“In Why Ghosts Appear, Todd and LJC Shimoda tell a terrifically vivid story about the nature and shape of possibility. You find yourself in a tug-of-war with yourself, lingering over sentences while pressing on, eager to see what happens next, to uncover—or surmise—how the details fit together and, above that, what it all might mean. That back-and-forth, between imagining and knowing, suspicion and satisfaction, controlling and letting go, is echoed—and amplified—by the book’s visuals, which sometimes seep into the story by way of a page’s margins and at other times fill page after page with allusive snippets of info and evocative touches of ink-loaded brushes. Linda’s images do not interrupt Todd’s narrative so much as they bubble up from the nooks and crannies between chapters, elaborating upon what has just happened or intimating what is about to unfold. Together, the Shimodas’ artistry turns a detective story grounded in the facts of reality into a deft investigation of how and where restless souls find meaning. Reading between the lines never looked better, nor left you with so much to ponder.”
—David Pagel, Professor of Art Theory and History, Claremont Graduate University; art critic, Los Angeles Times; adjunct curator, Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, NY
Praise for Oh! A Mystery of ‘Mono no Aware’
“A fascinating glimpse into a little-known dark side of Japanese culture as well as a compelling account of an obsession with feeling emotional epiphany at any price.”—Shelf Awareness
“You don’t buy a book by Todd Shimoda expecting the usual thing. His fiction veers in and out of nonfiction, and the ubiquitous illustrations by his wife, master calligrapher/artist Linda Shimoda, are integral to the passage of the plot.”—Westword
Praise for Subduction
“… heaves with a splintered brilliance I could only appreciate after rejoining the parts inside my imagination ... the final whole is a work that stayed with me for weeks afterward.”—The Japan Times
“Gorgeous, both in the art and the writing ... the best kind of character exploration, and told with a purely Japanese feel.”—Brittany Jackson, book buyer
Todd Shimoda’s five novels have been called philosophical and psychological mysteries. The books have been translated into six languages. In 2010, he won the Elliot Cades Award for Literature from the Hawai’i Literary Arts Council.
LJC Shimoda is an accomplished artist, illustrator, and book designer. Her artwork and illustrations have appeared in numerous books and venues, including Glyphix for Visual Journaling and Todd Shimoda’s novels Why Ghosts Appear, Subduction, Oh! A Mystery of ‘Mono no Aware’, The Fourth Treasure, and 365 Views of Mt Fuji.
more at www.shimodaworks.com
Todd Shimoda
Art by LJC Shimoda
Chin Music Press | Seattle
Copyright 2015
By Todd and LJC Shimoda
Publisher:
Chin Music Press
1501 Pike Place #329
Seattle, WA 98101
www.chinmusicpress.com
Cover and interior art by LJC Shimoda
Book design by LJC Shimoda
Production by Linda Ronan
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-63405-902-2
eBook ISBN: 978-1-63405-906-0
also by the author and artist
Subduction
OH! A Mystery of Mono no Aware
The Fourth Treasure
365 Views of Mt. Fuji
also by the artist
Glyphs for Visual Journaling: Drawing Out the Words Within
Application For Investigation
Particulars of request: Ascertain the movements and whereabouts of a missing person
Name: Mizuno Ren
Sex: Male
Age: 29
Marital status: Single
Profession: Entomological illustration specialist, freelance
Comments: The missing man is the applicant’s son. He failed to appear at her home for the Festival of the Dead holiday as is his custom. Her attempts to contact her son were not successful. Everything necessary for the investigation will be made available.
I hereby make official application for investigation and enclose herewith the requisite fee. Furthermore, I swear to observe the strictest secrecy concerning all information, to make no disclosures, and to make no abuse of any knowledge obtained.
Signature of applicant
Mizuno Rie
23 August 1987
Zabuton Detective Agency
Chief of Section for the Investigation of Persons
I pressed the brake to slow the car to a crawl. The enclave of old wooden houses was located on a narrow street lined on both sides with power poles, stone and bamboo fences, cars, and delivery trucks, making it difficult to drive while I searched for the particular address. I turned off the air conditioner as if the roar of the fan hindered my ability to distinguish street names and building numbers.
Ahead, not more than twenty meters, an elderly man walked along the side of the street toward a small grocery store. On the store’s veranda were stacks of newspapers, boxes of vegetables, and cartons of empty beer bottles. A row of potted plants with yellow leaves indicating they needed a good watering, or perhaps less, marked a boundary between the veranda and three vending machines offering beer and cold sake, cigarettes, and single serving packages of instant noodle soup. A spigot provided hot water for reconstituting the soup. The owner of the machines clearly knew what sells in the neighborhood.
In the contemporary scheme of society, the neighborhood lacked outward significance other than the ground on which it was built. Real estate speculators could easily buy all the houses and commercial buildings, forcing reluctant owners into selling by hiring criminal gangs to overrun the neighborhood. When the properties were purchased, a demolition company would raze the buildings and seemingly overnight they would be replaced with office towers, retail spaces, and condominiums. In terms of functionality, the modernization would exploit the area to a much higher potential. The neighborhood consisted of too much underutilized space, especially too many single-family homes occupying the precious land. Modern space planners design on the principle of a box of one hundred and sixty cubic meters, which is the optimum living space for two people. More volume is not necessary, less can lead to tension and discomfort.
And what of the displaced residents and businesses? The owner of the grocery store would be given the golden opportunity to rent a sleek modern retail space at half the size and four times the cost of the old building. But think of the fluorescent light gleaming