I am a literary giant in Japan

Chapter 137 “Vulgar writers” can also write high-quality works!
After finishing all the affairs, Kitagawa Hide returned to the cafe with two small CDs of the reprint of "South of the Border" and the thank-you letter.

Normal record CDs have an outer diameter of 120mm and an inner diameter of 15mm, but this mini CD has an outer diameter of only 80mm. There is a small pit in the middle of the CD drive on old computer hosts, which is actually specially prepared for it.

The Japanese music market particularly likes to use this type of mini CD, because many singers always release many singles to fill the gap between two major albums in order to maintain their popularity.

If you use a normal CD to burn a single song, it would be a waste of resources. However, this mini CD is small in size and volume, which just meets this need.

However, no matter how small it is, a normal record containing an album only sells for about 3000 yen. This kind of mini CD only records a single and also sells for 1600 yen. It is usually a collector's edition record released for the singer's die-hard fans.

Kitagawa Hide held Pete in one hand and pressed the button with the other hand, inserting the small CD into the drive.

As a time traveler, sometimes he feels emotional when he sees these old-fashioned things.

I turned on the player, and after a few seconds of pause, melodious and pleasant music mixed with the elderly singing with a sense of vicissitudes of life came out from the computer.

The re-recorded version sounds much better than the original version. It seems that Gene Autry really felt deeply about it and did not just record it casually and then come to the Japanese music market to reap the profits.

This is good for both "Wenyi" and Kitagawa Hide. Otherwise, if "South of the Border, West of the Sun" promoted the song, and then the record company turned around and reaped a wave of readers' money, then Kawade Shobo and he would have to take the blame.

That would be a bit of a waste.

After listening to more than four minutes of music, Kitagawa Hide did not rush to read the thank-you letter. Instead, he took out another specially made limited edition CD and put it into the drive again.

After a pause of several seconds, the first sound that entered my ears was not the sound of music, but the voice of an elderly person with a very vicissitudes of life.

He spoke very slowly, and I guess even Japanese people who don't have good English listening skills should be able to roughly understand what he said.

Gene Autry thanked Hide Kitagawa very much, believing that the song "South of the Border, West of the Sun" written by Kitagawa fully understood his feelings when he wrote the song.

He also said that he vaguely saw the figure of his deceased wife on the island. Although one was American and the other was Japanese, their souls were similar and gave people a close feeling.

What's south of the border?

The one he loves his whole life.

After the simple monologue, it's still the same song, but with the previous preparation, when listening to this song again, it seems that I can taste Gene's love and the charm of the novel "Border" at the same time.

Kitagawa Hide opened the thank-you letter only after listening to everything.

The content of the letter was not much. In addition to expressing his respect and admiration for him, Gene also proposed a request for business cooperation.

The Autry family has its own group of companies, whose main businesses are television, records, movies and radio, and they also have some bookstores.

He hopes to obtain the translation rights and overseas publishing rights for "Border" and then sell it in the United States together with the two new albums.

Kitagawa Hide was more than happy to be able to open up the international market in advance and sell his books overseas.

If we were to ask what the most impressive thing about Haruki Murakami's novels is, it would undoubtedly be their overseas sales!
Because of the strong Japanese style and mono no aware culture, Japanese novels are actually not very popular overseas. Whether it is Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Natsume Soseki, or Dazai Osamu, the works of these top Japanese literary masters have all hit a wall in the overseas market without exception.

It is really difficult for foreigners to understand the Japanese tone of mourning the past and the present, and only people in East Asian circles can accept it to a certain extent.

But Haruki Murakami's books are an exception.

Many of his novels are not only best-sellers overseas, but have also won many prestigious awards.

This was one of Kitagawa Hide's plans for his future literary career, but he was planning to use "Norwegian Wood" to open the door to overseas markets.

"Border" is a pleasant surprise!

He happily put away the CD and thank-you letter, and planned to go to Kawaide Shobo to discuss this matter with Saito Rena and others at the end of the month.

2 month 18 day.

It was already past seven in the afternoon when the train arrived in Kamakura. Muramatsu Tomoshi and Matsubara Rinko called a taxi and headed straight for the Ota Palace.

At this time, Noh performances had already begun on the temporary stage in the temple.

Muramatsu Tomoshi showed his admission ticket and was excitedly preparing to watch the interesting Noh play with Matsubara Rinko, but he was shocked to find that the Great Tower Palace was sparsely populated and completely unpopular.

The play being performed on stage was "Kiyomizu-Zato", which tells the story of a blind man and a blind girl who went to Kiyomizu-dera Temple to pray in search of a good match, and then met in the Buddhist temple. The two drank and chatted happily, and then the blind man began to tell the story of "The Heike", while the blind girl sang the ditty "Landlord Sakura".

