Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon by Mizuki Tsujimura trans. by Yuki Tejima
“The thought had come to him as he watched the small particles of light converge. Maybe this woman, and all the people before her, were pieces of someone’s memory – like an afterimage, except it had a will. Could that be why the figure only lasted one night, just long enough for one person to witness?”
If you had the chance to meet one person for one night who had died, who would you pick? A family member? A celebrity? A lost love? Would meeting them change your life or would it leave more unanswered questions?
This is the premise of Mizuki Tsujimura’s second novel, where an individual referred to as the ‘go-between’ has the ability to grant those who seek them out the chance to meet with a deceased individual for one night only. In the instance of the characters who are successful in this quest, they meet with a teenage boy, young but confident, who guides them through the process and outlines the rules they must follow.
“Not everybody knew about the go-between, and not everyone believed in their existence. I knew I was lucky that a series of coincidences had led me to him, but that was because I was a nobody.”
Hirase feels lost and alone in life. She learns about the go-between through gossip magazines and online lore, tracking him down after numerous false starts and scams. When she finally meets the ‘real deal’, she shares she wants to meet with Saori Mizushiro, a deceased celebrity who she remembers from a brief, kind encounter. As Hirase’s story unfolds, we learn more about the influence the celebrity had on her following their chance meeting and why she’s so keen to see her one last time.
“She’d vanished like a light, and I wanted to believe she was now in a brighter place. It wouldn’t be fair otherwise.”
Arashi and Misono are best friends, but when teenage rivalry challenges their friendship, the sulky, headstrong Arashi starts to wonder how she can claim back the top spot. When the unthinkable happens, Arashi is left bereft, desperate to know what her best friend knew in the lead up to her death. But her motivations aren’t entirely selfless.
“I was aware that I was about to add something irreversible to a situation that already couldn’t be recovered. But I was beyond the point of logical thinking – I’d come here in an almost delirious state.”
Then there’s Tsuchiya, whose fiance disappeared seven years ago. Desperate to find out what happened to her, he seeks the go-between. When the moment of truth arrives, Tsuchiya questions whether it’s really the truth he’s been after all these years, and what he will do with it, once he has it.
“Seeing her meant that I would learn what my seven years had been about. If what the boy said was true, I would have no choice but to finally let her go.”
The starting stories set us up nicely to explore the work of the go-between. Each character is unique, with different reasons for seeking their meetings. I liked how Tsujimura doesn’t neatly provide us with a happy ending in each case and the full complexity of what’s left unsaid and why is explored.
From here, the book focuses on the go-between himself, Ayumi, and we begin to learn of his background, family story and how he came to be in the role. While being mentored by his Grandmother, Ayumi will need to decide once and for all whether he is prepared to fully embody becoming the go-between. The stories interconnect loosely through him and his Grandmother. As he learns more about what it means to take on this responsibility, he has many thoughtful questions about the role of the dead and the living. Who’s helping who and is it always a good thing to grant these meetings?
Through his complicated family history, we learn that being the go-between is not without its risks and challenges. Ayumi is an orphan with a dark shadow hanging over what really happened to his parents. Ayumi’s Grandmother advises he can request to see someone before he becomes the go-between, but not once he formally takes on the role. It’s a hard decision as he weighs up what he will ultimately choose.
“He knew his parents. Not the parents that he lost, the parents that others gossiped about, but the parents that lived inside of him.”
This was a fast-paced, nuanced read, that weaved together both sides of the experience in an engaging way. Each character feels fully realised on the page, and their stories highlight that even if we are granted one last meeting with those we’ve lost, there’s no guarantee we’ll get the closure we seek.
A perfect read for fans of Japanese fiction and anyone who enjoys emotional reads with a touch of melancholy.
Elaine Chennatt is a writer, educator and psychology student currently residing in nipaluna. She has a special interest in bibliotherapy (how we use literature to make sense of our lives) and is endlessly curious about the creative philosophies of others. She lives with her husband and two bossy dachshunds on the not-so-sunny side of the river (IYKYK). Find her online at wordswithelaine.com.
