Surprise In Japan - The Woman Next Door Poem by john tiong chunghoo

a japanese woman
becomes our friend
then asks to borrow money

our apartment
an old couple before us
took their own lives

We were really surprised by a middle age Japanese woman who came over to borrow money from us, students. Though Japan is an economic power, life is not so rosy as thought to be as the cost of living is extemely high. Most people in Tokyo cannot afford to own their houses. An old couple who lived in our apartment earlier committed suicide because of financial woes.