Taichi Yamada

Taichi Yamada's novel, originally published in Japan in 1986 and translated into English in 2006, follows Kasama Tsuneo, a Japanese immigration officer. His life takes a surreal turn when, during a raid, he is overcome by intense emotions and hears a mysterious female voice. This voice, claiming loneliness and the ability to project itself, begins a dialogue with Tsuneo, who initially questions his sanity and believes it might be a former acquaintance named Eric.

As their conversations deepen, Tsuneo recounts his past experiences in America. He details a period of vulnerability after his visa expired, during which he accepted a job and lodging from an older man named Eric. Despite Tsuneo's initial resistance, Eric made repeated advances, leading Tsuneo to feel trapped. His escape attempt culminated in a false drug tip to the police, which inadvertently led to Eric's death.

Following this confession, Tsuneo arranges to meet the voice, but the encounter proves to be a deliberate misdirection. The voice eventually directs him to a blind girl, revealing that the voice itself is a construct, and Tsuneo is instructed to remember it in the form of this girl. The narrative explores themes of emotional turmoil, past trauma, and the subjective nature of perception.

The narrative centers on Kasama Tsuneo's encounter with a disembodied female voice, which first appears after he experiences overwhelming waves of emotion—euphoria during a chase and profound sadness later. This voice claims to be lonely and to have projected itself into the world, finding Tsuneo as its recipient. Tsuneo's initial reaction is to question his mental state, considering auditory hallucinations or mistaking the voice for a past acquaintance. The voice's presence deeply affects him, leading to erratic behavior, a need for medical attention, and the cancellation of his arranged marriage, highlighting the profound impact of the inexplicable on an individual's life and social connections.

Through his dialogues with the voice, Tsuneo is compelled to reveal a traumatic period from his past in America. After his permit expired, he faced the threat of immigration officials. He accepted a job and housing from an older man named Eric, who then exploited Tsuneo's vulnerable position. Despite Tsuneo's clear opposition, he felt unable to refuse Eric's advances due to his precarious legal status and reliance on Eric. This period of passive submission and desperation led Tsuneo to orchestrate a plan to escape by falsely implicating Eric in drug dealing, an act that resulted in Eric's accidental death. The recounting of this story to the voice serves as a cathartic, albeit painful, process of confronting past exploitation and the extreme measures taken to survive.

The novel culminates in a series of encounters that challenge Tsuneo's understanding of the voice and reality. His attempts to meet the woman behind the voice are met with evasion, culminating in a meeting with a blind girl who was paid to await him. The voice reveals that Tsuneo should henceforth associate it with this girl's image. This revelation suggests that the voice may not be a singular entity but a manifestation, perhaps a projection of Tsuneo's own psyche or a symbolic representation of connection and loneliness. The narrative leaves Tsuneo grappling with the subjective nature of his experiences and the blurred lines between external phenomena and internal psychological states.