In Japan, the sound of the name is not that all important. It’s the meanings of the characters that matter. And also the numbers of the strokes used to write them because there are lucky and unlucky stroke counts.

You see, I was supposed to be “Aya”.

But my parents decided to change their mind to “Yuki” instead, because it was snowing quite a lot on the day I was born.

Snow in Japanese is 雪 (yuki). But my characters are 有希, it pronounces “Yuki”, but 有 means existing, and 希 means hopes.

My father was an alcoholic and brought our family tremendous sorrows and discomfort, but one thing I am more than grateful about him is his literary intelligence. He gave me one of the best names a girl could ever ask for. My name means snow, and also “where the hopes exist”.

So when my friends stare deeply into their empty glass on a Saturday night and start telling me that life is hopeless, I become a bit ostentatious and tell them this:

“who do you think you are talking to? I’m where the hopes exist.”

They usually pause for a second and eventually give me a huge smirk after.

Such an inside joke for only people who understand Japanese, who knows how to spell my peculiar name!

Gorgeous photos by Nurlan Emir