The plaza on the morning after the holidays wore a strange kind of quiet.
Kopo settled onto the stone steps and traced a finger through the white powder on the ground. It seemed a food stall from last night had spilled some dusting flour, leaving a thin white line on the cobblestones . Step on it, and it disappears. Leave it alone, and the wind comes and blows it away.
“What’d you do over the holidays?”
A voice came from behind him. Turning, Kopo saw Sonchō approaching slowly, a wrapped sakura mochi in hand.
“…Nothing.”
“Hoh.” Sonchō sat down beside him. “That’s its own kind of luxury.”
“It’s not luxury. Just — I feel like nothing came of it.”
Kopo traced the powder on the step again. Drew a white line, erased it again.
“What do you think that is?”
“Dusting flour… I guess.”
“wheat flour. What do you think it can become?”
“Bread, or something. okonomiyaki .”
“That’s right.” Sonchō gave the powder a little poke with the tip of his cane. “Add water, mix, apply heat, and it can become anything. But — "
A wind came from the pond, and the white powder on the cobblestones rose in a thin swirl , then vanished.
“Time spent just being flour is still, properly, being flour. There’s no shame in not having become anything yet. Being in a state where you could become anything at all — that’s its own kind of completion.”
Kopo didn’t answer. Sweat had already begun beading on his forehead — the morning air, this first day after the holidays, was already carrying heat.
“Days get longer from today. It’ll get hot,” Sonchō went on.
“I know.”
“Then off you go.”
Kopo stood up. He didn’t yet know where he was headed. Still, his feet moved.
Margin note: That evening, when Kopo passed through the plaza, the white powder on the cobblestones had cleanly vanished. In its place, the smell of something frying drifted from the eaves of the flour-food shop, wrapping the whole alley in softness.
【Today’s Motif】
- Konamon Day (May 7th): Established by the Japan Konamon Association from the wordplay “ko(5) na(7) mon” (flour dish). A general term for dishes made mainly from wheat flour, such as okonomiyaki, takoyaki , and udon.
- The first day after the holidays: Golden Week 2026 ended on May 6th (a substitute holiday). May 7th, a Thursday, was forecast to be clear across the country, with the most “summer day” locations of the year yet — a day that felt like the start of summer.
This is an English translation of “粉のゆくえ”, part of Tales of Amencho Town (蛙鳴町奇譚).