Winner of the Akutagawa Prize A sharp photo-realistic novella of memory and thwarted hope set
in modern-day Tokyo--an "unflinching . . . powerful" showcase of the best in contemporary
Japanese literature ( Shelf Awareness ) Divorced and cut off from his family Taro lives alone
in one of the few occupied apartments in his block a block that is to be torn down as soon as
the remaining tenants leave. Since the death of his father Taro keeps to himself but is soon
drawn into an unusual relationship with the woman upstairs Nishi as she passes on the strange
tale of the sky-blue house next door. First discovered by Nishi in the little-known photo-book
Spring Garden the sky-blue house soon becomes a focus for both Nishi and Taro: of what is
lost of what has been destroyed and of what hope may yet lie in the future for both of them
if only they can seize it.
