Why the story of Tama-chan grips the nationAsahi Shimbun, May 16
Trains rumbled across a nearby railway bridge from time to time, sounding like distant thunder. Each time, Tama-chan's gaze would turn in that direction, as if its curiosity was being piqued. The seal had obviously never seen such an ``animal'' in its native land.
Watching the scene, a just-published paperback by Akira Yoshimura popped into my mind-``Hyoryuki no Miryoku'' (Fascinated by stories of castaways) ... enthralled with old Japanese accounts of people cast adrift or stranded by shipwreck. He has since authored six novels on the topic. "I must be a bit odd to ..."
Even during the centuries of Japan's isolation from the world, some Japanese inadvertently ended up in foreign lands and encountered what was completely new and unknown. In a sense, theirs was an encounter with the future.
