Abstract

Five surreal and lovely stories. Debut novel by Akutagawa Prize winner.

The title story humorously depicts the lives of three sisters who raise a dog-like creature (‘Udon, Kitsune-tsuki no: Unknown Dog of Nobody’). The funny daily lives of people living in a shabby apartment in the suburbs (‘Shiki zero rei zero, Midorisou: No Deposit, No Key Money: Apartment Midori’). An unusual situation one day strikes the isolated island where a house of 15 sisters stands (‘Haha no iru shima: Mother's Island’). A fantasy tale that transcends time, set in Aomori, the city of Nebuta Festival (a very glamorous festival in which huge lighted lanterns (Nebuta) are paraded around on floats) (‘Ookina mono no kaeru basho: The Place Where the Giant Things Return’), ending with an essay (‘Essay Ryo to iu na no boro no shojo’)

Author’s Information

Born in Toyama Prefecture in 1975. Graduated from Tama Art University. In 2010, Udon, Kitsune-tsuki no won an honorable mention in the 1st Sogen SF Short Story Prize. In 2014, Taiyo no soba no shima (The Island on the Side of the Sun) won the 2nd Fumiko Hayashi Literary Prize. In 2019, she was nominated for the 160th Akutagawa Prize for Ita basho (Where I Was), and the 161st Akutagawa Prize for Kamu gyazaa araundo piipuru (Come Gather Around, People). In 2020, she won the 163rd Akutagawa Prize for Shuri no uma (The Horse from Shuri). Takayama’s other works include Kurayami ni renzu (Lenses in the Dark) and many more.