Description

An unnamed American woman has spent four years living in Tokyo with her Japanese boyfriend, Taka. Once an aspiring artist in New York, she has abandoned her creative ambitions and settled into teaching corporate English. Her carefully controlled life changes when photographs reveal that Taka’s younger sister, Shizuka, has become dangerously thin.

Shizuka dropped out of college and now lives in a deteriorating Harlem apartment with her girlfriend, Becky. She claims that everything is fine, but the narrator immediately recognizes the signs of anorexia. During a Christmas visit to America, she persuades Taka to confront his sister before the illness kills her.

Inside Shizuka and Becky’s apartment, they find unfinished paintings, an almost empty refrigerator and evidence that Shizuka is also bingeing and purging. Becky admits that she cannot force Shizuka to eat and has become overwhelmed by the responsibility of keeping her alive.

As Taka prepares to give Shizuka an ultimatum, the narrator is forced to recognize an uncomfortable parallel: Shizuka may be destroying herself for her art and relationship, but the narrator has sacrificed her own creative identity for safety and stability. The story ends with a disturbing late-night telephone call before Shizuka’s fate is confirmed.