Jane Su's 'Otsukare, Kyo no Watashi.' Paperback Edition to be Released on June 4, Gently Comforting You on Your Down Nights
Magazine House will release the paperback edition of Jane Su's essay 'Otsukare, Kyo no Watashi.' on June 4, 2026. Pre-orders began on April 27. This self-care essay offers comfort to those who tend to overwork themselves.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 27, 2026 at 20:00
- 🔍 Collected: April 27, 2026 at 11:31
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 28, 2026 at 16:52 (29h 20m after Collected)
Magazine House Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President: Shuichi Tetsuo) is pleased to announce the release of the paperback edition of Jane Su's 'Otsukare, Kyo no Watashi.' on Thursday, June 4, 2026, at bookstores nationwide and online bookstores. Pre-orders began today, Monday, April 27.
A must-have book for those who tend to try too hard!
Nights spent fretting over big failures. Nights hurt by unfair treatment. Nights when even removing makeup feels like too much trouble. This self-care essay offers 48 ways to gently comfort you on many such down nights. For example, a beauty device. For example, a hot pot with friends. For example, imagining your cool self. For example, playing Hawaiian music on Apple Music to bring Hawaii into your room. It's a self-care essay that gently loosens up a stiff mind and body.
(Commentary: Awa Ito)
Like stroking a good friend's back — Jane Su's thoughts put into this book
The serialization that became the basis for the hardcover book began around the time when I started to feel a chill, realizing that the disasters falling from the sky were not someone else's problem. A little before that, I had felt that the intensity of the times had decreased. Everyone became more vulnerable. If you consider that it's no longer necessary to hide being hurt, then a decrease in intensity isn't necessarily a bad thing.
In my teens and twenties, the writings I enjoyed reading had irony, laughter, and a bit of self-deprecation. It was an era when writing about the subtleties of the heart as they were was considered unrefined. I believe the characteristics of this era have had some influence on my personality. Eventually, as I started writing, a style that added excessive passion to irony, laughter, and self-deprecation became my individuality.
With age, self-deprecation settled down, and while some readers might still perceive it as self-deprecation, as a writer, I increasingly wrote with a cheerful sense of defiance. I was able to step down from the competition of how amusingly I could rephrase "the grapes over there must be sour."
I tried things I had decided weren't for me, one by one. If I felt good, I incorporated them; if I felt they were still not right, I let them go. In this way, I gradually stopped putting unnecessary burdens on myself. Then, I was able to accept myself, thinking, "This is fine, it's good enough for now."
Just as I was thinking about what to write next, changes in the times arrived. An unknown virus also arrived. Looking around, no one, including myself, had the余裕 (yoyuu, leeway/capacity) to accept ironic laughter.
Anyway, I decided to write with kindness. Fun didn't matter. This time, I would write as if stroking a good friend's back.
(Excerpt omitted)
While I don't have the power to instantly improve the social atmosphere, I do know ways to increase the windows within myself, thanks to my years of experience. I wrote the latter half of the serialization with the hope that it would provide hints for people to increase their own windows independently.
(Excerpt from "Afterword" of this book)
Table of Contents
Recently, nothing has been rewarded
Maybe if you take a step forward, things will work out
Disappointing yourself who expects too much
About the hardship of marriage hunting
How to overcome irreparable failures
Thinking of my mother while doing dishes
What am I living for?
What Keimi-senpai taught me
Imagining the person I want to be
Belittling people's feelings can be fatal
Waiting at the end of the tunnel
The strength and brilliance of working people
Thank you for your hard work, my younger self.
It makes sense when it has a name
There are nights when I'm satisfied with remembered anger
Resting well is also a skill
Welcome, Age of Wind
A way of life that doesn't draw black and white lines
Full confrontation between trouble and emotion
Feelings put into "Otsukaresama"
On a long-pile carpet
Between feeling down and recovering
I'm bored, I'm tired of myself and daily life
Received unfair treatment
Too inconsistent
On the edge, are you okay?
Don't think about overcoming damage
How to bring Hawaii into your room
That's my nature
Boundaries between self and others
Envy people who get away with anything
Some things are beyond your control
There's someone else perfect for him
Daydreaming on a bad day
Initiation to escape from a weakened self
It's okay not to be liked by people you don't like
I'm a happiness junkie
Delicious and fun
Nothing is more troublesome than washing your face
"Being needed" and "being used" are different things
If I'm with this person...
