# The Emissary

- Author: Yoko Tawada
- Translator: Margaret Mitsutani
- Original title (Japanese): 献灯使
- First published: 2014
- Publisher: New Directions
- This edition: 2018
- ISBN: 9780811227629
- Shelf: Japanese Literature in Translation

## Card

In a sealed-off future Japan, a great-grandfather over a hundred years old cares for his frail great-grandson.  
Playful wordplay and gentle humor sit beside quiet worry, and the short book is full of strange, tender detail.  
For a night with a child asleep nearby.  

## About this book

After an unnamed disaster, Japan has closed itself off from the world, and the very old seem unable to die while children are born weak. Yoshiro, past one hundred, spends his days finding food and comfort for Mumei, his great-grandson, who can barely chew or walk but stays cheerful and curious. Foreign words have fallen out of use, and the language bends in odd, funny ways. What stays is a tender picture of care in a damaged world.

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- Book page (samples and where to buy): https://nijuyoji-bookstore.pages.dev/b/9780811227629/
- Title and author checked against Open Library (2026-10-27). No prices or stock.
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- Nijuyoji Bookstore (https://nijuyoji-bookstore.pages.dev/). Book data: Open Library and Google Books.