What is your favorite book or manga?

(As an example of free writing for my students)

It is a difficult question. Some students wrote that they couldn’t choose one book or manga. Me too. The “favorite” thing is the one that you like the most. There are many books (not so manga) in front of me. Every book has something to say. So I can choose any book. Each book can be my favorite book.

I’d like to talk about a Japanese book because I’m an English teacher. Here is a book titled “My Bukkyo” (My Buddhism). Miura Jun, a Japanese illustrator, is the author. Taking it out from my book shelf, I see his profile. It reads: Born in 1958 in Kyoto. An illustrator etc.

ETC! It means this guy is not only an illustrator. It indicates he has lots of things to do besides illustration. He might not be a genuine illustrator, but in his case, “etc” is a meaningful word. Miura Jun has various “my booms” (things in which he has been absorbed). The phrase “my boom” won Grand Prize in Japan’s Keywords Contest in 1997.

Buddhism is important for him, but at the same time, it is just a thing for him. He is not a serious Buddhist. He enjoys watching the statues in temples. He is not caught by the doctrine. I feel the spirit of freedom from his writing, his attitude or looks. That’s why it is my favorite book today. I don’t know what it is tomorrow.