“That’s right.” He looked at her quizzically. “Don’t you know Sokéboo?”
Of course she did. Socket Booster, aka Sokéboo, was a video game and anime series popular with children and adults alike. Ten-year-old Socket Booster traveled the universe, befriending all manner of creatures on the planets he visited. The creatures of the universe were of every imaginable shape, ranging from adorable to grotesque, and vivid in coloration. Some of them were more popular than Socket Booster. Even Kishibe, who had never played the game or seen the anime, was familiar with several of the characters.
What possible connection could there be between Sokéboo and this department? She wanted to ask, but Majime went around checking that everything was turned off and then, after he had called to Mrs. Sasaki in the reference room, the three of them left the building.
The rainy season hadn’t ended yet. The sky over Jimbocho was lit by a tapestry of gray clouds reflecting illuminated buildings and car headlights. Majime went swiftly down the subway stairs.
Nobody had told Kishibe the location of her welcome party. Majime made no sign of telling her now as he charged ahead obliviously. This wasn’t the time to ask about Sokéboo. If Mrs. Sasaki hadn’t been there, she might have gotten lost.
She studied Majime’s appearance from behind. He was still wearing black sleeve covers over his shirtsleeves. She couldn’t believe anyone would go out dressed like that. What did he think about fashion, about maintaining one’s appearance? Nothing, probably. She sighed. Where was his suit coat? Had he left it in the office?
“He always looks like that.” Mrs. Sasaki, walking alongside her, seemed to have picked up on Kishibe’s internal monologue.
They changed trains once and arrived in Kagurazaka in about ten minutes. The Belle editors would have gone by taxi, since the company would pay and changing trains was a pain. Didn’t these people ever use taxis? Majime and Mrs. Sasaki swayed back and forth with the lurching subway, and went up and down stairs without the least sign of discontent. Majime was carrying a heavy-looking briefcase. Now she remembered: before leaving he had crammed it with books. After spending all day chasing hieroglyphics, now he was going to go home and read some more.
Unbelievable. Kishibe sighed again.
They made their way through the maze of back streets in Kagurazaka and came to a little old house at the end of a narrow cobblestone lane. Square lanterns hung from the eaves. On the lanterns, which emitted a soft orange light, she read the words BACK OF THE MOON.
When they slid open the latticed door, a young man in chef’s garb greeted them courteously. They removed their shoes in the vestibule.
Just inside was a room with a wooden floor, some fifteen mats big. On the left was a counter of unvarnished wood with five wooden chairs in front of it. There were also four tables seating four apiece. The seats were about 80 percent filled. The customers included businessmen entertaining clients as well as young couples, perhaps self-employed professionals.
“Irasshaimase.” A woman chef behind the counter called out a welcome. She looked forty at most. Her hair was tied in a bun. She was very pretty.
The young man led their party up a staircase on the right. Upstairs was an eight-mat tatami room with an arrangement of snow flowers in the simple alcove. Across the corridor were two doors, one to the washroom and another to an employee lounge.
Two men were already seated at the table. Majime introduced them as Professor Matsumoto and Kohei Araki, the other members of the Great Passage team. When he introduced her in turn, she offered her business card to each man and said hello. Professor Matsumoto was bald and older, thin as a rail. Araki seemed a bit younger; he looked stubborn to her.
The young man took their orders for drinks and went back downstairs, soon returning with bottles of beer, sake, and hors d’oeuvres. Tiny dishes that could fit in the palm of the hand held sliced raw flounder with marinated kelp. The kelp flavor delicately permeated the fish, and with her first bite Kishibe realized she was hungry.
The welcome party proceeded amiably, with everyone pouring beer for one another. Professor Matsumoto sipped sake. Araki explained the Sokéboo mystery.
“At Gembu, it’s the practice for all types of dictionaries and reference works to be made by the Dictionary Editorial Department. That’s why Majime took on the Sokéboo Encyclopedia.”
“The director is a real stickler, so we had our hands full,” Mrs. Sasaki said. “We tried to tell him that the purpose of the encyclopedia was to explain the creatures of the universe in terms children could understand, but he wouldn’t listen. ‘If creatures on the planet Pekébo came to Earth, what would their average weight be in kilograms?’ he’d ask, or ‘It says in the guidelines that the aristocrats on planet Aum communicate by telepathy, but tell me in detail about the class system on Aum. And what does it actually mean to communicate by telepathy? Do they transmit language from brain to brain, or is it pictures or music or something else? And what about ordinary people? Do we assume that they communicate in words, the same as earthlings?’ He’d fire off these detailed questions to the makers of the anime series and games. Finally they threw up their hands and said, ‘Whatever you think will be fine. We’ll go along with what you come up with.’”
“Mrs. Sasaki, I’ve never heard you talk so much.” Professor Matsumoto shook his head with a look of admiration and surprise.
“Trying to curb Majime must have been hard.” Araki looked at Mrs. Sasaki with sympathetic eyes.
Kishibe was astounded at this level of dedication to a child’s dictionary of fictional characters. Why had someone like her, with no knowledge of dictionaries to speak of, been transferred to this department? The question had been nagging at her. Now she tried to think. Perhaps she was here to curb Majime, rein him in? It made sense. Without someone in the same room constantly keeping an eye on him, it sounded like he was liable to go way over budget.
“Well, one way or another the Sokéboo Encyclopedia has been a great success.” Majime looked happy. “It’s a credit to the Dictionary Editorial Department. We saved face.”
“We were low man on the totem pole for a long time, but now we can really get to work on The Great Passage.” Araki made a fist on the tabletop. “And we have Miss Kishibe on board now.”
“What’s The Great Passage?” asked Kishibe.
Professor Matsumoto explained. “It’s a dictionary of the Japanese language that we’ve been planning for a long time. It’s been thirteen years now since we started work on it.”
“Thirteen years!” Kishibe was gobsmacked. “Thirteen years, and it’s still not ready? What have you been doing all that time?”
“As I said, revising other dictionaries, making the Sokéboo Encyclopedia,” Majime said.
“Not only that,” said Professor Matsumoto. “You got married!”
“So he did,” chimed in Araki. “I always thought it was a miracle.”