I am a literary giant in Japan

Naoko is dead.

Not in a Western-style church as she had imagined, covered with flowers, with white doves flying, a priest reciting eulogies for her, and countless relatives and friends standing in silence for her;
She didn't die on the morning she had hoped for, a sunny, warm, bird-song, flower-scented morning.

Nor did she die in the warm arms of the man she loved most.

She died in an unknown forest next to the sanatorium.

The hanged body dangled in the wind for two weeks before it was finally found.

After her death, the only things around her body were the dim, swaying lights, the pungent smell of disinfectant, restraints all over her body, and endless despair and loneliness.

"Watanabe, it's okay. It's just death. Don't worry too much."

After hearing what Reiko said, these words suddenly rang in Watanabe Toru's ears.

If Naoko were here, she would definitely say this to herself.

But she is gone.

She is dead.

He remembered the rainy morning when she had been sweeping the birdhouse and moving the bags of feed in her yellow rain cape;
Thinking of the shattered birthday cake, Naoko's tears wet his clothes.

Yes, it rained heavily that night too;

Thinking back to the winter when she walked beside him in her goose down coat.

She often wore hairpins, often touched the hairpins with her hands, and often gazed into his eyes with a pair of clear eyes.

She was wearing blue pajamas, bending her knees on the sofa, with her chin on her knees, just looking at him in a trance.

Watanabe still cried.

He felt weak all over and had nowhere to go. The sorrow turned into darkness and surrounded him.

When Kizuki died, Watanabe learned one thing from his death and always carried it with him as a motto:
“Death is not the opposite of life, but lurks within our life.”

“I always suspected that she had decided everything from the beginning, so she looked energetic and smiling before leaving.

She sorted out the things in the room one by one, and put the unwanted items into the gasoline barrel in the yard and burned them, including notes used as diaries, letter paper, etc., even your letter was burned.

I found it very strange and asked her why she wanted to burn it.

Because she always cherishes anything related to you, she will often take out those letters and reread them.

She told me: "I have disposed of all the things in the past and started a new life from now on."

I thought it made sense, and thought it would be great if she could recover and be happy in her new place.

Naoko was so cute that day, I wanted you to see her too."

Reiko's expression was dull as she spoke, as if she was narrating something that was no big deal.

But people often only show such expressions when they are in extreme pain and out of control.

Watanabe didn't say anything, but just looked at her quietly, waiting for her to say the final, heart-wrenching, yet necessary words.

"pat-"

Chihaya Ruri slammed the book "Literature" in her hand shut.

The sound of magazine pages colliding startled the others.

But no one said anything.

Ever since they watched the final volume of "Norwegian Wood" together, the atmosphere in the business car became weird.

The heavy plot and sad love reminded them of "No Longer Human", "Paradise Lost" and "South of the Border, West of the Sun".

"Kitagawa Hidefu"'s pure literary novels have always been the most favorite subject of Japanese readers, but also the subject they hate the most.

Teacher Beichuan often cuts into their sweet love, making them feel uncomfortable for a while.

Jabami Rei's mood was even more complicated.

After a while, Chihaya Ruri couldn't resist the temptation anymore and opened the magazine again.

She wants to see the sequel.

Even though I know it is a sharp knife that can stab into my heart at any moment, I still have to watch it.

This is the charm of the novels written by Mr. Kitagawa!
"She even prepared a rope for hanging herself."

Reiko's words were still as cold as ever. She then asked Watanabe the last question that Naoko had asked when she was alive.
"Watanabe, if it's convenient, please tell me, are you and Miss A-Lu confirmed to be together?"

In the version written by Kitagawa Hide, Watanabe, Naoko, and Midori have met and know each other.

Therefore, Naoko and Midori both knew of each other's existence.

The relationship between Watanabe and Midori has always been a thorn in Naoko's heart, but she also feels that it is better for Watanabe to be with the lively and cheerful Midori than with herself, a mentally ill person.

"Yes"

Even though it was painful, Watanabe still spoke out the answer in his heart.

Reiko heaved a long sigh, her face slowly returning to color, and then she patted his shoulder gently and whispered, "So I'm telling you, Watanabe, you should cheer up.

Didn't you make the decision not to separate from Midori before Naoko died?

This matter has nothing to do with whether Naoko is alive or dead, right?

You chose Midori, and Naoko chose death.

You are already an adult and must take responsibility for your own choices, otherwise your life will become a mess, right?
Let go of Naoko, forget about Naoko, and treat Midori well."

