This is a personal blog. The thoughts here are mine — Hana Yoshida's — and they're written from a small kitchen table outside Kyoto, not from a podium. This page is the boring-but-necessary footnote to all of that: a clear statement of what I am and am not offering when you read me.
Editorial opinions, not professional advice
Everything I write is personal opinion, observation, or reflection drawn from my own life. I am a translator and writer by trade, not a doctor, therapist, financial advisor, lawyer, or licensed professional of any kind. If something I write resonates with you, that's wonderful. But please don't read this blog as a substitute for advice you should be getting from a qualified person who actually knows you.
In particular, posts that touch on relationships, mental health, attachment, sleep, rest, friendship, productivity, or anything similar are reflections — not therapy, not a diagnosis, not a prescription. If you are struggling, please reach out to a real human being who can help. A friend, a counselor, a therapist, a doctor.
Affiliate links, disclosed plainly
A small number of posts on this site include affiliate links to products or small businesses I've personally used and reorder from. If you click one of those links and end up making a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. The price you pay is the same either way.
I keep affiliate links rare, on purpose. I'm not interested in writing review-shaped sales copy. I only ever recommend things I've actually paid for, used for a meaningful stretch of time, and would tell a friend about if they asked. If something stops being worth recommending, I quietly stop recommending it.
Where an affiliate link appears, it's labeled in the post itself. This is in keeping with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's guidance on disclosure, and just plain good manners.
Short version: I won't recommend something I don't use, and I won't pretend a paid link isn't a paid link. If anything ever feels otherwise, please write and tell me. I want to know.
Sponsored content and ads
This blog is currently independent. I don't run sponsored posts dressed up as editorial. If that ever changes, sponsored content will be clearly marked as such at the top of the post. Display advertising, if it appears, will be served by third-party networks (such as Google AdSense) and clearly visible as advertising — not interleaved with the writing in any way that would confuse the two.
External links
I link out to other websites — books, small businesses, longer essays — when I think they're worth your time. I don't control those sites and I'm not responsible for what they say, sell, or how they handle your data once you're there. Use your judgment, the way you would on any link on the internet.
Accuracy, and being human
I try to be careful. I check what I write. I revise things when I learn I was wrong, and I'll note significant corrections at the top or bottom of a post when they happen. But I'm one person writing slowly, not a fact-checked publication. If you spot a mistake, write to me — I'd genuinely rather know.
No warranty
This is the part where the lawyers would, if I had any, want me to say: the content of this blog is provided "as is," without warranty of any kind. Reading something here and then making a life decision based on it is your decision and your responsibility. That seems obvious, but it has to be said.
Get in touch
If anything on this page raises a question — about how I work, about a recommendation, about a link — please write to hello@slowlifenotebook.com. I read everything, and I answer most things, eventually. Reader letters are still my favorite kind of mail.