Page 14 of The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop

What is this place? Shingo wondered again as the female worker helped him up from his seat.

He guessed that it was some kind of care centre for older people.

If this was the case, how long had he been there?

Had he quit his job? He didn’t know the answer to any of these simple questions.

Then, thinking about his wife again, he considered the possibility that she could also be here.

But if she was, surely he would have seen her.

It would be too strange for him not to have.

* * *

After the incident, Shingo spent most of his time inside his room, leaving only for meals.

His heart was completely crushed. Still, on days when he was feeling better enough, he was able to acknowledge that there was something important that he had forgotten, and that he was desperate to know what it was.

But holding onto that feeling for a day or two wasn’t easy.

Only the dregs of an inexplicable sense of urgency kept accumulating inside of him.

About a week of such misery had passed when he was told that someone who claimed to be his daughter had come to see him. But the moment his visitor entered his room, he was truly surprised. She looked just like his wife.

‘I’ve come to check in on you,’ the person said as she set her bags down. ‘I heard that you seemed to be feeling low, so I was worried.’

Shingo was dumbstruck as his eyes followed the figure moving towards the west-facing window.

‘Yuriko. I’ve been looking for you. Where have you been all this time? Please, I beg you. Don’t keep me locked up in a place like this. I want to go home. I’ve got to go to work. At this rate, I’ll end up forgetting how to drive a train.’

The woman turned to face him and shook her head solemnly.

‘I guess we’re doing this again, then. I suppose I’ve gotten used to it by now, and I know in my head that it can’t be helped, but my God, this can get tough.

Listen, Dad. I’m going to tell you once more.

I am your daughter , Sanae. I’ve gotten married and my surname is now Yasuhara.

I live with my husband in a town that’s not close to here.

That’s why I can’t see you so often. I know it may not seem like it, but I am sorry about that.

Also, you retired from your job as a train driver a long time ago. ’

Right. We did have a daughter with that name.

‘Ah, Sanae. I remember now. You’re Sanae. But where is… What has happened to Yuriko? Is she not with you?’

‘Mum passed away five years ago. After that, you were living on your own for a while. But three years ago, you had a stroke while you were out. Fortunately, there were people around you, and you got help immediately, so it didn’t turn into anything life-threatening.

But as your daughter, I was too worried to let you keep living on your own, and so I got you to come live here, at Mai’s workplace.

It took some effort to convince you to say yes, you know.

I guess you don’t remember any of that.’

Is that so? But who is Mai? Who does she mean by ‘you’, anyway?

‘By the way, I have something for you,’ the person who was supposedly his daughter said.

Without paying any attention to Shingo’s puzzlement, she pulled out a large item from her bag.

‘You asked me to bring this.’

From the brown envelope emerged a single book. The text on it read: Ten Nights of Dreams .

‘The book that Mom loved. Last time, you said that you wanted to read it.’

‘I would never say such a thing.’

‘But you did . I even had to put in a special order for it because you wanted the large-print edition.’

Had he really asked for this book? He certainly had no recollection of it, but perhaps it was one of those memories that had slipped away from him.

That was the most plausible explanation.

After all, he couldn’t even trust his own judgement about whether the person opposite him was really his daughter.

As he was thinking this, there was another knock on the door. Before Shingo could respond, Sanae answered with a ‘Come in’ and the door opened.

‘I asked for a little break so that I could come and see you. How’s it going, Mum? Has Grandpa cheered up a bit after seeing your face?’

The person poking her head through the door was that young lady with ‘Matsumoto’ written on her name badge. Without her hat, the hair on this tall woman was unbelievably long.

‘I’m not sure, Mai. Although, so far, he doesn’t seem to be feeling as down as you made it out to be.’

‘Really? Well, that’s good news.’

‘He does seem to be in doubt about who I am.’

‘I see. He never forgets his mealtimes, though.’

As she said so, the young lady dragged a chair over and settled down next to Sanae. She was even more smiley than usual.

‘Now listen, Dad. This is Mai. She is my daughter, which makes her your granddaughter.’

Shingo gazed at Sanae in bewilderment.