After singing, as it was late at night, the two of them went to rest.

In the dream, both of them heard the oracle of Qingshui Guanyin that as long as they went to the west gate, their soulmate would appear.

So the two of them stood up and walked to the stage bridge to wait.

When the blind man's bamboo stick touched the blind girl's bamboo stick, they both realized that the other was the match they had prayed for, and they happily got married.

This Noh play is very popular in Japan, similar to "Titanic" to romance movies, and almost every performance attracts a large number of audiences to watch.

Muramatsu Tomomi and Matsubara Rinko looked at each other, and after confirming that they had not entered the wrong venue, they became more confused.

By the time the Noh play was over, it was almost nine o'clock in the evening. The lights on the stage were turned off, the bonfire was extinguished, and the surroundings were suddenly dark.

Muramatsu Tomoshi was walking out with Matsubara Rinko. When they passed the ticket gate, he couldn't help but ask the ticket collector, "Why are there so few people coming to watch Noh today?"

"I heard that the latest issue of the literary magazine "Wenyi" has published several interesting novels, and Mr. Beichuan's new book has also reached the climax, so everyone has gone home to read!" The ticket inspector also heard it from hearsay.

He didn't read novels, but he remembered that when he went out early in the morning, the bookstore next to his house was full of people, and almost everyone had a copy of "Wenyi", which seemed to be selling better than "Western Shonen Jump".

"Are there any good books other than Mr. Kitagawa's new work?" Muramatsu Tomoshi was quite surprised and suddenly became interested.

After the last company meeting, the editorial department finally unanimously agreed that "Wenyi" could not escape the pursuit of "Group Portrait" and "Literary World" with just one article "National Border".

After analysis, everyone felt that the sales of the February issue of "Qun Xiang" would inevitably widen the gap with "Wenyi" because it published a large number of excellent essays.

Seeing that there was something to be accomplished, it was naturally not his turn as the marginalized deputy editor-in-chief. Instead of having nothing to do all day, he might as well accompany Rinko to Kamakura to watch the Noh play.

The two had originally planned to watch the Noh play, have dinner, and then buy two copies of "Bai Yi" to read at the hotel.

After hearing what the ticket collector said, they all became interested. As soon as they came out of the Great Tower Palace and walked to the side of the road, they waved and got on a taxi, heading to a small restaurant on Komachi Street.

According to an editor who lives in Fujisawa, writers such as Hideo Kobayashi used to frequent this small shop, which not only provided food but also the latest novels and magazines.

As soon as they entered the door, the two immediately sat down on the mat. After explaining their purpose, the manager quickly brought over a plate of grilled bird skewers, two large glasses of beer, and two copies of "Literature and Art".

"You two have come to the right place. This issue of Literature and Art is so popular that most of the bookstores in the city are sold out. Only a small shop like ours in a remote area still has stock." The store manager took the money with a smile and couldn't help but sighed.

"This issue of Literature and Art has several very good novels. They are much more interesting than those dry novels shortlisted in Group Portraits."

"Yes, yes, Group Portrait is still the same old thing. It's a call for social fiction, but in the end, aren't the shortlisted works written by famous writers?"

"Hey, do you really think your submission will be selected? The prize money for this essay contest is five times higher than the Newcomer Award for Group Portraits! You can't even get the Newcomer Award, and you still want to be shortlisted for the essay contest?"

"Tsk, since you didn't intend to let us be shortlisted from the beginning, why are you talking so temptingly? Besides, those shortlisted works may not be really better than mine. I think the Secret serialized in Literature and Art is better than all of them!"

"I prefer 'Childhood Friends' written by Aso-sensei, which has that kind of delicate writing style that is unique to women." The manager's words immediately resonated with a lot of diners.

Almost all the people who know this shop are young and middle-aged literary people. They like to gather here and chat like the literary masters in ancient times to discuss the latest literary news and works.

Japanese literature does not have much influence in the world, but it has a large audience in China, which is not inferior to the animation and film and television market. This is the reason.

Literature-related shops can be found everywhere, taking root and sprouting in various places, cultivating a thriving literary soil.

Tomomi Muramatsu and Rinko first drank a glass of beer, and then ordered sake with a higher alcohol content.

Rinko felt relieved since she didn't have to go back tonight and switched to sake.

They smiled at each other, each opened a copy of "Literature and Art", and gradually immersed themselves in the world of novels amid the bustling crowd.

Because of what the restaurant owner and diners said, neither of them skipped the previous serial novels and went directly to read "Border", but started from the first article "Secret".

The story of "Secret" is not complicated at all, and the beginning is very impactful, which instantly attracted Muramatsu Tomo's attention.

In the story, the hero, Heisuke Yamada, is 40 years old and is an ordinary office worker who has been living a boring life following a routine.

