ME
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Names are given in Western order, reversing that of the original. The Japanese typically refer to one another by surname, using personal names only when addressing their children, younger siblings, and very close (usually childhood) friends. The hierarchical nature of Japanese society is reflected in Nao’s use of polite verb endings when speaking to his sometime companions, even though they are supposedly equal. He also consistently suffixes their names with a deferential -san. Other suffixes are -kun, typically used by older males in addressing younger (and subordinate) males, and (endearing) -chan and -bō.
Some Japanese males still casually refer to their mothers as o-fukuro, originally suggesting “dear bosom/heart” and used as an honorific term. It is still sentimental rather than derogatory, however old-fashioned it may sound. The sociolinguistic implications of “my old lady” are somewhat different from those of the original but are, one hopes, close enough.
—Charles De Wolf
Tomoyuki Hoshino was born in 1965 in Los Angeles, but moved to Japan when he was two. He made his debut as a writer in 1997 with the novella The Last Gasp, which won the Bungei Prize. His novel The Mermaid Sings Wake Up won the Mishima Yukio Prize, and Fantasista was awarded the Noma Literary New Face Prize. His other novels include Lonely Hearts Killer, The Nights Never End, and Spell.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to real events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Published by Akashic Books
©2010, 2017 Tomoyuki Hoshino
Originally published in Japanese in 2010 by Shinchosha. Publication rights for this English edition arranged through Kodansha Ltd., Tokyo.
Translation ©2017 Charles De Wolf
Afterword ©2017 Kenzaburō Ōe
ISBN: 978-1-61775-448-7
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016953892
All rights reserved
First Akashic Books printing
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