"But I can't forget her." Watanabe replied, "I told Naoko that I would wait for her forever. But I didn't.

In the end, I let her go.

This is not a question of who is right or wrong, but a problem of mine.

Maybe even if I didn't let her go halfway, the result would be the same, Naoko would still choose death.

But I just can’t feel like I can forgive myself.”

"Then play one of Naoko's favorite songs at her funeral.

A funeral would be incomplete without you.

I think Naoko would definitely say that."

So that's it.

Watanabe and Reiko took up their guitars at the beach where the tide had receded, and played "Norwegian Wood" softly and slowly over and over again for the passing of Naoko.

While reading the novel, Chihaya Ruri felt as if someone was really playing this old song which has been extremely popular in major record stores recently.

For a while, everyone enjoyed playing "Norwegian Wood" recommended by Mr. Kitagawa at home.

But now, after reading the whole novel, they were shocked to find that when Mr. Beichuan listened to this lingering and moving rock music, what he was thinking about was not some petty-bourgeois sentiment, but the confusion unique to young people about the current social situation and their own future, the confusion about loneliness and love, and the helplessness about growing up.

The love between Watanabe and Naoko is that two people wander aimlessly on the streets of Tokyo, which is very similar to the life of young people today.

As material life continues to enrich, the spiritual world of young people is seriously unbalanced.

When the financial crisis hit in 97, more and more young people became the busy poor.

The so-called busy poor refers to a group of people who are unable to save money for the future and simply work without any hope every day.

Their lives seemed to be paused. They worked hard every day, but gradually everything was wasted.

The equally empty spiritual world makes them suffer even more.

People from different classes and from different backgrounds will have completely different views when reading Norwegian Wood. But the same thing is that they all mourn for the love between Watanabe, Naoko and Midori, lament for Naoko's suicide, empathize with Watanabe's confusion, and worry about Midori's cheerfulness and liveliness.

At the end of the story, Reiko's figure disappeared on the beach, and Watanabe was still playing "Norwegian Wood" over and over again.

He said he had thought it through and was ready to find Midori and start a new life.

The story ends here, but readers know it.

At the beginning of the novel, 37-year-old Watanabe landed alone at Hamburg Airport in Germany.

There was no Midori, no Reiko, no Naoko by his side. There was only loneliness, and the longing for Naoko, the memory of Midori, and the song "Norwegian Wood" that kept repeating in his mind.

"pat-"

The magazine was closed again.

This time, Chihaya Ruri really finished reading it and felt really sad.

"Teacher Kitagawa" Even Chizuru Hui, who was as lively as a monkey just now, was silent.

I thought it was a sweet love story, but it turned out to be a depressing love tragedy!

"what--"

Jabami Rei placed both hands on the steering wheel, her mood becoming even more complicated!
This guy!
No wonder I don’t tell myself the end of the story.

It looks really good, and it makes you depressed really depressing!

When words are given weight, the emotions that weigh on people's hearts may be much stronger than they imagine.

The November 1997 issue of "Wenyi" was sold out time and time again, and readers' enthusiasm for buying seemed to never fade.

Some people even simply tore off the final chapter of "Norwegian Wood" page by page, then pasted it back together, framed it and put it in the bookcase at home.

They don't want other people's novels to "taint" Mr. Kitagawa's work.

The pure "Hidefu Kitagawa" style has made people all over Japan flock to this novel.

Not only those fanatical book fans, but also those who consider themselves writers are crazy about this "love novel".

In order to make the plot of the novel more in line with the feelings of young people, Kitagawa Hide deliberately strengthened the flavor of love and weakened the literary quality.

Such variations did not cause dissatisfaction among literary critics.

On the contrary, they cited classics and believed that this most unique "Kitakawa Hide style" was the most consistent with Kitakawa Hide's "literariness".

Mori Tetsutaro, who led the charge, expressed people's feelings with a brilliant comment: "Every time Mr. Kitagawa put pen to paper, readers and society, like the tides that rise and fall on time, experience various emotional changes in response to what he writes."

Everyone is like a puppet in the hands of Teacher Beichuan. When he says cry, they cry loudly. When he says laugh, they smile happily!

This issue of "Wenyi" has undoubtedly created a new record for literary magazines, no, it should be said that it is the first time that the Japanese publishing industry has published a single-day magazine.

131.4 copies!

【Because of that man's book, the Japanese are crazy! 】

This is the headline on the front page of the literary section of the British newspaper The Times.

