The Elephant Vanishes: Stories

The narrator reflects on various encounters he’s had with Chinese people. He focuses in particular on three encounters, beginning with the first time he saw a Chinese person in 1959 or 1960 (he begins a trip to the local library to confirm the exact year but decides that this detail does not matter and goes home). As a child, he needs to go to a Chinese elementary school to complete a standardized aptitude test. The proctor is a man from China who teaches at the school. In the narrator’s memory, the proctor asks the test takers to be respectful of the school and not vandalize the desks they were using, after which he tells them all to be proud.

Years later, when he is 19 and studying in Tokyo, the narrator meets a Chinese girl his age. The two of them work at a publishing warehouse. After their last day, the girl—ethnically Chinese though born in Japan—agrees to accompany the narrator to a discotheque. They both enjoy themselves, but at the end of the night, the narrator accidentally directs the girl to the wrong train. Realizing his mistake, he takes the next train and meets her at the last station. He apologizes for his mistake, and the girl reveals her own insecurities.