The Briefcase

Tsukiko is a thirty-eight-year-old office worker who lives by herself. One evening at a neighborhood bar she runs into Sensei, a former high school teacher she has only ever addressed by that title. He is three decades older than she is, has retired, and is most likely a widower.

At first the two barely acknowledge each other beyond a nod across the counter, each eating and drinking alone. Over many visits their wary politeness softens into an easy companionship, and that companionship slowly becomes something more tender. Kawakami marks the passing months through the changing seasons and through the drinks and dishes the pair share, moving from warm sake to cold beer and from budding branches to cherry blossoms.

The novel is quiet and wistful, weighted with the loneliness both characters carry. It is a story about two people finding each other late and the small rituals that shape that bond.