Past Five Years and Future Five Years　過ぎた5年と、これからの5年

I have another important book that I encountered when I was twenty, which encouraged me to strive for a better life. However, I can’t remember the title no matter how much I search for it. But I remember the content vividly.

A true story of a woman in her 20s. She became an office lady (OL) during Japan’s bubble era, and enjoyed a life where she could leave work promptly at 5 o’clock and then enjoy her after-5 activities. There was a female boss who was referred to as the ‘office veteran’ and had been working for a long time, missing the opportunity for marriage. She didn’t want to become like that. She thought she needed to find a marriage partner before that happened. Nowadays, it is common for women to not necessarily prioritize marriage, and there are cases where women continue to work even after getting married. However, during the late 1980s, which was the bubble era, many women saw work as a temporary position until they got married.

In the bubble era, many office ladies (OLs) were able to leave work without overtime and had their own ways to spend their after-5 time, with most OLs going out for leisure activities. However, there were also some women who had part-time jobs at night in addition to their regular OL jobs. Among them, there was a girl named Yoko who attended a word processing (WP) class every day. (Word processing = a computer-like device used at that time) The protagonist asked Yoko why she was attending such a class. Yoko’s answer was, ‘Because as an OL, I can’t see a clear future. If I obtain a qualification and gain a skill, I can do a job other than being an OL. I want to work in word processing after quitting OL in 5 years.’ Hearing that, the protagonist thought it was a distant idea. She had a good salary, free time after 5 o’clock, and was enjoying her life, so she couldn’t understand why Yoko was going through the trouble of taking lessons and such.

Time flew by, and before she knew it, five years had passed. While many of her colleagues had left the company, she found herself on the path of becoming an ‘office veteran.’ On the other hand, Yoko had successfully obtained her word processing qualification and started working in that field. It was at this moment that the protagonist realized for the first time that the five years ahead seemed distant, but the five years that had passed went by in a flash. The difference between her, who had spent her days playing and enjoying herself, and Yoko, who had diligently accumulated knowledge and skills day by day, had become quite significant.

Even if she regretted it now, time would not turn back. She found herself among the older employees, having aged five years, and the younger OLs

After reading this book, I immediately decided to start studying English as soon as possible. I went to a bookstore and looked for private lessons to learn English conversation, even though we didn’t have Google search back then. I don’t remember exactly how I found them, but I think I probably looked through magazines and made various phone calls. It’s amazing how convenient it is now with the internet, but looking back, there was something special about the analog era.

During the two years leading up to my study abroad, I tried various things such as memorizing English vocabulary, watching movies in English, and participating in exchange events with foreigners, but I didn’t feel like my English was improving at all. Nevertheless, I thought that learning even just one new word a day was better than doing nothing, so I studied every day.

Now, when I look back at the English vocabulary notebook I made back then, I wonder why I was studying in such an inefficient way. However, I can see that I was really trying my best.