قصة الكتاب :
Kawade Shobō Shinsha (Kawade Bunko), 1992. 232 pp. ¥490.
ISBN 978-4-309-40352-6.
Originally published in Bungei, Dec. 1990.
Ashihara Sunao
Born in 1949. Attended a doctoral course in literature at Waseda University. Won the 27th
Bungei Prize in 1990 for Seishun den deke deke deke, later made into a film titled The Rocking
Horsemen in English, and was awarded the 105th Naoki Prize the following year. Other
works include Mimizuku to orību [The Horned Owl and Olive] and No ni sake, azami [Bloom
Wild, Thistles].

This is a novel about high school life in a provincial town, told in the first person.
Fujiwara Takeyoshi, the protagonist, goes by the nickname of Chikkun. Enthralled
by rock music, he decides to get some friends together to form a band. With money
earned from their part-time jobs the friends get hold of their instruments, and the
Rocking Horsemen, the band they so desperately wanted to form, is ready to go.
But this is a rural town in Shikoku, where most people do not yet know about
Western music—even trying to find somewhere to practice is fraught with difficulty.
Luckily, the school music teacher, Satō, agrees for the band to be an official
school club activity, so they are able to practice at the school. None of them have
any experience of performing, but they pour their hearts and souls into practicing.
Eventually they get the chance to play at the opening party of a restaurant and
bar run by an acquaintance. Their first performance is a rather chaotic affair, but
for the band members it is a valuable learning experience. Their subsequent performance
at the school festival is a huge success, and their school life finally draws
to a close.
This novel is set in the 1960s. Considering when it was published, it could
have been little more than reminiscence about youth. But this work is not just a
piece of nostalgia for days now lost—its re-creation of the details of the young
people’s passion as they lose themselves in rock music makes it a lively piece of
writing. The writer uses the local Sanuki dialect to express the energy of the young
characters, and the witty written style turns youthful blunders into happy episodes.
Perhaps this explains the book’s tremendous popularity among young people. It
is certainly of great interest to anyone who wants to know what sort of novels
Japanese high school students like. (CK)