Fifty-two-year-old Yuko agrees to go out for a cup of coffee with Mika, her husband’s lover.
The fact of the affair had not fazed her too much. More startling had been learning when it started—during the Great Tokyo Blackout that for Yuko had been an almost spiritual event, the sea of blackness outside her window leading her to reflect on the great loss that she had suffered at age 26 and had never been able to adequately express to her husband. Also unnerving had been Mika’s age, 26, since it made Yuko feel, talking to Mika, as if she was speaking to her own younger self.
Yuko begins to meditate on things acquired and lost in life and on what brings happiness, and comes to a surprising decision.
Mitsuyo Kakuta is the author of Woman on the Other Shore and The Eighth Day and the recipient of 14 literary prizes in Japan. She lives in Tokyo.
Cover design by Andrew Lee.
The fact of the affair had not fazed her too much. More startling had been learning when it started—during the Great Tokyo Blackout that for Yuko had been an almost spiritual event, the sea of blackness outside her window leading her to reflect on the great loss that she had suffered at age 26 and had never been able to adequately express to her husband. Also unnerving had been Mika’s age, 26, since it made Yuko feel, talking to Mika, as if she was speaking to her own younger self.
Yuko begins to meditate on things acquired and lost in life and on what brings happiness, and comes to a surprising decision.
Mitsuyo Kakuta is the author of Woman on the Other Shore and The Eighth Day and the recipient of 14 literary prizes in Japan. She lives in Tokyo.
Cover design by Andrew Lee.
