After the quake blind willow, sleeping woman dance dance dance

That’s it. The moon was up there
. 
Sunset was still some time away, but there it was—the moon—standing out against 
the sky, about three-quarters full. Tengo was impressed that he could see such a large, 
bright moon while it was still so light out. He remembered that. The unfeeling chunk 
of rock hung low in the sky as if, having nothing better to do, it was suspended on an 
invisible thread. It had a certain artificial air about it. At first glance, it looked like a 
fake moon used as a stage prop. But it was the actual moon, of course. Nobody would 
take the time and effort to hang a fake moon in a real sky. 
Suddenly Tengo realized that Aomame was no longer looking at him. Her line of 
vision was turned in the same direction as his. Like him, Aomame was staring at the 
moon in broad daylight, still gripping his hand, her face deadly serious. He looked at 
her eyes again. They were not as clear as before. That had been a special, momentary 
clarity, and in its place he now could see something hard and crystalline. It was at 
once beguiling and severe, with a quality reminiscent of frost. Tengo could not grasp 
its meaning. 
Eventually the girl seemed to have made up her mind. She suddenly released her 
grip on his hand, turned her back on him, and rushed out of the room without a word 
or a backward glance, leaving Tengo in a deep vacuum. 
Tengo opened his eyes, relaxed his mental concentration, released a deep breath, and 
took a swallow of his bourbon. He felt the whiskey pass through his throat and down 
his gullet. He took another breath and exhaled. He could no longer see Aomame. She 
had turned her back on him and left the classroom, erasing herself from his life. 
Twenty years went by. 
It was the moon
, Tengo thought. 
I was looking at the moon, and so was Aomame. That gray chunk of rock hanging 
in the still-bright sky at three thirty in the afternoon. That lonely, taciturn satellite. We 
stood side by side, looking at that moon. But what does it mean? That the moon will 
guide me to her?

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It suddenly crossed Tengo’s mind that back then, Aomame might have entrusted 
the moon with her feelings. She and the moon might have reached a kind of secret 
agreement. Her gaze at the moon contained something frighteningly serious that could 
stir the imagination this way. 
Tengo had no idea, of course, what Aomame had offered to the moon that time, but 
he could well imagine what the moon had given her: pure solitude and tranquillity. 
That was the best thing the moon could give a person. 
Tengo paid his bill and walked out of the Barleyhead. Then he looked up at the sky 
but could not find the moon. The sky was clear, and the moon should be up, but it 
could not be seen from street level with buildings all around. Hands thrust in his 
pockets, Tengo walked from one street to the next, looking for the moon. He wanted 
to go someplace with an open field of vision, but finding such a place in a 
neighborhood like Koenji was no easy matter. The area was so flat that finding even a 
slight incline involved a major effort, and there were no hills at all. The best place 
might be the roof of a tall building with a view in all directions, but he couldn’t see 
the kind of building in the area that let people up to the roof. 
As he went on walking around aimlessly, Tengo recalled that there was a 
playground nearby, one that he often passed on walks. It was not a large playground, 
but it probably had a slide. If he climbed that, he should be able to have a better view 
of the sky. It wasn’t a tall slide, but the view should be better than from street level. 
He headed for the playground. His watch hands were pointing to nearly eight o’clock. 
There was no one in the playground. A tall mercury-vapor lamp stood in the 
middle, illuminating every corner of the place. There was a large zelkova tree, its 
leaves still thick and luxuriant. There were several low shrubs, a water fountain, a 
bench, swings, and a slide. There was also a public toilet, but it had been locked by a 
worker at sunset, perhaps to keep vagrants out. During the daytime, young mothers 
brought their children who were not yet old enough for kindergarten, and kept up their 
lively chattering while the children played. Tengo had observed such scenes any 
number of times. Once the sun went down, however, almost no one visited this place. 
Tengo climbed the slide and, still standing, looked up at the night sky. A new six-
story condo stood on the north side of the park. He had never noticed it before. It must 
have been built quite recently. It blocked the northern sky like a wall. Only low 
buildings stood on the other three sides of the playground. Tengo turned to scan the 
area and found the moon in the southwest, hanging over an old two-story house. It 
was about three-quarters full. 
Just like the moon of twenty years ago
, Tengo thought. 
Exactly the same size and shape. A complete coincidence. Probably
. 
But this bright moon, hanging in the early-autumn night sky, had sharp, clear 
outlines and the introspective warmth characteristic of this season. The impression it 
gave was very different from that of the moon at three thirty in the December 
afternoon sky. Its calm, natural glow had the power to soothe and heal the heart like 
the flow of clear water or the gentle stirring of tree leaves. 
Standing on the very top of the slide, Tengo looked up at that moon for a very long 
time. From the direction of Ring Road 7 came the blended sound of different-sized 

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tires, like the roar of the sea. All at once the sound reminded Tengo of the sanatorium 
where his father was staying on the Chiba shore. 
The city’s earthly lights blotted out the stars as always. The sky was nice and clear, 
but only a few stars were visible, the very bright ones that twinkled as pale points here 
and there. Still, the moon stood out clearly against the sky. It hung up there faithfully, 
without a word of complaint concerning the city lights or the noise or the air 
pollution. If he focused hard on the moon, he could make out the strange shadows 
formed by its gigantic craters and valleys. Tengo’s mind emptied as he stared at the 
light of the moon. Inside him, memories that had been handed down from antiquity 
began to stir. Before human beings possessed fire or tools or language, the moon had 
been their ally. It would calm people’s fears now and then by illuminating the dark 
world like a heavenly lantern. Its waxing and waning gave people an understanding of 
the concept of time. Even now, when darkness had been banished from most parts of 
the world, there remained a sense of human gratitude toward the moon and its 
unconditional compassion. It was imprinted upon human genes like a warm collective 
memory. 
Come to think of it, I haven’t looked hard at the moon like this for a very long 
while
, Tengo thought. 
When could the last time have been? Living one hectic day 
after another in the city, you tend to look down at the ground. You forget to even look 
at the night sky
. 
It was then that Tengo realized there was another moon hanging in the sky. At 
first, he thought it might be an optical illusion, a mere trick of light rays, but the more 
he looked at it, the surer he became that there was a second moon with solid outlines 
up there. His mind went blank as he stared in its direction, open-mouthed. 
What am I 
seeing?
He could not make up his mind. The outline and the substance refused to 
overlap, as when word and concept fail to cohere. 
Another moon? 
He closed his eyes, opened his palms, and rubbed his cheeks. 
What’s wrong with 
me? I didn’t drink that much
. He drew in a long, quiet breath and then quietly 
expelled it. He checked to be sure his mind was clear. 
Who am I? Where am I now? 
What am I doing?
he asked himself in the darkness behind his closed eyelids. 
It’s 
September 1984, I’m Tengo Kawana, I’m in a playground in Koenji in Suginami 
Ward, and I’m looking up at the moon in the night sky. No doubt about it
. 
Then he slowly opened his eyes and looked at the sky again, carefully, his mind 
calm, but still there were two moons. 
This is no illusion. There are two moons
. Tengo balled his hand into a fist and kept 
it that way for a long time. 
The moon was as taciturn as ever. But it was no longer alone. 

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