hitLosAhroughouttheyear,IshutmyselfupindoorsandIwaswritingalongnovel.Iseldomwentanywhereanddidntdoalmostanythingelse.Afterundergoingmysterioustwistsandturns,thislongnovelsplitintotwocells;onebecamearatherlongshortnovel(orarathershortlongnovel)"Kokkyounominami,Taiyononishi"aheraratherlonglongnovel"Nejimakidoriicle."

    Followingthisintensiveyearandashortbreak,mywishtowritesomethinglikeanessaygraduallybecamestronger.SuccessfullyIcametopublishaseriesofmyessayseverymonthinalittlemagazine"Book"fromKodansha.Thelengthofeachessaywastwenty-owopagesof400-charactermanuscriptpaper,andthiswastheloessayIhadeverpublished.Butwhilewritingaseriesofessaysforoneandhalfyears,

    Ineverfelteachessaywastoolong.Asisoftenthecasewithwriters,Iamratheratypeofwriterwhothinkswhilewritingwords.Materializingmythoughtintowordsahinkingaboutitinavisualway,itoftenhelpsmealot.Inthatsense,writingasmanyastwenty-owopageseverymonthgavemeawiderrahinking.ProbablydurioayinAmerica,variousthings,Ithink,havebeenpiledupwhichmustbeinterpretedintowordsalongwithacarefulsideration.

    sequentlythetaxidriversayin1984,impliedinhiswhisper"Whatwillbeeofthisunityiseveralyears?",mightbepartlyrightandpartlynot.InthepointthatPrionisstillapeacefulaifultownbeyondworldlyaffairs,hisapprehensionsendedupasneedlessfears.Inspiteoftheincreaseofshoppingmalls,theready-builthousesforsale,andtheoccasionaltrafficjamsinthemandeveningrushhours,thebasiccharacteristicofthetownhasscarcelyged.Buthisayha