All the lovers in the night: Mieko Kawakami

Why does the night have to be so beautiful?

As I walk through the night, I remember what Mitsutsuka said to me. 'Because at night, only half the world remains.' I count the lights. All the lights of the night. The red light at the intersection, trembling as if wet, even though it isn't raining.

Streetlight after streetlight. Tail lights trailing off into the distance. The soft glow from the windows. Phones in the hands of people just arriving home, and people just about to go somewhere. Why is the night so beautiful? Why does it shine the way it does? Why is the night made up entirely of light?


The music flows from the earphones filling my ears, filling me - it becomes everything. A lullaby. A gorgeous piano lullaby. What a wonderful piece of music. It really is.

It's my favourite piece by Chopin. Did you like it too, Fuyuko? Yeah. It's like the night is breathing. Like the sound of melted light. The light at night is special because the overwhelming light of day has left us, and the remaining half draws on everything it has to keep the world around us bright.

Translated from Japanese by Sam Bett & David Boyd