This short story collection by Ichikawa Haruko sensei is an exceptional work of art. It is quiet, unassuming, subtle, and sensitive to its understanding of the world and the human condition. It is within the vein of the Japanese philosophy of 'mono no aware', the beauty and subtle sadness of life's ephemerality, of life's shortness and passing and how people move on or never will. The short stories here are not conventional stories that we see in the likes of typical manga and novels where people react like people and events are made to occur as they would in the real world, the short storiestake from magical realism instead. Though the world of the stories here are reminiscent of real-world settings and events, there is always an underlying fantastical element that warps and twists how the characters perceive the world. Perhaps to the initiated, it may be a slight challenge to get used to, but once you find yourself adjusted, this truly is a wealth of great stories that are executed with sensitivity, nuance, and great imagination.

The stories Kusaka Kyoudai and the titular Mushi to Uta are so good that I would recommend reading the whole collection just for them.