When I lived in Tokyo, I did not want to be a normal office worker, so I decided to be a private English teacher.
I started accepting applications through my Japanese website.
Soon after, a famous illustrator contacted me.
She told me she just had an event in Paris collaborating with a famous designer and a world-famous sports brand. (She even had an autograph session.)
She was frustrated though, because she was not able to speak English at parties or at meetings.
Right after she came back to Japan, she found my articles on my Japanese website, she thought, "This guy is interesting"
We talked a lot. She is a multi-millionaire, but never bragged about it. She even respected me somehow.
She told me It was very tough for her to decide to be isolated from her family, move to Tokyo alone, and jump into a sexist-filled business (in those days).
The only thing she bragged about was how healthy she was.
In all those years, she never got the flu and never went to a hospital. She often worked 3 days straight with no sleep.
She spent more than 20 years just illustrating for clients.
She had no parties, no travel, and almost no friends.
Then, she finally built up her status enough to do her own projects, and have time to relax.
She told me her terrible relationship with her family and relatives.
One story that stunned me was about her cousin.
Her cousin refused to get married with someone whom her parents recommended, and got married to someone she loved.
Then she died from cancer leaving kids when she was around 30 years old.
Following her death, her relatives said that she had been "punished" for refusing the original marriage...
Tourists in Japan are impressed with how beautiful the country side is and how nice the people are there.
But you have to know there are some areas that are filled with crazy people...
Even though she lived in the center of Tokyo, she worked so hard that she didn't know how to use IC ticket for the trains, she had never been to a rotating sushi bar, noodle stand, or a fast-food restaurant.
So I took her to many good, cheap restaurants.
She behaved like a little kid, saying "This is like Pretty Woman".
She also told me she was very happy when she saw Elton John was wearing a T-shirt with her illustration on it.
I got a good offer from a translation company, so I decided not to continue teaching English to her.
On the last session, (we are not even talking in English anymore), she told me how hard it was to nurse her dying mother.
She said "I would kill myself with no hesitation if I knew I was going through that agony."
I asked her, "You haven't had a physical examination in all these years?"
She said, "No, I haven't. I've never been sick!"
Even after I started my new job I worked for her as an English e-mail assistant.
When she got an e-mail interview from some fashion magazine in the U.S., she told me "I'm not good at interviewing, I can't give smart answers. So, please answer it for me. I trust you."
She also asked me to help her apply for an organization in New York and to their contest.
At about the same time, she said "My back hurts a little bit."
Then, she sent me a very brief e-mail: "I'll be in the hospital for a while. I'll let you know when I get out."
Since then, her cousin (one of the few relatives she trusted) contacted me a couple of times asking me how the status of the application to the organization was.
I told her they accepted and I will work on the contest too.
A couple of weeks later, I got a phone call from the cousin.
She said, "She passed away.
She just passed away this morning. Sorry for not telling you about her condition at all."
I guess she didn't want me to see her in such a sad state, so she was using her cousin as a messenger.
The cousin said "Would you still send her illustration to the organization for the contest? She's been trying so hard for it."
I sent the application and her illustrations to the organization. I cried while doing it.
One thing that made me feel worse was the story about the cousin who died from cancer.
I had to think that someone in her family thought that she was being "punished" because she had left her family...
A couple of weeks later, her father contacted me.
He was saying, One model for the illustration model sued the design company for using the model's portrait without her consent"
So he asked me to cancel the application to the contest.
I did it while feeling quite depressed.
He also told me that there was a court battle going on among the relatives on her property.
Life is very unfair.
She told me many times "I wish I had met you when I was young. I was surrounded by stupid people."
She also told me "You will be successful for sure (not only money-wise), so don't worry about it."
Every time I feel low or lose confidence, I remember that comment and her smile.
She also said " 99.9% of people on this planet are bad people."
I hope the percentage decreased after she met me.
