The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature by J. Thomas Rimer

Author:J. Thomas Rimer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Literary Criticism/Asian/General
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 2011-12-30T05:00:00+00:00

II. Miwa Kiriko

The actress Miwa Kiriko sits next to Kusano Hitoshi, the university student in the liberal arts. They are in the Roof Garden, which doubles as an observation deck on top of M Department Store.

Kusano tilts his hat against the strong wind and tries to light a cigarette. After failing twice, he succeeds. Gazing over the city streets below, he exhales, releasing a cloud of smoke. Kiriko watches him. So even he is smoking these days. Still a kid really. Guess his uncle is a supervisor at some steel manufacturer. Guess Kusano’s now studying to be a poet, philosopher, or something. Narumi keeps saying that what Kusano calls studying is really just messing around. He says he wants to write a novel, for goodness’ sake. Unlike Narumi, he still doesn’t have clue about the real world. Narumi says he’s going to make some free time and get to work on writing a full-fledged play, but he’s still got all that translation work to do. He’ll have to get that finished first.

Kiriko lifts her eyes. Straight ahead, construction workers are busy expanding the seven-story building that is home to S——Bank. As the workers drive in rivets, they make an intense racket that fills the whole sky. bririririri rrUrUrUrU rrrrrrrrUU. A crane raises a steel girder like a fishing pole lifting a fish. Sitting atop the steel girder is a man in blue clothing. What would happen if the steel cable couldn’t support the weight and just snapped? There’d be flesh scattered everywhere. His arms or legs would probably get caught under the girder and be ripped right off. A great hole penetrates deep into the earth of the construction site. The basement alone is going to be two or three stories deep. I wonder what they’re going to put in there. Boiler rooms, vaults, what else? I should hold off a little longer on giving a response to the Palace Theater. As it stands now, the conditions of my contract are worse than Suzuko’s. The situation’s absurd. I’ve got to have my own dressing room no matter what. But if I stay away from the stage for too long, people’ll forget me and I’ll lose my fans. Maybe getting married and leaving the Parnasse has already affected my popularity. Even so, there’s no way I’m ever going to play second fiddle to Suzuko, provided I’ve still got this face and body. I’ve got to keep from getting pregnant. But will that be enough?

Kusano spots a yellow hot-air balloon at the end of a row of roofs that sparkle in the afternoon sun. He points it out to Kiriko. “Look, a balloon. It seems to be holding up some kind of advertisement. See that red flag fluttering underneath it? There’s some writing on it, but I can’t make out. I’m nearsighted, you know.” Kusano grimaces as the sunlight hits him full in the face. Kiriko gazes in the direction he is pointing. In the midst of the soot and smoke of

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