奥田英朗

Hideo Okuda

Meet Dr. Ichiro Irabu. In today's Japan, a traditional land beset by modern pressures and confusion, image-conscious people just can't be seen going to a therapist. Instead they visit "doctors of neurology" like Dr. Irabu. What makes the good doctor unique is his penchant for sharing his patients' stress-related ailments, aiding and abetting their compulsions .. and making them much worse before they get better. In this sardonic collection by Hideo Okuda, we meet the many faces of dysfunction in modern Japan. In "In the Pool," a magazine editor's midlife crisis sends him deep into an addiction to swimming that threatens his job and his marriage. "Making a Stand" focuses on a man who, recently left by his wife, suffers a constant, painful, and embarrassing erection. In "Trade Show Model" a pretty young woman believes every man she sees on the street is a stalker. In "Cell," a high-school student addicted to his cell phone cannot stop text-messaging the "friends" he so desperately wants. "Double Check" tells of a journalist afraid to leave home, for fear his house will burn down while he's gone. How does Dr. Irabu do it? "No, no, no. I don't do any of that fancy-pants sort of thing ... Some counselor listening to a patient's worries, then giving him wise words of encouragement. Perfectly useless." His approach seems to work.

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