Just before her twentieth birthday, Machiru learns her presumed-dead father has truly died and inherits one apartment and a hamster. The odd friendships that follow lead her toward a quiet form of independence in this 26th Subaru Literary Award winner.

An inherited room and a hamster slowly change Machiru’s life.

Machiru, who had lived with her mother, takes on a one-room apartment left by the father she thought had died and begins living alone. Through odd ties with a childhood friend and a woman who once lived with her father, the novel gently traces her move toward independence.

Machiru slowly assembles a life of her own in a left-behind apartment.

An honorable mention in the 26th Subaru Literary Award, published only in the November 2002 issue of Subaru. No standalone book publication has been confirmed.

An honorable mention that remains magazine-only for now.