After the quake blind willow, sleeping woman dance dance dance

oyakodon
—rice topped with chicken and 
eggs. These last few days he hadn’t eaten anything worth mentioning. Some hot sake 
would hit the spot too. In this cold, one step outside and you’ll sober up quick. 
But another scenario came to him. Tengo might be meeting somebody at 
Mugiatama. When Tengo left his apartment, he went straight there, and he checked 
his watch just before he went in. Someone might be waiting for him inside, or might 
be on his way. If that was the case, Ushikawa had to know who this person was. His 
ears might freeze off, but he had to stand watch and see who went into the bar. He 
resigned himself to this, wiping the picture of 
oyakodon
and hot sake from his mind. 
The person he’s meeting might be Fuka-Eri. Or Aomame. Ushikawa pulled 
himself together. 
After all, perseverance is my strong point
. If there was a glimmer of 
hope, he clung to it desperately. The rain could pelt him, the wind could blow, he 
could be burned by the sun and beaten with a stick, but he would never let go. Once 
you let go, you never know when you will get ahold of it again. He knew full well 
there were more painful things than this in the world—a thought that helped him 
endure his own suffering. 
He leaned against the wall, in the shadows of the telephone pole and a sign 
advertising the Japanese Communist Party, and kept a sharp watch over the front door 
of Mugiatama. He wrapped the green muffler up to his nose and stuck his hands 
inside the pockets of his pea coat. Other than occasionally extracting a tissue from his 
pocket to blow his nose, he didn’t move an inch. Announcements over the PA system 
at Koenji Station would filter over, on the wind, from time to time. Some pedestrians 
looked nervous when they saw Ushikawa huddled in the shadows, and hurried past. 
Since it was dark, though, they couldn’t make out his features. His stocky frame 
loomed in the shadows like some ominous ornament and sent people scurrying away 
in fright. 
What could Tengo be drinking and eating in there? The more he thought about it, 
the hungrier, and colder, he got. But he couldn’t help imagining it. 
Anything’s fine—
doesn’t have to be hot sake or
oyakodon. 
I just want to go someplace warm and have 
a regular meal. But if I can stand being out here in the cold, I can take anything
. 
Ushikawa had no choice. There was no other path for him to take than this one, 
freezing in the cold wind until Tengo finished his meal. Ushikawa thought about his 
home in Chuorinkan, and the dining table there. There must have been hot meals on 
that table every day, but he couldn’t recall them. 
What in the world did I eat back 
then?
It was like something out of antiquity. Long, long ago, a fifteen-minute walk 
from Chuorinkan Station on the Odakyu Line, there had been a newly built house and 
a warm, inviting dinner table. Two little girls played piano, and a small pedigreed 
puppy scampered about the tiny garden and lawn. 
Tengo came out of the bar thirty-five minutes later. Not bad. It could have been a lot 
worse, Ushikawa reassured himself. The thirty-five minutes had been terrible, but it 
was certainly better than an awful hour and a half. His body was chilled, but at least 
his ears hadn’t frozen. While Tengo was in the bar, there was no one going in or out 
of Mugiatama who caught Ushikawa’s attention. Just one couple went inside, and no 
one came out. Tengo must have just had a few drinks and a light meal. Keeping the 

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704
same distance as before, Ushikawa followed behind him. Tengo walked down the 
same street, most likely headed back to his apartment. 
But Tengo turned off this street and headed down a road that Ushikawa had never 
been on before. It looked like Tengo was not on his way home after all. Ushikawa 
was convinced that he was still lost in thought, maybe even more so than before. He 
didn’t glance back this time. Ushikawa kept track of the scenery passing by, checked 
the street signs, trying to memorize the route so he could retrace it later on. Ushikawa 
wasn’t familiar with this area, but from the increasing buzz of traffic, like the rushing 
of a river, he surmised they must be getting closer to the Ring Road. Before long 
Tengo picked up the pace. Getting closer to his destination, perhaps.