His wife Naoko is a housewife who works hard and has a good relationship with him.

My daughter Manami is 13 years old and still in school.

This was an ordinary family. The three of them had a good relationship and the house was always full of laughter.

Until a car accident happened, which completely changed everything.

In the first chapter of the story, Naoko took her daughter Monami back to her mother's home to visit relatives. The bus they were riding in had a serious traffic accident on the road, and most of the people on the bus died in the accident.

When the ambulance arrived, Naoko was holding Manami tightly in her arms.

She suffered severe external injuries and died despite rescue efforts. Manami, who was protected, was not injured but fell into a deep coma.

Heisuke was very sad because of his wife's death. He kept calling his wife's name at her funeral.

What he didn't expect was that he actually got a response from his wife!

"Honey, I'm here," these words surprised Heisuke because they came from the mouth of his daughter who had already woken up.

The first chapter ended here, and Muramatsu Tomoya was almost so angry that he cursed, but fortunately he flipped back and found the second chapter following.

At first Heisuke couldn't believe it, he thought it was his naughty daughter playing a joke on him.

But when Manami calmly talked about the scene of his wife's first date with him, every detail was very detailed, which was definitely not something that Manami, who was not yet born at the time, would know.

Only then did Heisuke believe that the person in front of him was his wife Naoko!

It turns out that although Naoko is dead, her soul resides in her daughter Manami.

In this way, the painful and happy Heisuke had to continue living with his wife who was living in his daughter's body.

They all decided to keep this secret.

From then on, when Naoko was at home, she still lived as Heisuke's wife, doing Heisuke's laundry, cooking, and doing housework.

Outside, Naoko lives as her daughter Manami, goes to school, makes friends, and leads a life that is completely different from before.

Heisuke continued to work and earn money to support his daughter's schooling as before.

In order to conceal her affair from the public, Naoko sewed the wedding ring Heisuke gave her into her daughter's favorite teddy bear toy, thus imprisoning her love for her husband in her daughter's body.

The days were still the same as before, dull and ordinary. Heisuke and Naoko lived in what they thought were peaceful days, grateful for having survived the disaster.

It seems as if nothing has changed, but in fact, everything has changed.

"Is the person in front of me my daughter or my wife? How should I love her?"

"Am I Heisuke's wife or his daughter? How should I face Heisuke and what kind of life should I lead?"

Under the peaceful life, these two questions have been hidden deep in the hearts of Heisuke and Naoko. They can't get the answers, nor can they reconcile their identities with their hearts.

When answering other people's questions, Manami always unconsciously confuses the words "husband" and "father". She is unable to adapt to her dual identity and has no ability to deal with her dual identity.

The second chapter of the story ends in this contradictory situation.

"It's wonderful. But the literary quality is indeed a little weak, more like popular literature." Muramatsu Tomomi couldn't wait to read the following text, but was shocked to find that this "Secret" was only serialized in two chapters.

Following closely behind is Mayumi Aso's "Childhood Friends".

After reading The Secret, he finally understood why those diners praised these new serial novels and even rated them higher than the shortlisted works in the joint essay contest.

Judging from this article "The Secret" alone, Muramatsu Tomokazu feels that this evaluation is not an exaggeration.

"Such an excellent novel must have been written by a very famous writer." He turned back to the title page and found that the author was Keigo Higashino.

A guy I've never heard of.

No, I think I've heard it somewhere before.

He searched his mind carefully, and then remembered, wasn't that the name of a minor actor in "芥廾"?
When "Akumidori" was released and it was a box office hit, Tomomi Muramatsu went to the cinema to watch it despite the pressure from the company.

Because the movie was specifically meant to satirize the Akutagawa Prize and Kodansha, he still remembers many details of it clearly.

Afterwards, he checked the creative team.

The director Shunji Iwai is a complete newcomer, and not only have all the actors never acted before, most of them are friends that Kitagawa Hide brought in temporarily!
Several of the main and supporting characters were "dirty writers" who used to work for Rena Saito.

Keigo Higashino is one of them.

There is a special interview at the end of the three novels including "The Secret".

In the interview, Keigo Higashino and others did not hesitate to call themselves the so-called "vulgar writers" in the literary world, and even this was an exaggeration.

Perhaps many of the most famous people would think that they are not even up to par!

They themselves used to think so, until Mr. Kitagawa showed up and taught them and helped them.

Teacher Kitagawa told them that "low-brow writers" can also write high-brow works!
The three of them were very grateful for Mr. Beichuan’s help, and this sentence is exactly the voice of all ordinary writers like them!

Holding the book "Wenyi" in his hand, Muramatsutomo, who had not yet read the last few novels, felt as if a heavy hammer was hitting his chest, and his mood became more melancholy.

(End of this chapter)