ナミヤ雑貨店の奇蹟 (Miracles of the Namiya General Store)

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Student: Taro Namiya

Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Book Title: ナミヤ雑貨店の奇蹟 - Namiya Zakkatenno Kiseki (Miracles of the Namiya General Store)
Author: Keigo Higashino
Year of Publication: 2012

Summary
One day, three young people, Atsuya, Kouhei, and Shoyta, stole a car which later broke down. They fled to a very old abandoned building to hide. This old place used to be a combined residence and a storefront business called Namiya General Store. However, something weird happened there during late hours of the night: a letter dropped through the slot in the front shutter of the door. The three youths noticed that the letter is 33 years old, unsigned, and by a girl athlete who is preparing for the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. This athlete wrote about getting advice about her problem. She wanted to know if she should drop out of the Olympic competition so she can look after her dying boyfriend. Atsuya, Kouhei, and Shoyta discovered that this consultation letter of trouble had arrived from the past in 1979. The three youths decided to send a reply to the athlete’s question from 1979. They asked for more information about her problem. Then they placed their letter in the box intended for milk deliveries in the back of the old building. Surprisingly, they received another letter in a short time through the same shutter of the old store’s door. This letter was from the same athlete responding to their request for more information. The three youths realized that this athlete’s time is moving forward rapidly in space. However, they noticed that the time within the general store remains at a halt as long as they keep the back door closed of the old building. Then, the athlete and the three youths exchanged several more letters until the problem was resolved.

What’s more, Atsuya, Kouhei, and Shoyta later found out from an old article that the owner of Namiya General Store was an old man named Yuji Namiya. Nearly 40 years ago, Yuji lost his wife but he found a purpose of living by giving free consultation to several random people with serious life problems. The three youths decided to leave their life of crime and become like Yuji Namiya. The three agreed to continue giving consultation to people’s letters that fell through the front shutter of old Namiya General Store.

Recommendation
The Japanese author Keigo Higashino received “the 7th Chuokoron Literary Prize” for this award winning mystery novel: Miracles of the Namiya General Store.

Higashino was born in Osaka, Japan in 1958. He served as the 13th President of Mystery Writers of Japan from 2009 to 2013. While working as an engineer, his debut was awarded the 31st Ranpo Edogawa Award in the "After School" in 1985.

Miracles of the Namiya General Store was written during the rapid economic growth of Japan in the late 1970s until the stagnation economic life of the 1990s. Through time and space, the general store’s residents provide free consultation to people’s various serious troubles. The strange thing about this novel is that the three youths live in the present time, and they communicate with the people who live in the past time. The story starts with the three thieves, who are on the run, and discover an old abandoned general store as a hideout.

I think that there is a lot of variety of interesting things happening in this story. It is also a very moving novel, filled with a lot of mystery and surprises. As you read this novel, you might be curious yourself to know if you can also communicate with the residents of the Namiya General Store!