Yoshie in Tachikawa

Yoshie has been living in an old condominium in Tachikawa, Tokyo, since 1973. Tachikawa is a lively city. The city is not so big, but more than 176,000 people live in Tachikawa. In 2015, a couple who were madly in love, moved to the condominium but they left after one year. Their room was next to Yoshie’s room. According to a young gentleman, he and his “lovely”, young girlfriend, saw a creepy, old woman’s ghost on the balcony. They also heard strange noises from next door at midnight, even though no-one was next door. When the gentleman and the lady talked to the landlord about their ghost story, she hoped that the landlord would scold them. However, he was surprised at the couple’s story and recommended they move out of the condominium. Yoshie murmured behind the lady, “I’m alive. I am a human, not a ghost.” The lady turned around quickly, but then cocked her head because there were no one behind her.

March 27, 2018, was a happy day for Yoshie. She heard that a new resident would live in the next door to her. She was bored because no one had lived next door to her since 2016. A man who seemed familiar for Yoshie, and employees of a moving company, arrived in the condominium that morning. Yoshie really wanted to tell the man, “Welcome to Tachikawa! This is a good place!”, but she didn’t. If Yoshie had said something, the moving company’s employees would be surprised, and would have dropped the man’s dishes. Right after the employees and the man finished their work, Yoshie tried to see the man’s face. His face seemed super familiar, but she couldn’t remember his name. Several weeks later, the man came back late at night. Maybe, he was an office worker in Tachikawa. As Yoshie saw the daily routines of the man, she remembered that the man was her grandson, Masayuki. “I might be living next door to my grandson”, Yoshie murmured. On the other hand, she wasn’t really sure that he was really Masayuki. Then, Yoshie decided that she would talk to the man who she thought might be her grandson.

It was late one evening on April 24, 2018. Yoshie knocked on the next unit’s door. “Who can it be now?”, the man grumbled. This thought can came to him like the song, “Who Can It Be Now” by Men at Work. The man wasn’t at work, though. Yoshie recalled the sweet old song, and waited calmly for him. “Hello…? Wait, what? Are you serious?! Grandma?!” “Are you Masayuki? I’m so happy to see you again!” “How amazing. I thought you died in 2005, grandma.” Yoshie was happy to see her grandson, but she wondered why even her grandson said she had died already. “I didn’t die yet. Everyone who saw me surprised and ran away. I don’t understand.” “Well, maybe I shouldn’t say this, but your legs are translucent.” “Are you kidding me?” Yoshie looked down and checked her legs. They were translucent. “I can’t believe this. I am alive. I have been living next door to you for 45 years.” “Excuse me, grandma. I know that you died in 2005. You were 85 years old, and I was 10 years old. I am 22 years old now. And… I’ve never heard about any human living in the same condo for 45 years existing on this earth.” “Are you saying that I am a ghost, Masayuki?” “Yes, you are the ghost. Stop saying that you are alive, grandma.” Her mystery was solved. Everyone ran way from her because she was the ghost. However, Yoshie was shocked, too. “Oh, okay… so, what should I do then, Masayuki?” “Uh… I have no idea.”

[The End.]