Can their young love survive the reality of life?
"Kimi to kekkon shitai (君と結婚したい, I want to marry you). Hontō ni (本当に, really)." The girl grins. "Look at me. I've got braces on my teeth." Peter is disconcerted — not at the braces but at her refusal to ma ni ukeru (真に受ける, take him seriously). "How ...
Dairokkan: sixth sense among the cedars
"When these sugi (杉, cedars) were umareta (生まれた, born), if that's the word," says Mayumi, "Japan was in its Jōmon Jidai (縄文時代, Jomon Period, c. 10,000 B.C.-c. 300 B.C.). Before bunmei (文明, civilization), before nōgyō (農業, agriculture), before sensō (戦争, war) — before almost ...
Kako ni kampai — let's drink to the past!
"Omedetō, omedetō (おめでとう, congratulations)! A superb kōgi (講義, lecture)! Daiseikō (大成功, a rousing success!) Welcome back, Professor Keyes!" "You're yopparatta (酔っ払った, drunk) already," I tsubuyaku (つぶやく, mumble), somewhat dazed myself. "Not yet, but we soon will be!" "We'll go to the kyūkeishitsu (休憩室, lounge). Order some beer, ...
Hiyakasu: Teasing finds easy target in first love
"Yukino! My big brother is in love with Yukino!" Little Kimika Keyes whoops with delight, which of course only throws Peter deeper into misery. Kimika is 10 and he's 14 — he should have the upper hand, but there is in her a bewildering ...
Believing the unbelievable causes goshin fears
The fat, ungainly kensatsukan (検察官, prosecutor) rises and, without speaking, niramu (にらむ, glares at) the hikokunin (被告人, defendant). For a fleeting instant the chinmoku (沈黙, silence) in the hōtei (法廷, courtroom) is so deep that when Reiko Keyes, one of the six saibanin (裁判員, ...
Ai to kiratta — love and hate in equal measure
You just what, Peter? You just what?" This is a seiten no hekireki (青天の霹靂, bolt out of the blue). After all the persuading, all the planning, here he is with an ododo shita hohoemi (おどおどした微笑, sheepish smile) telling me he doesn't want to Amerika ni ...
Consulting the hermit monk Ryokan reincarnated
So I'm to be a kyōju (教授, professor) again. Imagine that. Am I doing the right thing? Where's my jisonshin (自尊心, pride)? Shouldn't I have keibetsu shita 軽蔑した, spat in their faces) when they asked me back, or told them I was busy? I wasn't ...
Igi ari — no leading the witness, or grandma
"My next shōnin (証人, witness)," intones the corpulent kensatsukan (検察官, prosecutor), "is Mr. Toshi Saito. Mazu (まず, first of all), please tell the court, Mr. Saito, what your kankei (関係, relationship) was with the hikokunin (被告人, defendant), Yasuo Yamazaki." "He was my friend." Reiko Keyes, from ...
Rusuban: The family oni is left holding the fort
"Daddy, when I grow up I wanna be a kyabajō (キャバ嬢, nightclub hostess)!" "A what?" I must be hearing things. Is this my brilliant 10-year-old daughter talking? Last week she wanted to be a genshibutsurigakusha (原子物理学者, nuclear physicist); the week before that, a Shakespearean joyū ...
Bōtō chinjutsu: First volleys in courtroom battle
"Kiritsu! (起立! All rise!)" cries the court clerk. The judges — three saibankan (裁判官, professional judges) and six saibanin (裁判員, lay judges), Reiko Keyes among them — take their places. Reiko is surprised at how full the courtroom is. It's manseki (満席, a full ...
At times the job of a saibanin can be real murder
Reiko glances nervously about her. She's never been in a saibansho (裁判所, courthouse) before. The sixth floor, the yobidashijō (呼び出し状, summons) had said. She looks around for an elevator. "Sumimasen . . . " Momentarily startled, she quickly regains her self-composure. "What am I so ...
Shiya wo hirogeru: Time to broaden our horizons
Your son is a sainō no aru ko (才能のある子, a gifted boy)," Mr. Sawamura says. "His seiseki (成績, marks) are not impressive, and his social skills are perhaps not as developed as . . . " "He's uchiki (内気, shy)," I say. "As a small ...
