2022 ended with a bang after a startling blackout! The beginning of the new year is always full of drama and anticipation!

2022 passed like a revolving lantern as things disappeared in the blink of an eye. Its finale was, to my surprise, the first fainting experience of my life! These days, hectic days have been the norm for me, and the sad reality of my company is that I have to do a lot of things by myself, especially on December 30, the last business day of the year at the Narita headquarters. This was the reason why I ate a breakfast set meal at Matsuya in the Shisui rest area early in the morning and then, I had only half a loaf of toast for lunch while I had a meeting at Takakura Machi Coffee in Narita. There was no way I would have time to enjoy my meal. After that, I moved to the Narita head office and exchanged year-end greetings with my employees, and before I knew it, it was already 7:00 pm.

The head office in the evening was not heated, and my whole body was freezing and I started shivering partly because the midwinter marathon had caused me to be sensitive to the cold. I couldn’t stand it anymore, so I quickly said goodbye to everyone to end the year, knowing that there were still several staff members working in the office. I then drove quickly back to Tokyo from Narita, but even with the heater in the car set to 28 degrees, it took more than 30 minutes for my body to warm up. I had worked 12 hours straight and had barely eaten lunch, so my body was probably screaming.

When I pulled into my garage, I was relieved and at the same time I wondered what to do with my cold body. It didn’t take me long to get an answer to that question: I decided to jump into a nearby sauna! I instantly thought of the Narita no Meisen Yamato no Yu, a bathhouse that I myself own. Yes, I am also a professional in bathhouse management. Moreover, my late father also ran a sauna and hot spring business, so I frequently visited sauna houses since I was a child. It was natural for me to hop into a sauna to warm my cold body.

I’m going to make this long story short. I was fine until I immediately got into the sauna... I began to sweat, lay down, and relaxed. This was fine, too. I got out of the sauna and I was ready to reenter the sauna room. However, something happened right then. It was the first time in my life but I felt somewhat sick. I felt a slight nausea, and I had a bad feeling about what it was. I got up and decided to leave the sauna room. I had no memory for a while after that.

I heard voices in the distance: “Someone call an ambulance!” “Are you ok!?” These voices passed through my mind. “Where the hell am I?” and I suddenly came back to my senses! “No way! Did I faint? I can’t believe it!” I came back to consciousness to find myself lying naked on the floor in front of the sauna room door. How humiliating and what a disaster. The unthinkable just happened! Life is full of happenings and experiences, but there I was lying naked on the floor at this age.

To begin with, it was reckless to jump into the sauna with an empty stomach after working 12 hours straight without eating lunch or rehydrating! It was my fault and I’m totally an idiot! I am the worst at taking care of myself! I was nothing more than an incompetent person. Under such conditions, it was natural that I would have died if I had entered a sauna almost like an oven heated at 100 degrees Celsius! I only regretted my poor choices. Fortunately, I was able to stand on my feet, left the bathhouse, and went home on my own. Of course, an ambulance wasn’t called. It was not a cerebral hemorrhage, and probably I just became dizzy due to overwork. However, my head was foggy until the next morning as if I had suffered from Meniere’s Disease.

I feel more and more stupid writing this boring and unimportant story to end 2022. Why do I work so hard to make my body endure this punishment and why don’t I stop? Taking a break should be a part of business, too. Someday, I want to relax. Someday, I would like to relax at least during the New Year’s holidays. I have always spent the end of year with this dream. Another new year, 2023, is now upon us. However, it all depends on my outlook. I will be able to welcome the New Year from unconsciousness due to fainting, with a completely fresh mind. Well, maybe that’s not such a bad thing.

In 2023, I would still like to continue to walk through each day with excitement being in love like when I was a school boy, just the young teens in the drama series Junior High School Diaries. This probably will make me feel younger. In life, we can overcome any problems and suffering as long as we are with love, have somebody to love, and have something to believe in. That’s my philosophy. While I work, I’m also giving a helping hand to children who are suffering and in need, starting with doing anything I can do to help. Then, I believe that I will have no regrets about my life even if I won’t be able to bring the passionate philosophy I have pictured in my mind into everyday life. With this strong feeling, I will continue to try everything without hesitation in 2023. I will never faint again...