[Novel] 5 Centimeters Per Second (Byosoku 5 Centimeter) A chain of short stories about their distance. (Da Vinci Books)

[Machine Translation] Takaki Tono, a junior high school student in Tokyo, receives a letter from Akari Shinohara, his first love who has moved away from his school. It is the end of the winter of 1995. In order to reunite with Akari, Takaki heads for Iwafune station where Akari is waiting for him in the snow that is getting heavier and heavier. Eternity and moments intersect and rain down on the thirteen-year-old couple ("Sakurabana-sho"). It is the summer of 1999, the third year of high school, and everything is going wrong. Hanae Sumida, who lives on Tanegashima Island, has a fatal crush on Takaki, who has transferred from Tokyo. She has a fatal crush on Takaki, who has transferred from Tokyo, and confesses her love to him on the day she surfs a wave. With a secret resolution in her heart, Hanae desperately heads for the waves ("Cosmonaut"). On his way home late at night after work, Takaki looks up at a skyscraper with its lights out and thinks. There is no way that salvation will come to him so easily. He goes through university life in Tokyo, encounters with Risa Mizuno after finding a job, several losses, and a small rebirth. Then, the season when cherry blossoms bloom in Tokyo comes again ("5 Centimeters per Second"). This is the first novel by Makoto Shinkai, a film director who made a strong debut with his one-man animated film "Hoshino-no-e".

都内の中学に通う遠野貴樹(たかき)の元に、転校してしまった初恋の相手である篠原明里(あかり)からの手紙が届く。一九九五年の冬の終わり。明里との再会を果たすため、貴樹は次第に強くなる雪の中を明里の待つ岩舟駅へと向かう―。十三歳のふたりの上に永遠と瞬間が交差し、ふりそそぐ(『桜花抄』)。一九九九年、高校三年の何もかもうまくいかない夏。種子島に暮らす澄田花苗(かなえ)は、東京から転校してきた貴樹に宿命的な片想いをしている。サーフィンで波に立てた日に貴樹に告白すること。密やかな決意を胸に、花苗は必死に波に向かう(『コスモナウト』)。仕事を終えた深夜の帰宅路、貴樹は灯りの消えた高層ビルを見上げ思う。そんなに簡単に救いが降ってくるわけはないんだ、と―。東京での大学生活、就職してからの水野理紗(りさ)との出会い、いくつかの喪失とささやかな再生。そしてまた、東京に桜の咲く季節が訪れる(『秒速5センチメートル』)。一人で作ったアニメーション作品『ほしのこえ』で鮮烈なデビューを飾った、映画監督・新海誠の初小説作品。