Prolific, award-winning Japanese writer Mizuki Tsujimura's poignant Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon is the first of a duology; its sequel, How to Hold Someone in Your Heart, is scheduled to arrive in 2026. Yuki Tejima's warm translation of this 2010 original will likely place the import on proliferating J-healing shelves and displays, but Tsujimura adds glimpses of unresolved, aching bite, resulting in a resonating read.
Ayumi, "the go-between," is always a bit of a surprise for clients seeking a link to the dead: Ayumi's still a teen, sporting his "Sunday best" designer coat, carrying a tattered notebook. But he knows how to make supernatural connections happen. A lonely office worker asks to meet a superstar idol. A grumpy eldest son wants his mother's advice about the family business. A high school student needs to talk to her best friend about her fatal accident. A businessman longs to see his beloved fiancée who disappeared seven years ago just after he proposed. Tsujimura reveals Ayumi's multigenerational back story, intertwined with affecting revelations from the dearly departed.
Tsujimura clearly lays down the rules. Initial contact happens in a hospital courtyard--"Cafes are expensive. And McDonald's is too loud." The dead must agree to see the living. Neither party can ever experience another reunion. Meetings happen in a fancy hotel room (seemingly in room numbers ending in 7), best arranged for a full moon evening. Tsujimura reveals how results vary: resolve, insight, agony, heartbreak. The service is always free, although the aftermath proves utterly priceless. --Terry Hong