When I returned to Japan the following winter, I visited Tetsu’s home and discovered that he had bought himself a piano as a birthday present. Over the past several months, he taught himself to play basic piano and eventually used it as a songwriting tool. Inspired by our conversation in the shrine the previous summer, he wrote a song called “Good Times.” It was the first song he had ever written on the piano. He narrated the story of our conversation exactly as it happened and paired it with a captivating chord progression and melody. Before we knew it, we had embarked on a new project that would become Tetsu’s full-length follow-up record. Amid the excitement of the song, one concern lingered on my mind: since Tetsu technically didn’t write the hook of the song, would this cause any issues? I wanted to make sure to reach out to G. Michael Hopf, the author of that famous quote. I told Tetsu that if we didn’t receive permission to use the quote, we wouldn’t be able to release the song. I sent Mr. Hopf an email, but due to his popularity as an author, I was unsure whether I would hear back from him or not. The next day, I received an email from him, granting us permission to use his quote in the song! Tetsu and I were elated and continued working on “Good Times.”