Mila's logs

Have you ever thought you’d fallen in love, just to realize it was the fictional concept of the person of your own making, that you’d fallen for?

In the 21st century, this theme appears to be common in romance. There are countless short videos and podcasts liked and shared by many young people today that revolve around the illusion of love.

Romance generally is not my forte, nor is it my preferred genre, so it may be strange for me to be recommending a story called “A Love Story.” This is a short story written by Kan Kikuchi—more famously known for creating the publishing company Bungei Shunjyu and establishing the Akutagawa and Naoki prizes. However, his own pieces are also highly thought-provoking and refreshing in a sense that they portray human life through a very realistic lens.

In this way, Kan Kikuchi’s “A Love Story” betrays the expectations of a rosy, romantic sort of love usually seen in fictional stories. The story will not unfold in the way readers expect it to, but by the last page, everything will probably fall into place. Why the story turned out this way. The plot is vividly realistic and perhaps even personally relatable to some—even now, decades after it was written.

This blog doesn’t aim to spoil the great stories introduced, so I will refrain from further exploring the details. I couldn’t find the text online, but the story is likely in a collection of Kan Kikuchi’s short stories/complete works. For Japanese speakers, there are videos on YouTube that provide 朗読 (free audiobooks) to listen to.

Happy reading!