Part 2Cooking and Walks
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- Do you have a set routine every day?
- Q-rais
- I wake up at a different time every morning. I can’t function without a full night’s sleep, so I make sure to get about 8 hours of sleep every night.
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- What do you do after you get up?
- Q-rais
- I take a shower, brush my teeth, then start drawing. I have lunch around noon.
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- You’ve got really delicious-looking pictures of your bento lunches on Twitter and your blog.
- Q-rais
- Yeah, I’ll make myself a bento once in a while. On those days I take a shower, brush my teeth, then make a bento. I’ll draw when I’m done making it, then eat at noon.
- ――
- Do you always eat at the same time?
- Q-rais
- I do. I’ll draw for a few hours, then go on a walk at 3 PM.
- ――
- Is that also every day?
- Q-rais
- Yeah. I take a walk and get home around 4 PM.
- ――
- That’s a pretty long walk.
- Q-rais
- It’s just part of the routine. I’ll think of storylines as I walk, and take notes. I take a bath at 5 PM and read a book. I love reading in the bathtub. After I get out I go back to drawing, and go to bed around midnight.
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- And that’s every day.
- Q-rais
- Same thing every day.
- ――
- Do you just make bento boxes when the mood strikes?
- Q-rais
- Yeah. When it’s cold outside, I tend to make curry instead of bento boxes. Lately I’m hooked on curry recipes that start by putting all the spices together.
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- Sounds authentic.
- Q-rais
- I get all the different spices together, then arrange them however I like that day. Like if I want to, I can put a bit more spices in than usual and change it up.
- ――
- Have you always been good at cooking?
- Q-rais
- I’ve cooked for myself since college, but I only made really simple things. When I was in graduate school, I bought a recipe book of French cuisine, made my way through every page, and tried out every dish.
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- French cuisine?
- Q-rais
- I wanted to try cooking something complicated. But even with that, if you’ve got all the ingredients and a cookbook, you can make it.
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- So you were able to cook everything in the book?
- Q-rais
- I was. Provence-style sea bream, duck orange sauce, everything.
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- Wow!
- Q-rais
- If you’ve got the ingredients and follow the instructions correctly, you can cook. It’s like assembling one of those plastic model kits.
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- Do you enjoy cooking?
- Q-rais
- I sure do. It’s relaxing.
- ――
- What’s the most enjoyable part of cooking?
- Q-rais
- When I make a bento, I tend to pick out dishes that can can sit a little. I enjoy preparing everything the night before, packing them into containers, and putting them in the refridgerator.
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- Do you have matching-size containers?
- Q-rais
- Nah, they’re all mix-matched.
- ――
- Tell us a little more about your walks. Do you depend on those walks to give you ideas for storylines?
- Q-rais
- No, not necessarily. I can come up with ideas even when I’m not walking outside, but if I don’t go out on those walks, I’d be inside my house all day long.
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- Ah.
- Q-rais
- Even a pig or a cow or a chicken couldn’t handle a life like that.
- ――
- Yeah.
- Q-rais
- So I made it a point to force myself to walk outside every day, no matter how busy I am. It’s been good for my mental health, and I feel totally different when I’m out in the sunlight.
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- Do you walk the same path?
- Q-rais
- I’ve got two courses and pick one depending on my mood.
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- What about rainy days?
- Q-rais
- Even on rainy days I’ll grab an umbrella and go on a walk if I feel like I need the exercise.
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- Do you ever take a day off?
- Q-rais
- Never.
- ――
- So you’re really drawing every single day?
- Q-rais
- Yeah. I’ll go to the bathouse about once a month, but that’s about it.
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- Is it hard drawing so many comics every single day?
- Q-rais
- If I had to say, then I’d say it’s hard.
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- Is it hard because you run out of story ideas?
- Q-rais
- No, it’s hard because I simply don’t have enough time. I have a ton of things I want to draw, and plenty of story ideas, but I just don’t have enough time for it all.
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- How long does it take to draw a single comic?
- Q-rais
- It varies a lot. It depends on my drawing style and how much is drawn into the panels.
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- It must be hard to continue something every single day. What’s your greatest motivation?
- Q-rais
- I’m definitely motivated by the people following my work. I’m so grateful when people respond well to my comics and write me letters. It’s because of these people that I want to continue this for a long time, and that I’m able to upload my comics every single day without fail.
- ――
- Thank you for meeting with us today.
- Q-rais
- Thank you!
（End）
To celebrate the release of the Suki-Usagi and Chikyu-chan covers in the Hobonichi Techo 2019 Spring lineup, Q-rais has drawn us a special comic starring both characters!
©Q-rais