Fiction | March 01, 1988
Spirit of the House
Okamato Kanoko
This story is not currently available online.
On the high ground of the Yamanote district of Tokyo, there is a crossroads which is an intersection for trolley cars. Branching off straight and narrow from this crossroads, a slope road leads towards a valley and downtown Tokyo. Midway along this road, facing the shrine of the God of War, there is a small restaurant whose specialty is mudfish soup. Across the top of the doorway, which is framed by delicate latticework, wiped and polished, there hangs an old shop curtain. On it is printed, in white and in the style of calligraphy used for public documents of the Edo period, the ideogram for ‘life’.
If you are a student, faculty member, or staff member at an institution whose library subscribes to Project Muse, you can read this piece and the full archives of the Missouri Review for free. Check this list to see if your library is a Project Muse subscriber.
Want to read more?
Subscribe TodaySEE THE ISSUE
SUGGESTED CONTENT
Editors' Prize Winner
Jun 02 2021
Keeping
Keeping Thomas Dodson It was a humbling thing, asking for help like this, needing it so badly. But removing his hat, brushing flakes of snow from brim and crown, Guy… read more
Fiction
Jun 02 2021
Naming Ceremony
Naming Ceremony Mona Susan Power It’s the spring of 1968 here in Chicago, and Mama says Old Mayor Daley has his big fists wrapped around our necks. She says he… read more
Fiction
Jun 02 2021
The Burning
The Burning Gail Upchurch The burning comes right after and all at once. The irony of calling out for a God you swore off back in high school—the day Shawn… read more