Miki Taku (1935 -) vividly described one summer told by Shinji, a third
grader of a junior high school.
One day, Shinji is backed a young man fighting with a big guy. The
young man happens to be Shogo, the leader of a popular local rock group
named The Flags, which Shinji adores. Shinji becomes the manager of The
Flags, and becomes acquainted with the members, a younger sister of Shôgo,
and some shipmen. Shinji is absorbed in archery. He has a disorder on his
leg, and is not on good terms with his father. Each member of The Flags
also has his own trouble. The Flags have an audition to be professional.
Before they leave for Tokyo, they have a successful farewell concert. However,
their dream is broken and they soon come back to their hometowns, where
there is no place for them. Genta, a friend of Shinji, wants to be a professional
boxer, but he has to give up his dream because he punched a big guy while
protecting Shinji. The young men who can find no place for themselves any
more get into a scrapped ship and play instruments as they like on the
sea at night.
The dreams and failures of young men are told by Shinji. Each of them
faces his own problem. They offend adults and their local society, and
have anger and a fruitless feeling of resistance. Even at the end of the
story, none of their problems are solved. However, their attitude to be
free from the oppression shows the energy of young people. That seems to
reflect the strength of Japanese society during a time of high growth of
the Japanese economy at the beginning of 1970s. Miki is a poet, and the
symbolic verse sung by The Flags shows his nature as a poet. The elements,
such as a rock group, archery, and electric guitars, reflect young people's
culture. Illustrations by Shinohara Katsuyuki describe the world of this
story very well.
Manatsu no Hata is Miki's third novel for boys, following Horobita Kuni no Tabi [A Travel Through a Ruined Country] and Hoshi no Kantata [Cantata of Stars]. It was highly praised at the time of its publication. Later it was published as one of the Kôdansha Pocket Book series.
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