"One Year to Live, A Lifetime to Love: Finding a Reason to Stay."

"One Year to Live, A Lifetime to Love: Finding a Reason to Stay."

By:

Virgilio F. De Leon Jr.MD

I recently finished watching One Year to Live, Buy a Man, a Japanese romantic drama that I decided to give a try. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but by the time I finished watching it, I found myself thinking about something much deeper than the usual romance between two people.

It made me think about another aspect of loneliness in Japan.

The main character is Yui Katakura, a 40-year-old woman who has spent most of her life saving money and living frugally. She has been so focused on securing her financial future that she seems to have forgotten to build a life worth looking forward to. Her existence is orderly, practical, and seemingly devoid of meaningful connections with other people.

Then comes the pivotal event.

Yui undergoes a free cancer screening and receives a diagnosis of advanced uterine cancer.

Now, as a doctor, I found myself watching this scene with a rather different perspective from the average viewer. I was looking at the CT scan, trying to figure out just how far the disease had progressed. The doctor in the movie was attempting to explain the situation to Yui, but she was adamant that if she ever received a cancer diagnosis, she would rather die than undergo treatment.

And somewhere inside my head, my medical instincts were practically screaming at the television.

"YOU CAN HAVE A HYSTERECTOMY! THERE'S RADIOTHERAPY! THERE ARE TREATMENT OPTIONS! YOU DON'T NECESSARILY HAVE TO DIE!"

Of course, I also realized that if Yui had been listening to my unsolicited medical advice, the movie would probably have ended after fifteen minutes.

But that is beside the point.

The story progresses when Yui meets Sena, a pink-haired host who happens to be experiencing considerable financial difficulties of his own. Their circumstances are very different, but somehow, the two begin to develop feelings for each other.

Long story short, they fall in love.

And I think one of the most interesting aspects of Yui's transformation is that she finally discovers something she has been missing all her life: a reason to live.

For years, she had been saving money, preparing for a future that she never really seemed interested in experiencing. She had accumulated financial security but very little emotional security. She had made provisions for tomorrow without necessarily having someone to share that tomorrow with.

Meeting Sena changes that.

Suddenly, there is someone she cares about. Someone who cares about her. Someone who makes her look forward to another day and gives her something to fight for.

Eventually, Yui decides to pursue medical treatment, the very option she had initially rejected. And she survives.

I found that particularly meaningful.

As a doctor, I naturally appreciate the importance of medical treatment, early diagnosis, and the options available to patients. But this movie reminded me that medicine isn't always just about convincing someone to undergo treatment. Sometimes, we also need to understand what makes someone want to keep living in the first place.

And that brings me to what I think is the real message of this movie.

We all need a purpose.

We need to feel that we matter to someone. That our presence makes a difference. That there is somebody who looks forward to seeing us, somebody who would miss us if we were gone, and somebody with whom we can share the ordinary experiences that make life worthwhile.

We need to feel wanted. We need to feel needed. And perhaps most importantly, we need to have something to look forward to.

Yui spent much of her life preparing financially for a future, only to discover that what she really needed was someone to share it with.

One Year to Live, Buy a Man is a pretty good movie to occupy your time, but I think it offers something more than a simple romantic storyline. It is also a reflection on loneliness, human connection, and the importance of finding meaning in our lives.

I highly recommend it.

Because sometimes, what we need isn't another year of savings, another achievement, or another item checked off our bucket list.

Sometimes, we simply need a reason to wake up tomorrow.