After the quake blind willow, sleeping woman dance dance dance

Look up 
at the night sky / see the little stars
. He didn’t know how the rest of it went and he 
really didn’t care to know. Sentiment and a sense of justice were Ushikawa’s two 
weakest areas. Up on top of the slide, was Tengo feeling sentimental as he gazed at 
the stars? 
Ushikawa tried looking up at the sky himself, but he couldn’t see any stars. Koenji, 
Suginami Ward, Tokyo, was not the best place to observe the night sky. Neon signs 
and lights along the street dyed the whole sky a weird color. Some people, if they 
squinted hard, might be able to make out a few stars, but that would require 
extraordinary vision and concentration. On top of that, the clouds tonight were 
blowing hard across the sky. Still, Tengo sat motionless on top of the slide, his eyes 
on a fixed point in the sky. 
What a pain in the butt this guy is
, Ushikawa decided. What possible reason could 
there be to sit on a slide, gaze up at the sky, and ponder things on a windy winter 
night like this? Not that he had any right to criticize Tengo. Ushikawa had taken it 
upon himself, after all, to secretly observe Tengo, and shadow him. Tengo was a free 
citizen and had every right to look at what he wanted, where he wanted, the whole 
year round. 
Still, it’s damn cold
. He had needed to pee for some time, but had held it in. The 
public toilet was locked, though, and even in a deserted place like this he couldn’t 
very well just pee next to a phone booth. 
Come on
, he thought, stamping his feet, 
can’t you just get up and leave already? You might be lost in thought, overtaken by 
sentiment, deep into your astronomical observations, but Tengo—you gotta be 
freezing too. Time to go back to your place and warm up, don’t you think? Neither of 
us has anyone waiting for us, but it’s still a hell of a lot better than hanging out here 
and freezing our rear ends off
. 
Tengo didn’t seem about to get up, though. He finally stopped gazing at the sky, 
and he turned his attention to the apartment building across the way. It was a new 
condo, six stories tall, with lights on in about half the windows. Tengo stared at the 
building. Ushikawa did the same but found nothing that caught his attention. It was 
just an ordinary condo. It was not an exclusive building, but fairly high-class 
nonetheless. High-quality design, expensive tile exterior. The entrance was beautiful 

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and well lit. It was a different animal entirely from the cheap, slated-to-be-torn-down 
place that Tengo called home. 
As he gazed up at the condo, was Tengo wishing he could live in a place like that? 
Ushikawa didn’t think so. As far as Ushikawa knew, Tengo wasn’t the type to care 
about where he lived. Just like he didn’t care much about clothes. Most likely he was 
happy with his shabby apartment. A roof over your head and a place to keep out of 
the cold—that was enough for him. Whatever was running through his head up there 
on the slide must be something else. 
After Tengo had looked at all the windows in the condo, he turned his gaze once 
more to the sky. Ushikawa followed suit. From where he was hidden, the branches of 
the zelkova tree, the electric lines, and the other buildings got in the way. He could 
only see half the sky. What particular point in the sky Tengo was looking at wasn’t at 
all clear. Countless clouds ceaselessly scudded across the sky like some 
overwhelming army bearing down on them. 
Eventually, Tengo stood up and silently climbed down from the slide, like a pilot 
having just landed after a rough solo flight at night. He cut across the playground and 
left. Ushikawa hesitated, then decided not to follow him. Most likely Tengo was on 
his way back to his place. Plus Ushikawa had to pee like crazy. After he saw Tengo 
disappear, he went into the playground, hustled behind the public toilet, and in the 
darkness where no one could see him, he peed into a bush. His bladder was ready to 
burst. 
He finally finished peeing—the operation taking as long as it would take a long 
freight train to cross a bridge—zipped up his pants, shut his eyes, and gave a deep 
sigh of relief. His watch showed 8:17. Tengo had been on top of the slide for about 
fifteen minutes. Ushikawa checked again that Tengo wasn’t around and headed 
toward the slide. He clambered up the ladder with his short, bandy legs, sat down on 
the very top of the freezing slide, and looked up. What could he have been staring at 
so intently? 
Ushikawa had pretty good eyesight. Astigmatism made his eyes a bit out of 
balance, but generally he could get by every day without glasses. Still, no matter how 
hard he looked, he couldn’t make out a single star. What caught his attention instead 
was the large moon in the sky, about two-thirds full. Its dark, bruised exterior was 
clearly exposed between the clouds. Your typical winter moon. Cold, pale, full of 
ancient mysteries and inklings. Unblinking like the eyes of the dead, it hung there, 
silent, in the sky. 
Ushikawa gulped. For a while, he forgot to breathe. Through a break in the clouds, 
there was another moon, a little way apart from the first one. This was much smaller 
than the original moon, slightly warped in shape, and green, like it had moss growing 
on it. But it was undoubtedly a moon. No star was that big. And it couldn’t be a 
satellite. Yet there it was, pasted onto the night sky. 
Ushikawa shut his eyes, then a few seconds later opened them again. This must be 
an illusion. 
That kind of thing can’t be there
. But no matter how many times he 
opened and closed his eyes, the little moon was still in the sky. Passing clouds hid it 
occasionally, but once they passed by, there it was, in the same exact spot. 
This is what Tengo was looking at
. Tengo Kawana had come to this playground to 
see this scene, or perhaps to check that it still existed. He has known for some time 

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that there are two moons. No doubt about it. He didn’t look at all surprised to see it. 
On top of the slide, Ushikawa sighed deeply. 
What kind of crazy world is this?
he 
asked himself. 
What sort of world have I gotten
myself into?
But no answer came. 
Swept by countless clouds racing by, the two moons—one big, one small—hung in 
the sky like a riddle. 
There’s one thing I can say for sure
, he decided. 
This isn’t the world I came from. 
The earth I know has only one moon. That is an undeniable fact. And now it has 
increased to two
. 
Ushikawa began to have a sense of déjà vu. 
I’ve seen the same thing before 
somewhere
, he thought. He focused, desperately searching his memory. He frowned, 
grit his teeth, dredging the dark sea bottom of his mind. And it finally hit him. 
Air 
Chrysalis
. 
He looked around, but all he saw was the same world as always. White lace 
curtains were drawn in windows in the condo across the street, peaceful lights on 
behind them. Nothing out of the ordinary. 
Only the number of moons was different
. 
He carefully climbed down from the slide, and hurriedly left the playground as if 
running from the eyes of the moons. 
Am I going nuts?
he wondered. 
No, that can’t be 
it. I’m not going crazy. My mind is like a brand-new steel nail—hard, sober, straight. 
Hammered at just the right angle, into the core of reality. There’s nothing wrong with 
me. I’m completely sane
. 
It’s the world around me that’s gone crazy
. 
And I have to find out why
. 

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