And here I am now, writing this in my journal while resting after the hike to Katsuoji Temple, waiting for my friend to finish shopping.
The mountain air is cold, my legs are tired, and somewhere around me there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of Daruma dolls quietly staring from stone paths and wooden railings.
I first visited Katsuoji around the time I came up with the idea for this website. Back then, it was only an idea floating around in my head. Actually creating it took much longer than I expected. Probably longer than I wanted.
At the time, I was busy working at a theme park, doing part-time work for a marketing company, and even helping out at Expo 2025 for a few days. Most of the time, I came home exhausted, telling myself I’d work on the site tomorrow instead.
Tomorrow kept moving further away.
Then, at some point, I started reading a lot again. Somehow that changed something in me. The more I read, the more I felt the urge to create instead of only consuming things. One day I suddenly decided it was time to finally build this website.
I eventually launched this site in January, shortly after visiting Katsuoji again.
Katsuoji Temple is known as “the Temple of Winning.” People come there to pray for success in exams, careers, business, personal goals, and all kinds of ambitions. I prayed forsomethingo too. I’m not going to say exactly what it was, but I did.
One of the most special things about the temple is the Daruma dolls. You paint in one eye when you make a wish, and the second eye once the wish comes true. Mine is still one-eyed, if you’re curious. Hopefully not forever.