Set in Yugawara, this story follows an inn proprietress struggling with panic disorder and depression as she moves toward recovery with support from her husband and those around her. The local landscape and days of convalescence give the work a quiet emotional force.

The light of plum blossoms against the dark illuminates the time of a person beginning to walk out of illness.

Recorded as a special-prize story of the Yugawara Literary Award, this short work evokes the pale light of winter and the shadows of human feeling in a local setting.

The low winter sun reflects the faint warmth left in a person’s heart.