First Love by Rio Shimamoto, translated by Louise Heal Kawai (Honford Star)

Rio Shimamoto is a Japanese writer who was born in Tokyo in 1983. She was the winner of the Gunzo New Writers’ Prize in 2001 for her book Silhouette while she was still a high school student. She was nominated for the Akutagawa Prize in 2002 for her novella Little by Little which did not win but did win the Noma Literary New Face Prize. 

Shimamoto was nominated for the Akutagawa Prize four times and she was nominated twice for the Naoki Prize. Her book, First Love, was first published in 2018 by Bunshu Bunko. The English language version was translated by Louise Heal Kawai and published in 2024.

Kanna Hijiriyama is a young college student whose goal in life was to become a television news anchor. She has just been arrested by the police for stabbing her own father. When she was being taken into custody by the police, she said to them, “You’ll have to discover my motives for yourselves”. 

You would think that Hijiriyama would be the main focus of the story but she’s not. The true protagonist is Yuki Makabe, a clinical psychologist who specializes in working with hikikomori, socially withdrawn children. The book begins with Makabe being interviewed on a television program titled After Hours Children Clinic which is hosted by a man with four children of his own. 

When asked if she thinks there is anything particular that strikes her about hikikomori, she tells the interviewers and the viewers at home, “Everyone believes that love is something that you have to show your children constantly. But in fact, sometimes that can be the root of the problem”. This scene foreshadows the plot of the story which starts out as a murder mystery but evolves into a courtroom drama focusing on filial piety. 

Makade was approached by a publisher to write a book about Hijiriyama from a psychologist’s perspective. Around the same time, she is contacted by Kasho, her brother-in-law, who wants to discuss an upcoming case about a certain young woman. Kasho has been appointed the defense lawyer for Kanna Hijiriyama. 

Makabe and Kasho are still pondering the motive for the murder. Makabe can’t believe that her parents' opposition to her chosen profession is motive enough to kill her father. Makabe believes there’s something hidden deep within Hijiriyama that triggered her actions. Makabe also doesn’t want to sensationalize the murder which may have an influence on the case. 

As the story progresses, we learn that Kanna Hijiriyama’s father is a famous artist. He is also a strict disciplinarian. Her mother is portrayed as being subservient to her husband and is quite selfish herself. Although Hijiriyama’s case doesn’t seem to be all that complicated, Makabe still cannot make sense of Hijiriyama’s motive. She believes that a “young woman would have to be very determined to kill her own father”. 

She also asks herself, “Why did an ordinary student, in the middle of the regular job-hunting-season, suddenly exhibit such violence”. As Makabe and her brother-in-law dig deeper into the case, we learn more about Kanna Hijiriyama’s past. It becomes evident that she did not have a normal childhood which may have been the root cause for her to kill her father. 

The problem is how can the defense attorney prove that Kanna Hijiriyama was not in a right state of mind when the murder happened. Can he gain sympathy for her even though she admits that it was by her hand that her father died. And will Makabe’s expertise as a clinical psychologist help in any way? The answers may surprise you. ~Ernie Hoyt