The most important thing in work
Failures have made me who I am
If you want to get along, you have to speak your mind
The lesson of the gossip session
It's good to stop everything once
The curse of "someone like me"
Neo-psychology of happiness
A must-have book for those who tend to try too hard!
Nights spent fretting over big failures. Nights hurt by unfair treatment. Nights when even removing makeup feels like too much trouble. This self-care essay offers 48 ways to gently comfort you on many such down nights. For example, a beauty device. For example, a hot pot with friends. For example, imagining your cool self. For example, playing Hawaiian music on Apple Music to bring Hawaii into your room. It's a self-care essay that gently loosens up a stiff mind and body.
(Commentary: Awa Ito)
Like stroking a good friend's back — Jane Su's thoughts put into this book
The serialization that became the basis for the hardcover book began around the time when I started to feel a chill, realizing that the disasters falling from the sky were not someone else's problem. A little before that, I had felt that the intensity of the times had decreased. Everyone became more vulnerable. If you consider that it's no longer necessary to hide being hurt, then a decrease in intensity isn't necessarily a bad thing.
In my teens and twenties, the writings I enjoyed reading had irony, laughter, and a bit of self-deprecation. It was an era when writing about the subtleties of the heart as they were was considered unrefined. I believe the characteristics of this era have had some influence on my personality. Eventually, as I started writing, a style that added excessive passion to irony, laughter, and self-deprecation became my individuality.
With age, self-deprecation settled down, and while some readers might still perceive it as self-deprecation, as a writer, I increasingly wrote with a cheerful sense of defiance. I was able to step down from the competition of how amusingly I could rephrase "the grapes over there must be sour."
I tried things I had decided weren't for me, one by one. If I felt good, I incorporated them; if I felt they were still not right, I let them go. In this way, I gradually stopped putting unnecessary burdens on myself. Then, I was able to accept myself, thinking, "This is fine, it's good enough for now."
Just as I was thinking about what to write next, changes in the times arrived. An unknown virus also arrived. Looking around, no one, including myself, had the余裕 (yoyuu, leeway/capacity) to accept ironic laughter.
Anyway, I decided to write with kindness. Fun didn't matter. This time, I would write as if stroking a good friend's back.
(Excerpt omitted)
While I don't have the power to instantly improve the social atmosphere, I do know ways to increase the windows within myself, thanks to my years of experience. I wrote the latter half of the serialization with the hope that it would provide hints for people to increase their own windows independently.
(Excerpt from "Afterword" of this book)
Table of Contents
Recently, nothing has been rewarded
Maybe if you take a step forward, things will work out
Disappointing yourself who expects too much
About the hardship of marriage hunting
How to overcome irreparable failures
Thinking of my mother while doing dishes
What am I living for?
What Keimi-senpai taught me
Imagining the person I want to be
Belittling people's feelings can be fatal
Waiting at the end of the tunnel
The strength and brilliance of working people
Thank you for your hard work, my younger self.
It makes sense when it has a name
There are nights when I'm satisfied with remembered anger
Resting well is also a skill
Welcome, Age of Wind
A way of life that doesn't draw black and white lines
Full confrontation between trouble and emotion
Feelings put into "Otsukaresama"
On a long-pile carpet
Between feeling down and recovering
I'm bored, I'm tired of myself and daily life
Received unfair treatment
Too inconsistent
On the edge, are you okay?
Don't think about overcoming damage
How to bring Hawaii into your room
That's my nature
Boundaries between self and others
Envy people who get away with anything
Some things are beyond your control
There's someone else perfect for him
Daydreaming on a bad day
Initiation to escape from a weakened self
It's okay not to be liked by people you don't like
I'm a happiness junkie
Delicious and fun
Nothing is more troublesome than washing your face
"Being needed" and "being used" are different things
If I'm with this person...
The most important thing in work
Failures have made me who I am
If you want to get along, you have to speak your mind
The lesson of the gossip session
It's good to stop everything once
The curse of "someone like me"
Neo-psychology of happiness