The Emissary by Yōko Tawada

3.5 Stars

This story is either a premonition or the bogeyman; you decide.

A month before, someone had put up a poster on the wall outside the elementary school: NO ONE SPEAKS OF THE WEATHER ANYMORE OR REVOLUTION EITHER. In bold fancy lettering, it was a take on the famous quotation, WHILE PEOPLE SPEAK ONLY OF THE WEATHER I SPEAK OF REVOLUTION -- but the very next day someone took it down.

Disturbing, yet engrossing, Tawada has created this post-apocalyptic tale that is so understated, but drowning in pathos. You feel swallowed by it as you read, frozen and helpless as Mumei and Yoshiro's lives play out.

"Grown-ups can live if children die," Mumei replied in a singsong voice, "but if grown-ups die, children can't live." Yoshiro fell silent. 

This is an excellent time capsule. It was much different than I expected from reading the blurb, but I enjoyed it more than my imagined storyline. It may be short, but it packs a powerful punch.

Children without parents had long since ceased to be called "orphans"; they were now referred to as doku ritsu jido, "independent children". Because the Chinese character doku looks like a dog separated from the pack who survives by attaching itself to a human being and never leaving its side, Yoshiro had never felt comfortable with the phrase.