Die Welt des Jotaro Fukamachi sieht düster aus: seine Ex-Frau Sumiko hat wieder geheiratet, seine Tochter Kaori ist zum Studium außer Landes. Seine Vermieterin, die Zahnärztin, setzt ihn im Verein mit dem korrupten Cop „Klapperschlange“ Gotoda vor die Tür... Kein Hahn kräht mehr nach ihm. Und dann sitzt eines schönes Tages Sumiko plötzlich in der Bar an der Ecke, und die letzte Episode trägt den tröstlichen Titel „Der Detektiv ist unsterblich“.
This is the fictionalized version of the life and times of Japanese author [b]Natsume Soseki[/b] during an era of great change in Japan from the traditional Edo period into the modern Meiji period (1867 - 1912). [b]Soseki[/b] is considered the Charles Dickens or Mark Twain of Japan. His image even appeared on the 1000 yen note for two decades. He is best known for his novel [i]Botchan[/i], on whose times this book is based, and the short [i]I Am A Cat[/i] which is integrated into these pages. In this [b]second volume[/b] the cat dies and [i]Botchan[/i] is finally written. [b]Taniguchi[/b] marries talent to a solid script by [b]Sekikawa[/b] to create a fresco of Japanese society towards the end of the Meiji period as Japan was beginning to open up to the West. What could have been simply an illustrated textbook becomes, in these capable hands, a narrative for adults of great artistic and historical significance.