There was a second knock on the door now. Mokichi stood up behind his desk and called out, ‘Yes, yes. Please come in …’
Akutagawa opened the door, bowing and excusing the interruption, thanking Mokichi for his time and for agreeing to visit Uno –
‘Since the spring, Uno’s been displaying the symptoms of an increasingly severe nervous breakdown,’ began Akutagawa, at speed, ‘one minute up, one minute down, high and then low, manic then moribund. But his wife says Uno’s been out on the streets this morning, bellowing and shouting wildly at passers-by, stopping the traffic. The woman’s at her wits’ end, desperate for help, so I promised to call you …’
‘Let’s go then,’ said Mokichi, coming out from behind his desk, picking up his bag, but conscious Akutagawa himself did not seem so well.
Since their first meeting in Nagasaki, almost ten years ago now, and then more frequently following his return from Europe, Mokichi had met Akutagawa quite often, had come to like him, but be concerned for him, too. Akutagawa had always been thin, but now he was painfully gaunt, his skin grey, his hair and nails both long and dirty, and today, perhaps stimulated by the condition of his friend Uno, he seemed manic, almost possessed –
‘It’s so shocking, so frightening. Terrifying … Any one of us, at any moment, could end up like Uno … I feel as though what’s happening to him is happening to me,’ ranted Akutagawa, yet grinning broadly, opening his eyes wider, and then shivering in mock fear.
Mokichi knew Akutagawa feared he had inherited his mother’s insanity, that he was also plagued by insomnia, and so, for the last year or so, Mokichi had been prescribing draughts to help him sleep. But as he led him out of the office, past the temporary buildings, towards the waiting car, Mokichi wondered if Akutagawa was sleeping, had slept at all.
Suddenly, Akutagawa veered off from Mokichi, over to a patch of grass, close to the burnt-out ruins of the old hospital, and standing there, staring at the treetops of the Aoyama Cemetery, he smiled and said, ‘I hadn’t noticed, but it’s actually a nice day, this breeze most refreshing …’
‘It is,’ said Mokichi. ‘Let’s go to see Uno …’
In the car from Aoyama to Ueno Sakuragichō, Akutagawa was again most animated, speaking as though delivering a lecture on insanity, citing statistics on the rapid rise in the numbers of people being institutionalised, quoting the popular phrases of the day, such as ‘civilisation disease’, ‘city disease’, ‘modern disease’, ‘the sickness of our age’ and even ‘American disease’, while constantly saying, over and over, again and again, ‘It’s all so shocking, it’s all so frightening; it could happen to any one of us at any moment, happen to me, especially me,’ then shivering in mock fear again. Yet had he not known of their long friendship, and his own maladies and fears, Mokichi might have thought Akutagawa was even being flippant, almost relishing and enjoying the adventure of Uno’s breakdown.
Fortunately, when they finally arrived at the house, Uno seemed much calmer than he had been earlier, sitting quietly in the dim room under the staircase with the light from the shabby passageway falling on the right side of his body, not even the least bit suspicious of Mokichi, a stranger.
‘You seem to be suffering from a slight nervous breakdown,’ Akutagawa told Uno in a calmer tone now. ‘So I thought Dr Saitō here should check your condition.’
Uno smiled, gently nodded, and then cheerfully, almost proudly announced to Mokichi, ‘I have never, ever had such clarity of thought as I’ve had these past few days. Two hours’ sleep a night is more than enough.’
‘That’s very good,’ said Mokichi, opening up his doctor’s bag. He took out a brush, asked Uno to open up his yukata, and then, while lightly stroking his skinny chest, he softly said, ‘That tickles, doesn’t it?’
‘Yes,’ giggled Uno, squirming, ‘it tickles.’
Mokichi poked out his tongue in jest, smiled and said, ‘Well, it seems your nerves are just a little bit too stimulated, and so it might be better to take a tranquilliser for now, don’t you think?’
Uno giggled again and nodded.
‘And you should rest and sleep as much as you can, shouldn’t you? You’ll feel much better then, won’t you? And so let’s take a tranquilliser now, shall we? Then I’ll leave you some more for later, if you would like?’
‘Actually, I have a very good tranquilliser with me,’ said Akutagawa suddenly, putting his hand inside his pocket and taking out a package.
‘It’s okay, thank you. I’ll give him mine instead,’ said Mokichi, taking out a sachet from his bag, dividing the powder into two. He then reached back inside his bag, took out a needle and syringe, and said, ‘And just as a precaution, I think we should take a little blood. Just to check …’
Uno still remained very calm, smiling and agreeing to the blood test, still smiling and giggling as Mokichi gently took the blood, then smiling and nodding, swallowing the tranquilliser, washing it down, still smiling and promising to rest and sleep as much as he could, then cheerfully saying goodbye to Mokichi and Akutagawa, happily showing them out, hoping they would call again soon, urging them to take care on their way home –
‘For who knows when and who disaster will strike down next …’
Outside on the street, Akutagawa was relieved the visit had gone so well, most grateful to Mokichi for his help and for his time. ‘The day is almost done, and so if you’re not too busy now, and it’s not an inconvenient place, will you join me for dinner at Jishōken, so I can thank you properly?’
‘You really don’t need to thank me,’ said Mokichi. ‘However, as always, I would
