Reading Japan

I fell out with my boyfriend. My ex-boyfriend, and co-worker at that time, started dating a girl from another division who's better than me when it comes to acting all lovey-dovey. I was the one buckling under a crushing emotional burden. I became unable to bring myself to go to the office. Soon after, I quit the company altogether. I landed a job at a department store where I'd be able to empty my mind and work straight through weekends and holidays. There, I spent 2 years working myself to the bone. 2 years later, my ex-boyfriend showed up at the department store one day. Then, I...

Reading Japan is a program of reading short stories from Japan. This time, the short story we'll be introducing is "Come Dance with Me" Part 1 by Onda Riku. A girl in a black dress is standing by herself at a party when another girl who has otherworldly eyes suddenly asks her to dance. The abrupt invitation takes her by surprise, but they dance together in the light that spills into the corridor and become friends. The girl with otherworldly eyes becomes a globe-trotting choreographer. The other girl, who becomes a journalist, has a burning question: "What prompted that invitation to dance?" (Come Dance with Me, Shinchosha)

Two girls become friends after finding themselves at the same party and dancing together. One of the girls becomes a journalist, and she has an unanswered question: "What prompted that invitation to dance?" In an effort to find the reason, she keeps watching the performances of her friend, who has become an acclaimed dancer. Will she ever find the real reason? (Come Dance with Me, Shinchosha)

I can hardly believe it! My mom is a blogger with a huge following! Natsu is an office worker who discovers a blog that her mom writes about her recipes. And it's a very successful blog with tens of thousands of followers. Natsu isn't communicating well with her mom and can't bring herself to ask about the blog, which to her dismay discusses her own life as well. But their relationship takes an intriguing turn when Natsu posts a comment on the blog. The first half of a heartwarming story about a mother and daughter as told through cooking and blogging.

Natsu learns that her mother writes a popular blog about her recipes. She finds herself checking the blog regularly and ends up posting anonymous comments. The blog reveals new sides of her somewhat uncommunicative mom. But still, Natsu feels oddly reluctant about asking her directly about the blog. Then, Natsu gets transferred to Tokyo for work. She makes the move, although she worries about leaving her mom alone in their single-family house. In the midst of it all, her mom's blog begins to change... The second half of a heartwarming story about a mother and daughter as told through cooking and blogging.

Early one morning, the protagonist Koichi finds a man collapsed at his front door. It is his only son Ryoji, who has been out of touch for the past 5 years. His wife Akiko is concerned about their son's health, but Koichi curses him as a "loser." Koichi is disappointed with his son, who didn't go to university or find a job with a big company, and has come home in an emaciated state. Then, Koichi is summoned to a company-wide emergency meeting at work.

The ravages of a global financial crisis take their toll on the company where Koichi works. He's faced with transferring to a subsidiary or taking early retirement from the firm where he's spent his entire career. Meanwhile, at home he needs to figure out what to do about his son, who is broke and unemployed. He previously spurned his son as a "loser," but now he faces unemployment himself and wonders how to face his son. What's going to happen with the family dynamics in Koichi's household?

In the wake of a global financial crisis, Koichi is faced with transferring to a subsidiary or taking early retirement from the company where he's spent his entire career. Meanwhile, at home he has to deal with his unemployed son. Koichi was stuck with the outmoded belief that his son needed to graduate from a top university and work for a big firm. Now he confronts the gap with his son, who has to survive in the current era. What will Koichi say to his son, now that he also faces unemployment?

Miyabe Miyuki is one of Japan's most popular authors, and her works span mysteries, horror, science fiction, historical novels and children's literature. This spooky tale starts on a rainy night when the protagonist encounters an elderly man while waiting for a taxi at the train station. Etsuro missed the last bus and is waiting for a taxi when the elderly man in line behind him starts up a conversation. The fellow seems nice enough and Etsuro accepts his invitation to walk home together. As they walk in the rain, the gentleman commences with an odd story about his dog.

