About the book: year / Somewhere between the worlds there is a hall in which particles of the souls of those who lived in Bakumatsu and early Meiji sleep and are healed. On the threshold of this hall sits the Clerk, the keeper of stories. Sometimes someone wakes up in the hall, drinks sake with the Clerk and goes out into the world. Sometimes an old friend of his comes to the Clerk to pass a little time over the pipe and talk. And then he leaves, the Clerk closes his eyes and breathes for a long time. The clerk will keep this space until everyone has gone into the world.