下町サイキック

by Banana Yoshimoto, 吉本 ばなな

「友おじさん、どうして人は色とかお金とかに目がくらむの？」
「人はいつだって、今の人生をとにかく変えたいと思ってるからだよ。」

下町で生まれ育ったキヨカは幼いころから、目に見えないものが見える能力を持っていた。中学生になって、ご近所に住む友おじさんが運営する「自習室」の空間を、その力で清めるアルバイトをしていた。そんなある日、母と離婚して家を出た父が、自殺未遂を図ったという連絡が入って――。人と違う能力を持つ少女が世界を生き延びるための、暮らしの知恵が詰まった最新長編！

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Published May 9, 2025

About the author

Banana Yoshimoto (よしもと ばなな or 吉本 ばなな) is the pen name of Mahoko Yoshimoto (吉本 真秀子), a Japanese contemporary writer. She writes her name in hiragana. (See also 吉本芭娜娜 (Chinese).)

Along with having a famous father, poet Takaaki Yoshimoto, Banana's sister, Haruno Yoiko, is a well-known cartoonist in Japan. Growing up in a liberal family, she learned the value of independence from a young age.

She graduated from Nihon University's Art College, majoring in Literature. During that time, she took the pseudonym "Banana" after her love of banana flowers, a name she recognizes as both "cute" and "purposefully androgynous."

Despite her success, Yoshimoto remains a down-to-earth and obscure figure. Whenever she appears in public she eschews make-up and dresses simply. She keeps her personal life guarded, and reveals little about her certified Rolfing practitioner, Hiroyoshi Tahata and son (born in 2003). Instead, she talks about her writing. Each day she takes half an hour to write at her computer, and she says, "I tend to feel guilty because I write these stories almost for fun."