two (but nothing about this dreaded adulthood I fear so much). My dad didn’t cease to exist. When he
finished diminishing, he grew bigger, more real, and dominated everything else (that is another story).
What does that mean for Takashima? I’m sure it’s still there. I’m sure it still exists and will for a while to
come. And making sure it exists is a serious task; because if it ever ceased to exist, its spirit would dominate
everything.
*
From my room in Edgewater, Florida in the year of 2013, I do a web search on Takashima using key words
typed in Japanese characters. On the Wikipedia page for Takashima it says that the population is 722 and
that the island is 1.39 square kilometers. I find other things on Takashima that I seemed to have missed that
day—supposedly there was a museum on coal mining not too far from the port.
*
It’s the summer of 2008. I’m still 26 and confused. But though the path is weeded over, I find my way
back d