Etsuro walks home in the rain with an elderly gentleman he met at the train station taxi stand, and the man starts talking about his dog. The dog's name was Six, and one day he randomly started following a young woman. In this odd story, the woman had been having reoccurring dreams about Six, but it was her first time to see the dog in person. She and Six took a liking to each other in her dreams, but then Six would die right away. Etsuro finds himself intrigued by the spooky tale. He thinks it was just an odd story, but it turns out there's more. Why is Etsuro so terrified, and who exactly is this elderly gentleman?

The night of Japan's State of Emergency declaration, Kahara finds herself overwhelmed by pain from one of her molars. She can't get an appointment with a dentist anywhere, and finally she arrives at a mysterious dental clinic that has no website, reviews or signs of other patients. The clinic director Kazama announces that she's experiencing "substitute pain" caused by heartache. Kahara is urged to figure out the true cause of her pain, and so she addresses her emotions. She suspects it might be her ex-boyfriend, who was cheating and recently dumped her. (Mori Eto's "The Sun" from Collection of 25 Short Stories)

Kahara is suffering from the "substitute pain" of an agonizing toothache caused by heartache. The mysterious clinic director Kazama told her that she will be burdened with the toothache until she figures out the culprit behind her heartache. Kahara suspects her ex-boyfriend, who was cheating and then dumped her. She also considers the closure of her favorite bar, annoying noises from her neighbor, and problems with her boss. Perhaps it was the cumulative bulk of all these things that was weighing her down. Can Kahara find the real culprit and come to terms with the cause of her pain? (Mori Eto's "The Sun" from Collection of 25 Short Stories)

Born in 1962, Hayashi Jyouji primarily writes science fiction and headed Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan from 2018 until 2020. He wrote this piece just as COVID-19 was spreading throughout society. What would need to happen in order to get the virus under control? This short story considers the nitty-gritty of work and social systems in a near-future scenario with regular coronavirus disease outbreaks and looks specifically at funerals. The protagonist returns to his hometown after a 20-year absence to sell his parents' old home for back taxes. He takes a temp job as a funeral proxy to pay his immediate expenses.

In the near future, coronavirus disease outbreaks have become regular occurrences. The protagonist returns to his hometown after a 20-year absence to sell his parents' old home for back taxes. He also needs money for the vaccine to renew his immunity passport, so he takes a temp job as a funeral proxy. On his way to the funeral hall, he sees swarms of people wearing proxy masks. Proxies are commonplace in funerals in near-future society due to the pandemics. At the funeral hall entrance he sees the name of the deceased and realizes it's someone who has had a huge impact on his life. He's taken aback and recalls the torment he experienced at his hands long ago.

In the near future, the social system has evolved in response to regular coronavirus disease outbreaks. The protagonist returns to his hometown after a 20-year absence and takes a job as a funeral proxy. At the funeral hall, he realizes that the deceased was his tormentor from long ago. Memories flood back, along with outrage. He'd left his hometown because of bullying at the hands of the deceased. He sees that the funeral hall is filled with locals, and he hatches a plan for revenge. He'll send everyone at the funeral an audio recording that proves that he was bullied. He puts his plan into action. What happens next?!

I'm a university student fed up with late-night phone calls that I keep getting from a certain guy. The calls are always exactly 5 minutes long. And the other guy is always messing around with me. On this particular night, I'm dealing with a life choice that concerns my future. What will I decide to do? And who is the person on the other end of the line?

The story is about an entomologist named F. His former university classmate introduces him to E, a rather unusual patient. It turns out bees have built a hive in E's abdomen. F is taken aback, but his curiosity as a researcher has been aroused and he decides to take E in. He then observes the bizarre co-existence of the bees with their host. And, a surprise ending awaits. Arai Ran, "Poking the Beehive" (from Short Short Treasure Box, Kobunsha paperback)