Flow into time ~To the Lighthouse of Time~ Spin-off #2: A Little Behind-the-Scenes Reveal✨
【The story has successfully concluded!】
Thank you so much for reading the novel "Flow into time ~To the Lighthouse of Time~," which began on "Time Day" on the 10th of last month.
As this was my first attempt at a novel in over 30 years since high school, I was initially fumbling in the dark. However, halfway through, Aki, Yuri, Rin, Nami, and even Nanae and Natsu began to move on their own, and it felt as though the story naturally completed itself as I followed them around to record their actions. It was truly a blissful month and a half of writing.
Today, as the second installment of the spin-off series, I would like to write about the structure of this story and other memorable points. If there is anyone who hasn't read it yet, I would be very happy if you could read it from here.
Is the story a true story?
Since I think many people might have the question, "Is this story a true story?", I would like to explain it here to avoid any strange speculation. The novel "Flow into time ~To the Lighthouse of Time~" has a dual structure: an outer shell depicting the current year, 2024 (with characters having katakana names), containing an inner shell of 29 years ago, 1995 (with characters having kanji names). About 80% of the events in the story were constructed by mixing actual events from those two eras with actual events from other times. The completely fictional parts make up about 20% of the total. I would classify it as an autobiographical novel.
Many of the characters are modeled after real people, but of course, all their names have been changed, and one of the important characters was made completely fictional. As Aki's boyfriend Makoto, who lives in London, deduced in the story, the excavation site "Ichijodani in Fukui Prefecture" and the school uniform "Tablier" are the points of contact with reality.
Moving on to locations, the "Sanso Post Office" where the story began, the "Drive-in Hiiragi" where the "Road Corner" investigation headquarters was set up, the "Pizza Balloon" where Nanae and Natsu ordered cocoa floats, the "South French Kitchen Tablier" which became the site of their first date, and the intersection where the two's day, which gave the "Road Corner" its name, began—these are all modeled after real or once-real places, though their names are different.
The musical works that played an important role in the story and the various alcoholic beverages used in memorable scenes are all real, so I would like to introduce them, including audio sources and photos, in the spin-off #3 to be published tomorrow. Please look forward to it.
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The first chapter that gave literature majors a thrill
If there are any literature majors among the readers, especially those specializing in American literature, I am sure you were surprised when you saw the title of the first chapter, "Custom-House," thinking,"No way!?" I would like to explain that point.
The overall structure of this work was taken from the 1850 masterpiece by American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne,The Scarlet Letter In this work, the prologue depicts a scene where a certain document is discovered at a custom house, and the story of the protagonist, Hester Prynne, is what was written on that document. And the title of that prologue is"The Custom-House" In my novel, I ended up using that as the name of a home center. I feel like I might be sued for blasphemy by a Hawthorne scholar (tears). I used it knowing exactly what it was, so please forgive me!
There are other works in the world that take this structure. InHaruki Murakami's "Norwegian Wood" the protagonist, now in his thirties, listens to the Beatles' "Norwegian Wood" on a plane landing in Hamburg, Germany, and recalls the past from that song; although there is a difference between a document and a musical piece, the structure is similar.
Looking outside the work itself, actually,the Canadian literary masterpiece "Anne of Green Gables" has the same form. The author, Lucy Maud Montgomery, sent the manuscript for "Anne of Green Gables" to several publishers in 1905, but it was not accepted and was returned. Maud put the manuscript in a hat box at home. A few years later, she found it and thought, "This story is worth putting out into the world after all!" She sent it to another publisher, and it was successfully accepted and published in 1908 as the story loved around the world as we know it.
Perhaps,"a new story begins from a document that had been tucked away somewhere and slept for many years" is a trope that humans have used as a motif regardless of time or place. In the world of academic research, it is often said to "stand on the shoulders of giants" (doing research that adds the "next step" based on the wisdom of predecessors), and I intended to practice that in the world of literature. Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" was also made into a film starring Demi Moore in 1995, the same year depicted in this work.
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Historical verification that I was surprisingly careful about
1995 was the year I was a senior in college, just like Natsu, but 29 years is a long time, and historical verification took some effort. For example, the "hysterical abasia" that Nanae was once said to have suffered from has now been renamed "conversion gait disorder." I expressed the fact that the "hysterical" part, which gives a discriminatory impression, has been removed in Nanae's line below.
But I still think "hysterical abasia" is a rude disease name. I still think it would be nice if it had a slightly better name in the future.
In Chapter 14, "The Eternal 4 Days + 1," there is a description of "switching the amplifier input to the VHS deck" to watch "The Bridges of Madison County." I had initially written DVD for this part as well. However, when I looked it up, I found that home DVD players became widespread after 2000, so I changed it to a description of a VHS tape for this work, which is set in 1995.
Furthermore, the timeline was complicated by the "very hard ice cream" sold on the Tokaido Shinkansen. Upon investigation, while ice cream had been sold for a long time, the launch of that "hard" ice cream was around 1991, manufactured by "Sujahta Meiraku," headquartered in Nagoya. Additionally, on October 31, 2023, wagon sales in ordinary cars on the "Nozomi" and "Hikari" trains ended, and wagon sales on the "Kodama" ended 11 years prior, in 2012.
