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Author: Kazue Furuuchi
Price: 1,980 yen (including 10% tax)
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Furuuchi Kazue has produced many works that warmly touch the hearts of readers, including the “Makan Malang” series.
The latest book, “Tokyo Hideaway,” is a story about people living in stressful modern society, at work, at home, at school, and elsewhere, who find their own hideaway.
This time, we welcomed actor Hirano Seizo, who is a fan of Furuuchi’s work, and spoke to him at the planetarium where the idea for this film came from.
Interviewer and editor: Katsue Omoto Photography: Yuka Fujisawa Hair and makeup: Mai Hasezawa (Furuuchi), Akira Hirotaki (Hirano) Stylist: Shinya Watanabe (Koa Hole inc.) (Hirano) Interview cooperation: Minato City Minato Science Museum
Hirano: Jacket ¥66,000 / Shirt ¥33,000 / Pants ¥35,200 (semoh / tax included) Inquiries: Bureau Ueyama TEL: 03-6451-0705

A mysterious encounter brought about by a bookstore
— Mr. Hirano wrote an introduction to Furuuchi’s “Yamatei Miakis” when it was published in paperback, but it seems that the two of you had been in contact before that.
HiranoThat’s right. The first work by Furuuchi that I read was a horse racing novel called “Run Beyond the Wind.” I don’t remember exactly what made me pick it up, but I read the sequel right away and was completely hooked. From there, I went on to “Furadan” and then the “Makan Malang” series…
FuruuchiWow, so many people have been reading it!
HiranoYes. After that was “Kids Who Ring the Bell.” When I was appearing in a play called “Who Am I?” written by Hisashi Inoue, I read this work, which is set in the same historical period, to prepare for the role. I found so many things linked together. I thought I should write him a fan letter, and after some hesitation, I found Furuuchi’s SNS account and sent him a direct message. That was how I got in touch with him.
FuruuchiI did receive a direct message, but I had no idea that he had read so many of my works before that, so I was very surprised. I’m happy. He invited me to appear in “Who Am I?”, and then I started to see Hirano’s plays. The play “Private Soldier Tanaka,” in which you starred the other day, was also wonderful. In the pamphlet, it said that Hirano reads about two books a week. But you also said that you had never read a book until you were an adult. What made you start reading books?
HiranoI’ve always hated books. My parents were big bookworms, and my father always told me to read books, so I got tired of it and escaped into manga (laughs). Mr. Furuuchi, do you know Sawaya Bookstore in Morioka?
FuruuchiOf course I know.
HiranoWhen I visited Sawaya Bookstore, the handmade posters hanging in the store were really amazing, and I was moved by the overwhelming passion of the people selling books. The poster attached to the book recommended by the book store staff said, “Please read it, even if it’s for free.” I read it because they said so, and I got completely absorbed in it, and reading became a habit from then on. It was just like Helen Keller’s water, and it felt like the world had suddenly opened up to me.
Furuuchi…I’m surprised. In fact, I was also an author who was discovered by Sawaya Bookstore.
HiranoOh, is that so?
FuruuchiWhen I first debuted, my books didn’t sell at all. I wrote “Run Across the Wind” with the feeling of starting over from scratch. Sawaya Bookstore was one of the bookstores that took the book up in a big way.
HiranoWow! I got goosebumps.
FuruuchiAt that time, I visited bookstores all over the country, and Sawaya Bookstore created a huge poster for me.
HiranoSo maybe I saw that and bought it.
FuruuchiThat may be true. Amazing… I heard that the bookstore staff from back then are no longer there, but bookstores are indeed places that give you new encounters. That’s why I’ve always thought of myself as a writer who was nurtured by bookstores.

I want to depict an extraordinary experience that people can visit
–Furuuchi’s new book, “Tokyo Hideaway,” is a series of short stories about six protagonists with various troubles who come across their own hideaways and begin to reexamine their own way of life. What were your impressions after reading it, Hirano?
HiranoWell, it was really interesting. I got the impression that it was a little different from Furuuchi’s previous works, but I think that’s largely because the story is set in Tokyo. I grew up in Tokyo and I’m mainly active in Tokyo, so there were a lot of cities and places I’ve been to. In his previous works, there were many moments when I linked with myself and reality, but in “Tokyo Hideaway” the boundary was more seamless, and I fell into a strange feeling of not knowing where reality ended and fiction began.