‘But her surname is not the same as mine.’

‘That’s because she married Matsumoto-san.’

Now who in the world was Matsumoto-san?

Seemingly ignoring the look of confusion on Shingo’s face, Sanae placed her hand on the book she’d brought and exhaled through her nose.

‘Mai has always been a grandma-and-grandpa girl, ever since she was little. You often looked after her at your house, didn’t you?

You probably don’t remember, but Mai was in her third year of high school when Mum first became ill.

That must have been why she trained to become a registered dietician, saying that it would come in handy in the future.

After she passed her test, she found a job here, close to your home.

She even has a qualification in providing nursing-care food now.

She’s always said that if it ever came to it, she would look after whoever ended up alone, and, well, that became a reality.

I don’t mean to boast about my own daughter, but she’s really something, this one. ’

‘He-he, you’re making me blush. But please, do keep the compliments coming. I want Grandpa to hear more.’

As this exchange went on, Shingo silently alternated his gaze between the two women in front of him, wondering if the story he was hearing could really be true.

It wasn’t that he didn’t believe them. They weren’t lying; he could be sure of that.

The problem was, however, that Shingo couldn’t remember any of the events that they claimed to have happened.

Then, out of nowhere, an image of an infant playfully clinging to him and Yuriko floated into his mind. It was quite possible that this was a memory of his granddaughter.

‘But wait, Mai is only about this big, isn’t she?’ Shingo ventured, holding out his hand at the height of his knees. The two women looked towards one another. It appeared as though they were pleased about something.

Then, Mai – the one that was apparently his granddaughter – spotted the book sitting on Sanae’s lap. ‘It’s Ten Nights of Dreams ,’ she said.

‘Hey, Grandpa, did Grandma ever tell you why she loved this book so much?’

Shingo heard a tinge of hesitancy in her voice as she called him ‘Grandpa’, but it seemed that she had decided to be her usual self. For some reason, this made him feel relieved. Holding the book in her hand, his granddaughter turned the pages.

She continued, ‘This story is about a woman who passes away and comes back as a yuri flower – a lily – right? And as you know, the kanji characters for yuri are “one hundred” and “come together”. In the story, they meet after one hundred years – do you see what I mean? Grandma told me how much she loved that. When I was little, she always said things like “I bet this couple will always be destined to meet, no matter how many times they’re reborn,” and “I can’t believe my name had such a lovely meaning to it. ”’

‘Mum told you that?’

‘Uh-huh. She told me lots of things just before she passed away, too. I even know a little bit about the time Grandpa proposed to her.’

Right, so Yuriko really is gone already. This was what Shingo kept thinking as the conversation between the two women flowed through his ears.

Sensing this, Mai said, ‘Grandpa, the Kawazu cherry blossoms in the garden are at their peak right now. All the flowers opened over the past few days. Why don’t we go there? Just for a bit. Look, you can see them from here.’

Shingo walked over to the west-facing window and looked down. He saw a large cluster of rich pink.

‘Come on, let’s go. It’s really nice out.’

She smiled her usual bubbly smile. Unlike that day in the canteen, Shingo felt his mood lift just a little. At least, it made him want to give it a go. A smile, he mused, was a truly powerful thing.

Leaving Shingo’s room, the three of them took the lift down to the lower floor.

He managed to walk without a hitch to the end of the corridor, but at the door leading to the courtyard, he suddenly lost his footing and almost fell over.

This is why I need to be wearing my uniform , Shingo silently said to himself, and his daughter pointed to something, suggesting that they use it.

Shifting his gaze, he saw that it was a wheelchair.

If this were another day, he would have never agreed to such a proposal.

But for some reason, he couldn’t refuse.

Before he could make up his mind, the two of them were lowering him into the wheelchair, saying that he was going to be just fine.

The air was still, and the gentle spring sunshine was quite pleasant indeed.

The sensation of being transported without physical effort filled him with a strange nostalgia .

As they moved along the stone-paved path, the cherry blossoms in full bloom soon came into view.

The pink of the flowers was much deeper than that of the somei-yoshino trees. ‘Look,’ he heard, and nodded in reply.