If you want to give that special someone a beautiful little book about love, about holding on for love in spite of any challenge and finally reaching it, maybe LEAF is the sweet gift for you!

LEAF on Amazon

Ameen’s is an amazing bread shop near Nishinomiya, north of Kobe. The baker, Mishima-san, has a small shop but makes the most incredible bread. Ichikura buns, ichikura sticks, dark rich brownies, and more…all delicious. He works in the oven in the back room all day, and amazing bread comes out.

Even better, he is a natural businessman. Not only does he have a great product (his amazing bread), but his business has real unity and integrity. For example, his packaging is all clean and simple…brown paper bags, natural paper business cards, simple wraps for the bread, or clear plastic with a golden tie for just a spark of color.

His logo is a wonderful ink drawing that reflects the spirit of his shop (you can see it on his home page). He does special limited seasonal breads, such as apple bread in autumn. They are even more delicious than usual, often using special flavors, and you have to grab them before they run out.

Before moving to his new shop, he used to work in a small shop under the tracks of the Hankyu line. He was only open one day a week (the rest was internet sales), and people would line up to get into the tiny store and walk off with brown paper bags full of bread.

Now he has a cafe that is open most of the week. It has one large round table, and the table outside displays his philosophy…One Oven, One Table and One Love.

The bread is great, and everything he does has a message of unity, love and quality. Even big businesses could learn something from Ameen’s. If you want to order some of his bread, here is his site (I recommend the ichikura sticks). I was honored that he enjoyed LEAF and agreed to put a few copies in his cafe for sale. Even if you don’t buy the book, please try the bread!

Ameen’s Oven

I first thought of LEAF while I was writing a series of stories about nature. At the same time I was playing with drawing…I’m not an artist, but I was using a pen and simple strokes to make cute(?) characters.

The original idea of LEAF was two leaves, next to each other on a branch, that fell in love. I drew them side by side, and the story was going to be called LoveBuds. (Lovebuds is kind of slang word in America, but also a “bud” is a young leaf). The two leaves would grow up with each other and have various experiences together, but the story didn’t feel very dramatic so I stopped working on it.

A little while later, we went to the Big Island of Hawaii. We had a lot of powerful experiences, including swimming in the blue ocean, walking under giant trees by the seashore, and floating in a warm pool under the stars. Through all of this time my mind started to relax and unwind, and then one day I was laying in a hammock staring at an amazing green tree that seemed to shine with a bright light, and I thought in a flash about that story of the two leaves.

The idea I had in that moment was to put the two “lover” leaves on separate branches, and suddenly the sweet story had more depth and conflict and emotion. The two are in love, but they can’t touch each other, ever. They can just hold on and call to each other and pray they might be together, even though it will never be. This reflected the experience of people I knew as well, holding on for a love that might never come, but wanting it so deeply…

(to be continued)

僕は自然についての物語のシリーズを書いているときに、LEAFのことを思いついた。紙に絵を描きながら、僕はアーティストではないけれど、一筆書きのようにペンを走らせながらかわいい（?）キャラクターをつくってみた。

『LEAF』のもともとのアイデアは同じ枝に隣り合って並んでいる2枚の葉っぱで、恋をするというようなものだった。僕はその2枚の葉っぱを隣同士に描き、物語を『LoveBuds（恋するつぼみたち）』と呼ぶことにした。（LoveBudsというのは、アメリカではある意味スラングなのだけれど、でも「bud」というのは芽やつぼみを意味するんだ。）この2枚の葉っぱは一緒に成長し、いろいろな経験をともにするはずだったのだけれど、物語が表情豊かに進んでいかなかったので、僕はそこで書くのをやめた。

それからしばらくたってから、僕たちはハワイのビッグアイランド（ハワイ島）を訪れた。僕たちはそこで自分たちの深い本質に触れるようなパワフルな体験をした。真っ青な海で泳いだり、海岸沿いの大きな木の下を歩いたり、星が瞬く空の下で温かなプールをただよったりしながら･･･
このときのすべての経験が僕の思考をリラックスさせ、緩ませていった。そしてある日ハンモックに揺られながら驚くような美しい緑の木を眺めていると、その木は明るい光で輝いているように見えたのだけれど、僕は2枚の葉っぱの物語のひらめきを得たのだった。

そのときに僕が得たアイデアは、2枚の「愛し合う」葉っぱを別々の枝に離すということだった。そのことが突然甘いだけの物語をもう少し深みがあって、話に広がりが出て、感情もともなったものへとなった。決してお互いに触れ合うことのできない、愛し合う2枚の葉っぱ。彼らができるのは、ただお互いのために耐え、声をかけ、もしかして一緒になれるかもしれないと（それは決してかなわなかったけれど）願うことだけだった。決してやってこないかもしれない愛に対してがんばってみたり、でも心の底からその愛を欲欲してみたり・・・人々が同じような体験しているのを僕はよくみるように思うのだ・・・。

つづく･･･