Pachinko Parlor

The days are beginning to draw in. The sky is dark by seven in the evening. I lie on the floor and gaze out of the window. Women’s calves, men’s shoes, heels trodden down by the weight of bodies borne for too long.

It is summer in Tokyo. Claire finds herself dividing her time between tutoring twelve—year—old Mieko, in an apartment in an abandoned hotel, and lying on the floor at her grandpar...