This is the story of our family—just the three of us: my daughter, her dad, and me. Even though we’re divorced, we still get along really well.
I first met him (my daughter’s dad) at an izakaya (bar) in Shibuya.
He was actually a junior from the same university, though we never crossed paths during our school years. It was only after graduation that a mutual friend introduced us, saying,
“I know you two will get along!”
At the time, he was working as a manager for a certain artist and was super busy.
That night, my friend messaged him, “We’ll be at this place, come by if you can,” so I went with a friend, not expecting much.
But then he showed up.
He looked like… well, imagine Shinnosuke Abe (former Giants baseball player) wearing that iconic khaki coat from the Japanese drama Odoru Daisousasen 踊る大捜査線—the one Detective Aoshima wore. Got the image?
He introduced himself and handed me a demo CD, saying, “This artist’s new CD is coming out soon. Please give it a listen.”
He was exactly what you’d expect from a former soccer team captain, a type B extrovert—super lively, chatting up a storm, then rushing back to work.
Before he left, he also gave me two tickets to an upcoming event and we exchanged contact info.
About a week later, I went to that event with a coworker.
I didn’t expect to see him, but I did—”Detective Aoshima coat” and all.
We only exchanged a few words and a smile, but in that short moment, we made a small but meaningful promise.
He said, “I never know when I’ll be free, so let’s just keep inviting each other whenever we can.”
It became a kind of keyword for us later—like “keep trying, and we’ll eventually meet.”
For someone as busy as him, that sentiment really meant a lot.
He barely had any time off—leaving around noon and returning at dawn, constantly traveling for concert tours all around Japan.
He had practically given up on the idea of dating.
So when I messaged him in the early hours of April 1st—he was at an afterparty, and I was doing karaoke all-nighter with friends—saying,
“I want to see you. Want to grab McDonald’s breakfast later?”
He thought it might be an April Fool’s joke!
But at 8am, we met up at the McDonald’s in Futako-Tamagawa.
It was our first proper time alone together.
We were both a total mess after being up all night.
And as the morning wore on, the place filled with fresh-faced families enjoying their Sunday, making us look even more out of place—it was honestly hilarious.
We parted ways around noon, but I remember missing my stop twice on the train ride home.
I kept thinking, “What the heck is happening to me?!”
From there, by sheer timing and luck, we got to see each other more and more, and before we knew it, we were dating.
We felt like fate brought us together.
Eventually, we had a beautiful daughter.
And even though we ended up separating, we both stayed single and continued being a family—our own kind of three-person team.
There are so many ways to define “family.”
For us, this is ours.
We chat in a group LINE with the three of us, and also message each other individually.
We meet up regularly for lunch, he sometimes comes over to cook, and he always shows up for school events.
Even though we don’t live together, he does everything he can for our daughter.
To me, we’re a kind of soul-bonded team.
Each of us is grounded in our own life, doing our best for our daughter.
We share the same sense of purpose—the same joy of watching her grow.
Of course, we’re divorced. So yeah, a lot did happen.
But now, we choose to focus on the good.
And I truly respect him.
I’m grateful to him for making me a mother.
That’s how I feel.
He’s doing some really interesting work these days—I’ll tell you about that next time.
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