Perhaps the strength of a person who is convinced that in any case no one understands him, he can't expect much from people.

Hiroyuki Itsuki

The writer says that what he wants to stare at in a novel is there. When he was repatriated from Pyongyang in his childhood, compatriots succumbed to the threat of Soviet troops and gave two women. The two came back worn-out in the morning. The compatriots whispered "do not touch" into their children's ear. But the two did not complain till the end. He says he want to look at that very unfathomable sorrow. From a talk with a director, Shoji Konkami in "Chuokoron" September issue.

"December 5  2018

from “Oriori no Kotoba” by Kiyokazu Washida, The Asahi Shimbun"