Part 1 Blue Sun

99
white night
Summer scent
Blue Gabby and Emergency
harvest
Sticky run
1
2
Movie Story
The story of light and extinction
Tomato Cup Ramen
Insomnia
3
Reed fields and rocks
A world filled with color
chemical experiment
sandstorm
Definition of love
I'm kicking my heart rate along the well path
Thin light and yellowish fog
white sand beach

Part 2: Red Voyages

Love and Absurdity
Tomato Boy
pitch-black moon village
red four-leaf clover
4
phantom pain
Tomato Recipe
Arbor Day
Four Seasons Flower Shop
Romantic List
Attitude toward welcoming youth
Door lock 1126611
A bundle of stories
The train that runs the world
mass extinction
Mermaid Guardian
Caricature of a smile
Starlight Dice
Fish Tank Star (魚缸?): The scent that lingers in a fish tank
Weather forecast
Solar System Amplification Event
plum tree
Your Muse
How to carve a rainbow
0

Part 3: Things That Shine Red

My first summer
value
A pretty obvious summer story
Groovy candy
Courage stickers
The body of the sea
The harmony of summer and tomatoes
help

▶ What prompted you to publish this poetry collection? I'm also curious about when you first realized you wanted to become a writer.


Rather than vaguely thinking about becoming a writer, my first dream was to enjoy writing.
Dreams are the most important part of my life, so I decided to publish them, thinking that compiling my writings into a book would help me achieve my first dream.

▶ The title is very unique.
Tomatoes and cup ramen also feel strangely different.
Is there a reason why you titled it ‘Tomato Cup Ramen’?

There is an unexpected story behind the title 'Tomato Cup Ramen'.
The current title came from a question about what title could express my hot summer.
I actually hate tomatoes.
I don't eat it and I don't like the smell.
Still, I thought the bright red color of tomatoes was a color that would remind anyone of summer.
Cup ramen brings back some of my summer memories.
Because the cup ramen I ate in the valley on a cool summer day defined my summer.
That's how the title 'Tomato Cup Ramen' was born.
At first glance, it may seem like an odd combination, but I thought there was no other title that could express my summer as well as this one.

▶ In an online bookstore review of this poetry collection, a middle school student said, "I've never experienced first love, but I think I know what it feels like, and my heart flutters." What do you think about this expression and evaluation?

I often hear book reviews from my acquaintances.
The thing I heard most often was that it seemed to be full of love stories.
But surprisingly, I thought this poetry collection was just a book filled with midsummer memories.
I think I started writing this because I was thinking about my first love that I had unconsciously forgotten.
If my love story, which came out unconsciously, has brought about the love of another person, I think that is a sentiment full of love in its own right.
Because love is like a warm feeling like the summer sunshine.

▶ What is the most important message you want to convey to readers in this collection? And which sections do you think readers will find most engaging?

I think it would be good to look back on the love that we had forgotten.
There are poems titled 99 and 0 in the first and last chapters of the poetry collection, respectively.
And there are poems with titles 1 to 4 in the collection.
These poems are pieces I wrote while reminiscing about moments with the person I love.
This is my favorite part, where you can read each poem to find love.

▶ Please introduce one of your favorite parts of the poem.
I would appreciate it if you could also tell me the reason.

In the poem "Weather Forecast," I like the part that says, "The smoke from the cigarette you smoked was a sweet, pleasant smell."
I think this story best expresses what I think love is.
No matter what kind of cigarette you smoke, it is ultimately harmful to your body.
I thought that the fact that I, who hates cigarettes, came to love the thing I hate the most while smelling the cigarette of the person I love really expressed the recklessness and purity of love well.
The last paragraph, 'The sweet strawberry scent at your fingertips is nothing but the ash of a cigarette that has been stuck in the mouth,' ends like this, and it seems that after the love ends, the reality that was distorted by the gaze of love is clearly visible, so this is my favorite part.
I hope that reading this poem will give readers an opportunity to think again about love.

▶ Please let us know if you have any other plans for publication in the future.

I'm planning to publish a book called 'Broccoli Allergy'.
After my last published book, 'Summer is the Season for Wounds', I had no further plans to publish it, but I regret including the poem that was supposed to be the representative work of a new poetry collection in another poetry collection manuscript, so I am writing a new manuscript.