Audiobook Introduction: "Tsumidemic"
Good morning.
It is Wednesday, October 8, 2025.
Michi Ichiho, "Tsumidemic"
Yuto, a college dropout, works a part-time job touting for customers in the nightlife district.
One day, a woman speaking in an Osaka dialect who approached him while he was working claimed to be a classmate who should have died back in middle school.
Confused by the memories of the past and the words of the woman in front of him,
—"Birds of Different Feathers"
Kyoichi, who lost his job as a chef, tends to stay cooped up at home, and his working wife's attitude toward him has grown somewhat cold.
One day, when his first-grade son, Hayato, returned from playing, he had an old 10,000-yen bill featuring Prince Shotoku.
He said he received it from an old man living in a nearby house.
Kyoichi took it from Hayato and used it to buy cigarettes, but the next day, he made his specialty clear soup and visited the old man's house,
—"Special Beneficiary"
Lives swallowed by an unforeseeable disaster reach places they never expected.
A heart-shaking collection of six stories by a master storyteller.
Unexpected turning points in life, illuminated by the COVID-19 pandemic
The Naoki Prize-winning work "Tsumidemic" is a collection of six linked short stories depicting people tossed about by the disaster of the pandemic era.
The most notable feature of this work, as the title suggests, lies in its worldview that combines "Tsumi" (sin/crime) and "pandemic."
Michi Ichiho captures with a sharp eye how the extraordinary experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, which everyone went through, created cracks in people's lives and forced them to make certain choices.
In the included story "Birds of Different Feathers," the protagonist is Yuto, a college dropout working as a tout in the nightlife district.
The story begins when a woman speaking in an Osaka dialect who approaches him while he is working claims to be a classmate who should have died in middle school.
As the past and present, memory and reality intersect, Yuto's heart is shaken violently.
In "Special Beneficiary," the relationship between Kyoichi, who lost his job as a chef and is holed up at home, and his first-grade son, Hayato, is depicted.
The scene where the father uses the old 10,000-yen bill that Hayato received from a neighbor for cigarette money is a poignant moment where economic hardship and moral conflict intertwine.
However, the next day, Kyoichi makes his specialty clear soup and visits the old man's house. This small act of atonement shows his attempt to regain human dignity.
It is interesting that this work is labeled as a "crime novel."
The "sins" committed by the characters are not necessarily major ones that break the law.
Rather, the extreme state of a pandemic corners people, forcing them into small mistakes and choices that would be unthinkable in daily life.
That psychological process is the core of this story.
As Michi Ichiho is described as a "master storyteller," she skillfully weaves complex human relationships and psychological descriptions with a unique writing style.
While each story is independent, they are loosely connected by the theme of "lives swallowed by an unforeseeable disaster," and the structure where it emerges as one large story as you read is brilliant.
From the perspective of listening to it as an audiobook, this work is easy to listen to, yet leaves a deep impression.
The short story format is well-suited for audio media, and it is appealing to be able to enjoy one story at a time during commutes or while doing housework.
The voices and scenes of the characters rise up three-dimensionally in the listener's imagination.
There are many works based on the COVID-19 pandemic, but "Tsumidemic" is an outstanding one among them.
Rather than just depicting the pandemic as a transient event, it portrays the distortions of society, human weakness and strength, and unexpected hope that were revealed by it.
A rewarding read that justifies its Naoki Prize win.
It is a book that resonates with the pain and confusion of the characters precisely because we are the ones who lived through the era of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It can be called a masterpiece of modern Japanese literature that leaves a deep lingering impression despite being a short story collection.
Today's Fortune
October 8
◎ Lucky Day
1. Today is the perfect day to share ideas or plans you've been nurturing with your boss or those around you.
2. Your ideas may be highly evaluated and praised by those around you.
3. You might even get such a good reaction that people say, "I wish you had told me sooner."
See you tomorrow
Hirokan