Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on December 2013

You can give life lessons this holiday season thanks to a new bilingual book from Masahiro Fujita. Having largely grown up abroad, Hiro, as he is known to his friends, was a world-wise young man on the fast track to a successful career at a global advertising firm in Tokyo. Then in 2010 he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease). Now 34, he has control over only his facial muscles and left index finger and has lost his voice following a tracheostomy. Yet though it all he has continued to work and has even found time to share his thoughts about life in the book 99% Thank You – Things Even ALS Can’t Take Away (¥1,500) from Poplar Publishing. The brief, one-page entries often read like poetry and cover his stuggles with his health as well as more prosaic advice. “I never carried a bag to the office. The commute is time for observing people,” reads one missive. “More importantly, you don’t stand out if you’re late or want to sneak home early.