NEW JAPANESE VOICES: THE BEST CONTEMPORARY FICTION FROM JAPAN by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Atlantic Monthly Press: A Morgan Entrekin Book
Published: 2015-01-05T00:00:00+00:00

LIVING IN A MAZE by Kyoji Kobayashi

Mr. K's Morning Routine

If the day is clear and bright, Mr. K gets up at nine o’clock in the morning. That is something that he has done for the past ten years. If it’s rainy or gloomy, Mr. K gets up at nine-thirty. That is also something that he has done for the past ten years. As soon as he gets out of bed, before he does anything else, he takes his medicine. That too is a habit that he has kept for a long, long time. For Mr. K, habits are not something that you change. Rather, you continue to add to them. A good example is in taking medicine.

In the beginning, Mr. K was taking only necessary medicines, ones that he could not do without. Now that habit has grown, and at Mr. K’s bedside there is little room for anything else except medicines. Every morning Mr. K meticulously takes his medicines in the same order and in the same dosages. First, five tablets of ion calcium. Then, three tablets containing something to improve the constitution. Five grains of a health food that contains Vitamin C. Two tablets each of a nutrient for the liver and a substance to prevent skin disease. One Vitamin E capsule. Two times with an inhaler to prevent allergies. Three cc’s with a syringe.

When that is finished, Mr. K washes his face. (Or rather he strokes his face, as a cat paws at its own.) He brushes his teeth with an electric toothbrush. He puts some spray on his hair, which has become disheveled during his slumber, to make it lie down. (Mr. K’s hair when he first gets out of bed is truly something to see. It makes you stop and think, “Yes, the angry Medusa must be just like that!” So if this is your first time to see Mr. K, you are probably wondering why in the world he’s so angry.)

That over, he changes his clothes. The season dictates his clothing. (In that clothing wears out, he can’t wear the same clothing for ten years. He alters his wardrobe, therefore, when he has to.)

When he has finished dressing, he goes to get his newspaper from the delivery slot. Mr. K is not especially concerned about what is going on in the world. Therefore, his newspaper reading is over in two or three minutes.

So, Mr. K’s morning routine has begun.

Absent some unexpected circumstance, Mr. K rides his bicycle every morning. Even if there is but a trace of rain, he puts on his windbreaker, and off he goes. Though he might be sweating from a fever, even a slight fever, he puts on a training jacket over his sweater. He might have a headache, yet he still snugly wears his headband. And off he goes.

He will not take a break.

Once Mr. K is on his bicycle, he rides like the wind. Sometimes like a gale, other times like a gentle breeze. When he is going

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