kyoichi katayama
See also 片山 恭一. Katayama was born in the Ehime Prefecture and graduated from Kyushu University. Katayama's first major book was Kehai (Sign). The book won the Bungakkai Newcomers award.
Katayama wrote the book Socrates in Love (also known as Crying Out Love, In the Center of the World). The book was adapted into a manga (illustrated by Kazumi Kazui), a film, and a Japanese television drama. Socrates in Love was his first and, as of 2008, only book translated into English.
“Por más que las personas digan cosas bonitas, la mayoría vive pensando en si mismo, no? Para ellas, lo importante es comer cosas ricas; poderse comprar lo que se quiere, pero cuando una persona pasa a querer a alguien, ese alguien pasa a ser más importante que todo.Si tuviéramos poca comida, yo te daría mi parte. Si tuviéramos poco dinero, yo dejaría de comprarme lo que quiero para comprarte lo que quieres tu. Si me dijeras que la comida está rica, yo me sentiría igualmente satisfecho, y si tu fueras feliz, yo sería igualmente feliz. Eso es querer a alguien. Tu crees que existe algo más importante que eso? Yo no creo.”
kyoichi katayama
“La persona que descubrió la capacidad de querer a alguien, seguramente descubrió algo más importante que las descubiertas del premio Nobel. Si el ser humano no es capaz o no quiere dar la debida importancia a eso, mejor sería si el hombre fuera extinto para siempre. Ojalá ocurra una colisión de planetas o algo que valga y todo sea rápidamente destruido.”
kyoichi katayama
“It’s not the parting or the absence that’s sad. You love them, and that’s why saying good-bye breaks your heart.”
kyoichi katayama
“In spite of all the progress we seem to have made, human emotions stay the same. Deep inside our hearts, we don’t change very much. This poem was written two thousand years ago or more. It’s from a time long before the quatrains and other formal styles you’ve learned in school were established. And yet, even today, we can understand the feelings of people from that time. You don’t need education or scholarship for that. These feelings can be understood by anybody, I think.”
kyoichi katayama
“Ma amare una persona significa pensare che lei viene prima di tutto. Se non avessimo abbastanza cibo, darei a te la mia parte. Se avessimo pochi soldi, piuttosto che acquistare qualcosa per me, comprerei quello che tu desideri. Se mangi qualcosa di buono tu, è come se avessi la pancia piena anch’io, se sei felice tu, allora lo sono anch’io. Questo significa amare una persona. Credi che esista qualcosa di più importante? A me non viene in mente nulla.”
kyoichi katayama
“I wished the dream were real, and this reality a dream. But that wasn't the case. And that was why, whenever I woke up, I'd be crying. It wasn't because I was sad. When you return from a happy dream to sad reality, there's a chasm you have to step across, and you can't cross it without shedding tears. It doesn't matter how many times you do it.”
kyoichi katayama