Because the specific treaty with Kawaide Shobo had not been reached in a long time, the British side was always slow in introducing Kitagawa Hide's novels.

The result is that the official propaganda department in the UK is always cracking down on the piracy of Kitagawa Hide's novels. The legitimate publishers are complaining that the people above don't know how to take down all of this guy's novels as soon as possible!

Because they cannot read the main text of the novel, many overseas readers can only read the preface and postscript of "Norwegian Wood" to fill the emptiness in their hearts.

In the novel’s postscript, Kitagawa Hide said in simple words: “This is actually an extremely personal novel.

Just as some people like me and some don't, some will like this novel and some will turn their noses up at it.

But I hope that this novel will transcend me personally and be passed down forever.

I would like to dedicate this novel to my friends, both those who are dead and those who are still alive.”

After reading "Norwegian Wood", curious readers immediately began various discussions on the plot and literary quality.

Soon, everyone noticed an interesting point.

The character of "Naoko" did not come out of nowhere.

The protagonist "I" of "Hear the Wind Sing" had dated three girls. The last one, who was a true lover of mine, committed suicide in the woods next to the tennis court outside the campus after being with me for eight months. Her body was not found until school started, and it swayed in the wind for two weeks.

In "Pinball in 1973", this girl appears again as my lover, and this time she is named Naoko.

Naoko also appears in "Firefly", but there is no ending, only the firefly light that disappears at the end.

The image of "Naoko" was gradually improved and filled in when Kitagawa Hide was writing the book. It was not until "Norwegian Wood" that such a memorable character came into being.

Then there was a more in-depth discussion.

The netizens who posted the message believed that Naoko represented the inability to integrate into society and the past that could not be escaped but still affected the present;
Reiko represents the connection and integration of the past and the present, and represents the proper handling of the past;

Green represents the present and represents a reasonable recognition of reality.

In the novel, Naoko cannot escape the shadow of the past, cannot enter reality, and ends up in destruction;

Midori, on the other hand, always maintains a realistic attitude.

The protagonist has a hard time choosing between the "past" and the "reality".

In the end, it was through Reiko as a "catalyst" that he was released and was able to truly delve into reality.

Therefore, many people believe that the problem of Mr. Kitagawa's "Kitagawa Hidefu" novels being strong in storytelling but weak in literary quality does not exist at all.

They just didn't understand.

In short, amid the turbulent discussions, the sales of "Wenyi" continued to rise, and readers also called for the publication of single volumes and film and television dramas as soon as possible.

At the same time, the concept of the busy poor, which was proposed by "Norwegian Wood", has also become popular all over Japan.

The social downturn brought about by the new financial crisis has been officially exposed, causing people to think.

In order to match the atmosphere created by Mr. Beichuan's new book, the six major TV stations specially produced special programs related to the economic downturn.

In a related program of Tokyo Broadcasting System TBS, a reporter walked in Akita Prefecture, Japan.

I didn’t expect that this famous city actually has so many deserted villages. The total number has exceeded one hundred and is increasing year by year.

For those who remained in the villages, life became increasingly difficult.

According to statistics, this autumn alone, 6,000 farmers have abandoned farming.

Japan is a country that is highly dependent on overseas imports. In order to ensure the competitiveness of the primary industry, the government has imposed many restrictions on overseas food imports.

Therefore, out of the 2 million people in the country, at least half of them are supported by these farmers.

The decrease in farmers means less food.

This is a very serious problem!

In addition, people have requested to refuse to pay taxes due to reduced income. Due to the large number of requests, the tax office has set up a special window to handle this matter.

A total of 240 farmers and shop owners in one area held a rally for this purpose: "This winter, we have no money to buy heating oil. We can only skip a meal and save money to buy oil."

Perhaps the show exaggerated for effect, but the economic situation in rural areas of Japan is indeed not optimistic.

After seeing this situation, Kitagawa Hide, who was far away in the United States, discussed with Yumeko and decided to divide half of the royalties and copyright income from "Norwegian Wood" into a charitable foundation in the name of his children Archer and Midori to help these ordinary people who are in extreme difficulties.

Because they are fully aware of the dark side of the charity industry in this era, Kitagawa Hide and Yumeko decide to return to China at the end of November to take charge of the matter themselves and not give those vampires any chance to take advantage.

Before Kitagawa Hide and Yumeko left for home, Kitagawa Hide suddenly received an email from the Naoki Award Council (End of this chapter)