The three 100-yen coins he handed me were damp from the warmth of the boy’s palm. I understood all too well just how heavy those 300 yen must have felt to him.

#nana56b


Opening line

For forty years, I’ve been running a goldfish-catching stall on the grounds of this old shrine.

I had a younger brother, two years my junior, who passed away when I was a child. Our family was poor, and there were days when we couldn’t even get enough rice to eat. I took my brother—who was frail and couldn’t go outside—to the summer festival just once. I let him try his hand at catching goldfish with the little pocket money I had. My brother smiled and said he would “treasure it for the rest of his life” as he scooped up that single goldfish. The following winter, he passed away. I placed the remains of that goldfish—which he had called his greatest treasure—inside his coffin along with him.

Ever since then, goldfish scooping has become a ritual for me to protect someone’s irreplaceable memories.

That evening, too, the temple grounds were so packed with people that it was impossible to move. Weaving their way through the crowd were a brother and sister wearing faded clothes. The brother was about ten years old, and the sister about seven. Their sandals were worn thin, and the straps looked as if they might come undone at any moment.

The sister gently tugged at the hem of her brother’s shirt.

The boy stared at the wooden sign reading “300 yen per try” for a moment with an indescribable expression, but

eventually, he looked at his sister, gave a small nod, and

said, “Sir, one try.”

The three 100-yen coins he held out were damp with the heat of the boy’s palm. I understood all too well just how heavy those 300 yen must have felt to him. He had held back and saved this money for his little sister.

I deliberately lied, saying, “It slipped out of my hand,” and handed the boy a new poi that I’d simply dampened with water. I wanted them both to have fun. The boy’s eyes sparkled as he carefully reached out toward the water’s surface.

But just then, his little sister, who had been completely absorbed in the game next to him, tripped and bumped into her brother’s arm.