Table of Contents -- PART 1 AT THE FOOT OF MOUNT FUJI -- 1 At the Foot of Mt Fuji -- 2 Cherry Blossoms Cannot Be Replaced -- 3 The Most Popular Cherry Tree Variety in Japan: A Hit Commodity -- 4 The Mountains Are Living -- 5 The Approach to Japanese Sanctuary -- 6 The Snow-woman I Met on a Bus -- 7 I Want to Become the Wind -- 8 In the Sunshine -- PART 2 NEW YEAR'S CARDS -- 9 New Year's Cards -- 10 At the Beginning of a Year -- 11 The Day before the Calendrical Beginning of Spring -- 12 Dolls Displayed at the Girls' Festival -- 13 Seasonal Change of Clothing -- 14 Kimono - from Mother to Daughter - -- 15 A Good-luck Charm -- 16 A Year Like Any Other -- 17 The Day of Farewell -- PART 3 PLEASE ANSWER IN JAPANESE -- 18 The Living God -- 19 Hiroshima -- 20 'I Want a Japanese Bell' -- 21 Please Answer in Japanese -- 22 What is Taught in Japanese Language Lessons -- 23 Should Convenience be Taken for Granted? -- 24 Nuclear Power Plant in Earthquake Country -- 25 Watch Your Step -- PART 4 CALL ME MUMMY -- 26 My Days with Our Autistic Son -- 27 A Charm in the Morning -- 28 What I Regret About Bringing Up My Children -- 29 My Daughter's Golden Hair - What a Waste! -- 30 Dandelion -- 31 My Son's Growth -- 32 A Phone Call at Midnight -- 33 After Ten Years -- PART 5 AS IF I WERE IN PARADISE -- 34 The Class of Writing Essays and I -- 35 At an Antique Market -- 36 With a Minor Flaw -- 37 Cleaning Leaf Vegetables -- 38 A Bed and Breakfast in Sweden -- 39 The First Grade Bowl of Rice with Chicken and Eggs -- 40 Longing for Eggs -- 41 As If I Were in Paradise -- 42 Today Is a Lucky Day -- 43 An Evening at the Kabuki -- 44 A Little Leading Actor -- PART 6 THOSE DAYS IN BRITAIN -- 45 Remembering London in Those Days -- 46 No. 81 The Chase -- 47 A Little Trip from Glasgow -- 48 Sherlock Holmes Club -- 49 Shakespeare's Minor Characters -- 50 We Japanese and the Past.

PART 7 FROM THE KITCHEN WINDOW -- 51 Ten Years in this Town -- 52 Weeding as an Icebreaker -- 53 Lifelong Learning in my Town -- 54 From the Kitchen Window -- 55 Blue Daisies as a Mother's Day Present -- 56 In Twenty-five Years -- 57 Looking at My Mother from Behind -- 58 First Love -- 59 Tidying up -- 60 The Remaining Hours -- PART 8 LIVING ALONE REHEARSAL -- 61 Living Alone Rehearsal -- 62 An Occasional Get-away Trip -- 63 'The Assistant Driver's Seat' -- 64 The Red-hot Kettle -- 65 My Husband is Cooking -- 66 Roses -- 67 Shall We Dance? -- 68 Warm Winter Sunlight -- 69 So that We Can Live to be a Hundred -- 70 Writing Essays for Thirty Years -- List of Contributors -- List of Translators -- Acknowledgements -- Index.