The story that shocked me was “A Room with a View.” The protagonist Hisano goes to the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, which is also her hideaway, with her mother. At that time, there was an exhibition by Shinro Ohtake, and I had also been to that exhibition.
FuruuchiWow! That’s incredible synchronicity.
HiranoSo, even though I was reading the novel, there were so many parts that connected to reality that I felt like I might have missed out on Kuno and the others. It was really interesting to read the novel and have such a new feeling well up inside me.
FuruuchiIf it’s something like “Makan Malang”, you’ll never be able to go.
HiranoI really want to go to that cafe (laughs).
FuruuchiI want to go, but it’s a fictional place so I can’t go. So I thought I’d try making it a place I could actually go to, and that’s why I wrote “Tokyo Hideaway.”
HiranoIt’s was so.
FuruuchiAlso, people say that Tokyo is a city that you can’t enjoy unless you have money. But when I actually walked around Tokyo, I thought that maybe that wasn’t the case. That was another reason why I decided to write this piece.
When I was working for a company, I worked in the film industry, but it was so hard that I slept all weekend and couldn’t go anywhere. But my partner enjoys jogging, and when I became a writer, he invited me to run with him when I quit my job. At first, I thought it was a pain, but when I tried running, it felt really good. After running around the Imperial Palace and Yoyogi Park, I went to art museums and other places, and I realized that Tokyo is really interesting!
HiranoThat’s nice.
FuruuchiAs mentioned in the story, if you go to Ueno you will also find the Sogakudo Concert Hall and the International Children’s Library.
HiranoI had no idea. I’ve been to science museums, art museums, and zoos, but I’ve never been there.
FuruuchiAt the Sogakudo, you can listen to concerts by graduate students and students from Tokyo University of the Arts for the 300 yen admission fee, and the Children’s Library was originally the Imperial Library, so the building’s design is wonderful. You won’t get bored even if you spend the whole day there, and it’s free. And of course, there’s the planetarium at the Minato Science Museum. I was surprised to find out that they show movies for free on weekdays at lunchtime.
HiranoIt’s amazing. If I worked nearby, I’d want to go there every day.
FuruuchiReally. I never thought there would be a place in this downtown office district where I could stare blankly at the stars for about 20 minutes at lunchtime. I discovered that Tokyo actually has a lot of places like this treasure chest, so I asked my editor if I wanted to write about the theme of “hideaways.” From there, I conducted a survey asking, “What is your hideaway?” and interviewed hideaway-like places. I’ve always loved planetariums, so I decided to interview the Minato Science Museum again.
HiranoThis is the place where the main character, Kirito, and his colleague, Riko, visit in the first episode, “Starry Sky Catch Ball.” To tell you the truth, I love planetariums too.
FuruuchiIt’s nice, isn’t it? In fact, when you come to the “Daytime Planetarium,” there are many customers who look like businessmen in suits. I spoke to a PR person, and he said that, frankly, quite a few people come to take a nap. But I thought that was also a really nice thing.
HiranoThat’s true. It’s great that everyone can spend their time however they want.
FuruuchiThe editor in charge worked really hard on the survey, and we were able to collect responses from a wide range of age groups. One person wrote, “The person I loved passed away young, so meeting him in my dreams is my hideaway.” This made a big impression on me, so I met him in person, spoke to him, and used him as the model for a character.
HiranoDo you write in that style every time?
FuruuchiI think I do a lot of interviews. Anyway, I write while interviewing a lot. That’s why I often take questionnaires, and what I always think is that there is really no one who is ordinary. Everyone has a lot of drama and a story. Even in the interviews for “Tokyo Hideaway”, I found many hideouts that I would never have thought of if I had just thought about it.
HiranoIt’s interesting to discover something you didn’t expect.
FuruuchiI feel very blessed to be able to write while I am doing research. I am able to have many different experiences and my world is expanding. On the other hand, when it comes to actually writing it, I get scared about whether I can elevate it into a proper story. I have heard such an important story, so I can’t write something half-baked. I am prepared for this, but I always feel the pressure. However, I personally think that I was able to write something that I am satisfied with, “Tokyo Hideaway.”
