Tettyo Saito, 30, has spent many years as a hikikomori--a socially reclusive person. He failed college entrance exams and so stayed at home with his parents, rarely leaving. He watched a lot of movies during that time, including one from Romania that fascinated him.
Saito realized that he needed to learn some of the Romanian language to understand the movie better. So, with textbooks and online communities, he taught himself Romanian. Eventually, a 2023 article in The Asahi Shimbum reports, he began writing fiction in that language.
After sharing some of his work with Romanian online communities, a publisher in Romania picked it up. Saito has published a few novels that are actually read and respected in Romania.
He still has, though, yet to visit that nation.
-via Wrath of Gnon | Photo: Yuta Torio
