🪡❤️Unmei no akai ito ❤️🪡

Imagine a red thread, thin as a hair, stretching for miles, crossing mountains, seas and continents.

This is “the Unmei no akai ito”, the red thread of destiny. Long, thin and indestructible, this red thread connects soul mates from birth. Tied to the left little finger, the finger farthest from the heart but connected to it by the ulnar artery, the thread symbolizes the depth and durability of the love bond. No matter how far apart they are in time and space, the two souls linked by the red thread are destined to find each other.

This concept is grafted into Japanese literature from the very beginning. If we tried to reflect on Shinto and Buddhist religion we would find this concept of the soul mate. The foundation of Shintoism is the belief that all natural and human phenomena are willed by divine forces, called Kami, which actually have no form. The belief is based on something that exists but cannot be seen.

Buddhism delves more deeply into the topic of so-called Karmic connections, enclosing it within the concept of En (因縁). The En consists of a very strong connection between two or more people that influences the time and space of our lives. We may call it a bond that transcends circumstances and appearances.

In a text that has made Japanese literary history, Murasaki Shikibu's Story of Genji is steeped in the theme of en and predestined love. Genji, like many of us, is in search of perfect Love. He tries and tries again, experiencing all forms of love: romantic, passionate, familial, and power love. The time comes when he finds the love he is destined for but cannot have because of the society of the time.

• First meeting: “Yet, as soon as I saw him, I knew I would never forget him.” This sentence, describing the first meeting between Genji and Murasaki, suggests an instinctive recognition of a deep, almost pre-existing bond.

• Separation: “I felt like I had lost a part of myself.” This sentence, spoken by Genji after a separation from Murasaki, underscores the intensity of their bond and the impact it had on their lives.

The only flaw in this perfect circle is time. The texts of Japanese literature teach that the transience of human affairs can represent an insurmountable limit. To analyze this nuance, we can reread Toshikazu Kawaguchi's novels (While the Coffee is Hot (2015); One Coffee is Enough to be Happy (2017); The First Coffee of the Day(2018) ; See You for Coffee (2023); When the Coffee is Ready (2024)). The encounters that occur in the coffee shop, time travel, and small actions that trigger big changes can be seen as links in an invisible chain, connecting the lives of the characters in unexpected ways. Every choice, every decision has an impact on the future, creating a kind of “red thread” that links the present to the past and the future. Coffee becomes a tool to relive unique emotions that belong to the past. A love that was interrupted by time or distance, an unspoken sentence that needed to be spoken.

Quotes About Time: “Time is a river that flows inexorably, and we are like leaves that are carried away by the current.”

Quotes About Choices: “Every choice we make has an impact on our future, like a stone thrown into a pond that creates concentric circles.”

Quotes About Love: “Love is like a hot cup of coffee: it should be savored slowly, sip after sip, to fully appreciate its flavor.”

I hope you enjoyed this article! As always, I also invite you to follow me on my Instagram profile, TikTok. In particular, I have started a new column titled “kokoro to kokoro box”, related just to the theme of red thread. Take a look, I look forward to reading you all!❤️‍🔥📍

Please share with me your ideas, suggestions, titles you would like to discuss under the cherry tree. Find below the box to write to me. I am waiting for you 🌸🌸🌸!!!!!!.