I guess everybody loves his or her own country and family. I’m exceptionally lucky in my case because I have been spoiled so much by Tokyo and my family. It was the same again, when I visited home this time and it was so hard to leave Japan, even though I am perfectly happy in Europe, as everybody knows!

When you are very young, you look out for yourself and your life and you tend to be too critical about the things you love, because you always expect the best.

I grew up in very close family. We would see the family almost every weekend and I was with my cousins and my grandfather every single day. I am an only child, but I never felt lonely because of it. I always had people around me and I was loved deeply by my family. I didn’t realise it, when I was young, but now I know how lucky I am to have my family. This is one of the reasons I work closely with many children’s charities. I had everything that people wish for their children - loving parents, health (I was a very weak baby, but I survived so I can't complain!) the opportunity to study anything I wanted, so I feel like I have a great responsibility to help others, who doesn't have the opportunity. My childhood is full of beautiful memories because of my family. 

On my most recent trip to Tokyo, one of my cousins got married. She was so beautiful and it was a very emotional moment to see my mother and our family together and everybody looked so happy. I was very emotional during the ceremony and reception. All the beautiful memories came back to me in a flash and it made me think about how wonderful it was to be back, where people truly love you and are happy to see you. And most importantly, how wonderful it was to be back with the people that you love the most. I cannot be grateful enough for my life!

Saeko Hamada