We, the Children of Cats (Found in Translation) by Hoshino Tomoyuki

Author:Hoshino, Tomoyuki [Hoshino, Tomoyuki]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: PM Press
Published: 2012-07-01T04:00:00+00:00

Deep within Sayama Hills, famously the model for the forest in the film My Neighbor Totoro, a homeless woman named Michiko Kanamori (45) sheltered five Shirasagi Elementary sixth grade students in her makeshift “home” three days before they were found and taken into custody. All five had already stopped opening their mouths by that time, she says. Not to speak, not to eat.

“If you tried to force them to use their mouths, they would open up this weird booklet and point at it. There they had written ‘We believe in silence.’”

This handmade booklet, with “Last Words” printed on the cover, was, according to the colophon, put together by an organization known as the “Association of Finished Persons” (Representative: Misae Yamashita) and issued previous to the incident, on March 31st. Michiko wasn’t aware of it, but this little girl, Misae (11), was the core member of the extensive “association,” recognized as holding the key to solving the mysteries of the poisoned school lunch incident.

Yoshinobu stilled his hands and took a deep breath, trembling. He was excited, as if soaring through the air. He felt as if he were looking down from high above even as he sat typing at his keyboard in the middle of this clearing that glittered silver amid the night-darkened woods. He had no doubt. He knew that he wasn’t just writing words—no, he was living the unseen lives of those he wrote about.

As Michiko took the booklet in her hand and flipped through the pages, she found herself reading a strange, childish “lesson.” It stated that by refusing to listen to the words of others or use words oneself, by banishing every word from one’s head, one would at last exist simply, as an animal, plant, or object. The five followed this doctrine, practicing silence.

However, the youths were also engaged in fasting, which the booklet did not instruct them to do. “If you want to become like an animal or plant, eat something,” Michiko encouraged them, but all they would allow to enter their mouths was a little miso soup.

Michiko guesses, “After the incident with the poisoned school lunches, they can no longer stand to let food pass their lips.” However, if we remember the words of Kimi, quoted above, might we suppose instead that they were still pursuing mass suicide, just in a different form?

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