An early-summer afternoon, when loquat fruit begin to ripen . Kopo sat at the foot of the stone bridge, in front of a blank notebook.
“…Can’t write it.”
The traces of three crossed-out openings had left the paper faintly fuzzed. He’d only just realized it was Love Letter Day because Minico, folding the newspaper, had murmured , “five-two-three, koibumi — love letter. That’s easy to remember, big brother.”
“Shut up.” “Not mad, are you?”
Minico didn’t even look up from the morning paper. Kopo blew away the eraser shavings and started again from the first line. “Um,” “Hey,” “Hello” — none of them right. In all his years growing up in Amencho Town, he didn’t have even one word that could reach that one particular person.
Across the stone bridge, Ohisama was shaking a loquat branch with a long pole. Two ripe orange fruits fell onto the grass. She picked them up, held them to the light, and brought one to her mouth — then suddenly stopped. It was the kind of stopping that suggested she knew someone was watching.
Kopo closed his notebook. If he left it here, would the wind blow it away? If he set it on the bridge railing —
“If you can’t write it, just take a loquat.”
Minico folded up the newspaper and turned toward the river.
“If you don’t have words, give a thing instead. Hasn’t that always been how it works, in this town, since forever?”
Kopo was silent for three seconds. Then he picked up one of the loquats lying on the grass by the riverbank — and, for some reason, quietly set it down on top of the notebook instead, before crossing the bridge. He didn’t look back.
Ohisama didn’t come to that spot until evening fell.
Margin note: The notebook’s blank page had a faint stain of loquat juice on it. Ohisama pressed her palm against that page just once, then left it open to the wind again.
【Today’s Motif】
- Love Letter Day: A commemorative day established by Shochiku from the wordplay “ko(5) i(2) bumi(3)” (love letter), tied to the 1998 film Love Letter.
- Loquat Day: Established by the National Federation of Fruit Tree Research Associations’ Loquat Division, from the wordplay “fu(2) sa(3)” (a cluster ). A day to raise interest in the loquat, which reaches its peak season in early summer.
This is an English translation of “ビワひとつぶんの言葉”, part of Tales of Amencho Town (蛙鳴町奇譚).