on February 14th, there is a custom where women give chocolates to men to express their feelings). However, tragedy struck the perfect young Yamada.
During middle school, an unfortunate incident occurred while commuting. He needed to use the restroom, but there was none in sight. Unable to endure it, young Yamada soiled himself by the roadside. Since then, he became unable to go to school and became a recluse.
Afterward, he passed the university entrance exams and applied to Ehime University, a national university. He was accepted, but he dropped out and disappeared to pursue a career in comedy.
Why did he become a recluse? How did he overcome it? One can ponder various aspects of such situations. Probably, there’s a cause for everything. But even if we understand, can we change what happened in the past? The past remains unchanged.
More importantly, how was Yamada Rui 53rd able to write in such detail about the incident of soiling himself and its aftermath? The cover even states, “The fate of a prodigy changed with poop!” If the young Yamada, who experienced this incident, reads this book, what would he think? Perhaps he would be furious and faint with anger.
Oh? Can the past change? Does it alter the meaning?
Well then, how did it change?
This book is not a story of facing difficulties, overcoming them, and growing. It’s not a tale of ups and downs like “man proposes, God disposes.” It’s not that calamity and fortune are like threads on a spindle.
Neither happiness nor unhappiness, neither calamity nor fortune — all of it seems like a precious and beautiful story of young Yamada.
You can read this book before becoming a recluse, while you’re currently going through it, or even after experiencing it. It’s suitable to read before your child becomes a recluse or after they’ve become one. You can read it at any time, but I believe it’s a book everyone should read at least once before they die.
In any scene of your life, you will always realize that it is your own life. Good, bad, or anything else—it’s just your life.