I did a lot of research to confirm that the novel's setting of 1995 was exactly the time when you could buy "very hard ice cream" on the "Kodama." Personally, I have a soft spot for the Shinkansen's "very hard ice cream," so I really wanted to use it as a great supporting character in the work. Now, its official name has even become "Shinkansen Sugoi Katai Ice" (Shinkansen Super Hard Ice)!
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The more unbelievable the scene, the more likely it was a true story
In this work, there are several scenes where people say, "That's impossible!" and I've been asked by friends, "Is that a true story? Surely not..." However, as the saying goes, "truth is stranger than fiction," and the scenes that seem "impossible" are often the ones that are true. For example...
In Episode 2, "The Vice Principal's High Heels," the story where the "Vice Principal" of the cram school where Nanae and Tankatsu work takes off her high heels and puts them on the table while eating—that is a true story! It happened right in front of my eyes, and I thought, "So that's what it means to have your eyes pop out in surprise." Someone who knew the time read the novel and sent me an email saying, "That brings back memories." The yakiniku restaurant where it took place is still in business today.
In Episode 11, "Unaccompanied Solo," Nanae talks about a memory of her first love during their first date at "South French Kitchen Tablier." Egged on by her classmates to fall onto the lap of the boy she liked sitting in the seat in front of her as the train swayed, Nanae did exactly that.
"Not only the students from both schools, but all the commuters were watching, and I sat diagonally on his lap and stared at his face for about five seconds. He was staring at my face too..."
This is also a true story! This "he" was actually me. For more details, please see this article.
In Episode 14, "The Eternal 4 Days + 1," there is a scene where Nanae says she wants to watch the movie "The Bridges of Madison County" while "sitting on Tankatsu-san's lap." While there is some creative license in how things unfolded, the part where Nanae sat on Tankatsu's lap for two hours to watch the movie is a true story! I think Yuri's reaction that follows is spot on. In reality, Tankatsu's legs apparently went very numb (laughs).
"Wait, this isn't sitting on a lap for five seconds, it's for two hours? These two are extreme..."
Similarly, the following description in Episode 14, "The Eternal 4 Days + 1," is also a true story, from when I took a three-generation trip with my mother and grandmother. At a remote inn deep in the mountains of Gunma Prefecture called Hoshi Onsen, while I was soaking alone in the mixed-gender main bath, a pregnant woman who said she was from Australia came in. As we soaked in the water side-by-side, I explained the benefits of the hot spring written in brush calligraphy hanging from the ceiling in English. Her husband apparently didn't come because he was too embarrassed by the mixed bathing.
Aki and Yuri once traveled together to a hot spring in Gunma Prefecture. It was a completely mixed-gender hot spring, and apparently, there weren't even changing rooms in the old days. As the two were soaking in the tub, a man from Australia entered, and Aki explained the benefits written in brush calligraphy on the wall in English. It felt very natural for strangers of different genders to soak in the tub together and talk, and Aki thought that perhaps Nanae and Tankatsu's experience in the bath was similar.
After reading this part, I received feedback from a reader. I will introduce a slightly edited version with personal information removed. It seems it was a hot spring in America.
At night, while gazing at the starry sky, there is almost no artificial light, so even though it's a mixed bath, you can only see silhouettes. When you go in the morning, with the sunlight pouring down, there are times when you soak in a single tub alone with a man you've just met. Naked men and women talking in broken English under the sun—it's very healthy, isn't it?
There were two men who came with me from Japan, and I soaked in the same tub and talked with both of them as well. Talking about inner thoughts that you would talk about while drinking at a bar in Japan, while soaking in a hot spring that could be called a gift from the Earth and gazing at the starry sky...
Even now, I cannot forget that natural, calm feeling from that time. It wasn't special or anything; it was just natural. Reading the novel, I vividly remembered the feelings from that time.
Since I have the chance, I'd like to introduce Hoshi Onsen in Gunma Prefecture, which served as the model for this scene. It's a wonderful hot spring. It's a special inn where, rather than just "free-flowing from the source," the hot spring water actually bubbles up from directly beneath the main bath.
Finally, in Chapter 16, 'Everything About Nanae', there is a scene where Nanae stands with both feet on Tanku's chest right before they part ways; this is also based on a true story. It is true that the room was empty as if they were about to move, but it seems it was Tanku's room, not Nanae's. Nanae's decisiveness is wonderful, isn't it?
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Tomorrow is the deadline for the 'Creative Awards 2024'. As a final move for 'Flow into time ~To the Lighthouse of Time~', I would like to present 'Spin-off #3', where I will introduce the songs that played an important role in the story along with their audio sources, as well as the various alcoholic beverages that appeared as excellent supporting characters, along with photos. Please look forward to it.
Thank you for reading today as well ✨
(July 22, 2024)
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