Creative Award Impressions: Reading 'Ginzan-cho Fairy Tale'

My encounter with the author, Mr. Taro Fukushima, began when I met him through a wonderful noter I love named Suzumura-san here on Note.

It was last Christmas Eve.
Mr. Fukushima read my clumsy novel, 'My Loss,' and supported me by saying, 'Please buy some treats for your late husband's beloved dog, Gon-chan' (tears of gratitude).
This was back when we had only just met. Until then, I hated Christmas Eve. That was because it was on Christmas Eve that the doctor declared to me that my husband was
“either dead, brain-dead, or at best, in a vegetative state.”
But thanks to Mr. Taro Fukushima's kind and stylish gesture last year, I came to love Christmas Eve, as if a thin layer of skin had been peeled away. Because of that history, I had always wanted to thank Mr. Taro Fukushima someday.

Taro Fukushima is, as the name suggests, a public servant based in Fukushima Prefecture. He is also a person who sincerely wishes for the reconstruction of Fukushima Prefecture, which was hit hard by the Great East Japan Earthquake, and he is a writer.

Actually, I had hated 'public servants' until now.
That is because when my husband collapsed, it was people in the public service profession who berated me with numerous heartless words when I was in a position where I needed help.
But Mr. Taro Fukushima brilliantly shattered that prejudice of mine into pieces.
Regarding that, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude.
Public servants are individuals, too. Mr. Taro Fukushima created an image of a public servant that is clearly different from the people I met.
Thank you so much.

Reading 'Ginzan-cho Fairy Tale'

Now, what I felt when I first encountered 'Fukushima Literature' this time was, first of all, the point that 'it works as a novel even though there are no villains.'
I also write things like novels, but because I want to make them dramatic, I introduce 'villains' and commit 'murders.' Well, I like mysteries, so please forgive me for that (bitter smile).

※From here on, it contains some 'spoilers'.

The story begins with a young man named Tanaka, who is like anyone else, having graduated from university and looking for a job, coming to work at the Ginzan-cho town office.

I want you to close your eyes.
Wait, if I close my eyes, I can't read, right? (bitter smile) That's true. Then, I want you to imagine it in your heart.
The deep green of the beautiful Tadami River, which is said to be a 'hometown where fairies live,' the valleys, Lake Ginzan, and the appearance of the mountains...

To put it simply, the story itself is about 'town revitalization' called creating a 'hometown where fairies live,' but it realistically depicts how people in public positions clash opinions, suffer, and work together toward a goal within limited budgets and frameworks.
That makes sense. Since Mr. Fukushima is an active public servant, there is probably no other writer who can depict it more realistically than him. I couldn't help but feel like sending a warm round of applause to all the characters, thinking that if I had met public servants like these, I wouldn't have had such a terrible experience.
The protagonist Tanaka, his boss Takahashi, Hanzawa, Goda, Sakurai... everyone is seriously loving Ginzan-cho and working to make it better. I was moved by how everyone's figure overlapped with the author, Mr. Fukushima.

The story that will become a 'future novel' that Assistant Professor Inamura mentions as foreshadowing, saying 'You must never tell anyone,' is also charming and good (vocabulary power).
This story draws the reader into a world of delusion, making the second half very rewarding to read.
There is a dedication like in 'Downtown Rocket,' and the flexibility of Mr. Taro Fukushima's pen, with faint love scattered here and there, shines through.
It is a masterpiece that, when finished, sprouted a soft, firefly-like light in my heart.
Sometimes, even if you try, it doesn't pay off. But if you don't try, nothing begins. Of course, fate and luck also play a role. It might be called a mysterious power, just like a 'fairy'.

When Assistant Professor Inamura's words, 'You must return the favor,' connect from a dot to a line, you will surely realize, 'Oh, so that's what it was.'

Mr. Fukushima said in a comment, 'It's nice for kind people to live peacefully.'
Why don't you also encounter such literature by Mr. Taro Fukushima and feel the warmth of people?

↓ You can read it from here.

Fairies might be living in everyone's hearts.