hedgehog
Trapeze
Craftsman's Wig
third baseman
female writer

Winner of the 131st Naoki Prize!

The hilarious 'happiness virus' spread by the incorrigible psychiatrist Irabu!
Although he may be an unfamiliar name to Korean readers, Hideo Okuda is considered the “best storyteller” in Japan.
The novel "Swing in the Sky," which won him the 131st Naoki Prize, was published by Ginkgo Tree.

Set in a strange psychiatric hospital, this work, which features a series of hilarious incidents, sent Japan into a frenzy of laughter throughout 2004.
And riding on that momentum, it rose to the top spot on the Japanese Amazon bestseller list in August.

The "Swing in the Sky" syndrome that rocked Japan for a year can still be seen on sites like Amazon Japan.
‘Guaranteed to make you burst out laughing’, ‘A book that requires a lot of patience to read in public’, ‘A masterpiece that makes you burst out laughing just thinking about the main character’s name’… … .

As can be guessed from reader reviews like this, the fun of 『Swing in the Air』 comes from the fact that it is "comedic enough to make you cry."
And at the fuse of this 'megaton-level laughter bomb', the unimaginably eccentric doctor 'Irabu' is giggling with his eyes sparkling with mischief.
Irabu, who always gets into bizarre trouble due to his unstoppable playful instinct, is a character who at first glance seems more suited to wearing a patient gown than a doctor's gown.
A reckless treatment method that involves tying up a patient and suddenly injecting them with injections, a sly laughter reminiscent of a ‘virgin in a historical drama,’ and an excessively strong appetite that could force a rib restaurant to close…
But this is more like a show of affection.
Under the pretext of accompanying the patients in their every move, Irabu challenges himself to a trapeze circus with his hippopotamus-like body, gives them all kinds of advice with an innocent expression in a yakuza negotiation where sword fighting is a common occurrence, and even joins forces with a patient suffering from deviant impulses to climb up onto an overpass and secretly change a signpost (Before Irabu and his gang's playfulness, 'In front of Konno Shrine' becomes 'In front of Testicles Shrine', and 'Oi 1-chome' becomes 'Tempura Donburi 1-chome').
Although it is absurd and arbitrary, the effectiveness of Irabu-style psychotherapy is surprising.
The obsessive-compulsive disorder of patients, which showed no signs of resolution, is miraculously cured after much struggle, and readers experience a heart-warming emotion along with cheerful laughter.

A hilarious parade of bizarre characters
In 『Swing in the Air』, in addition to the main character Irabu, characters who surpass the common sense of ordinary people appear without giving us a moment to breathe.
Nurse 'Mayumi', who forms a golden combination with Irabu, is a character who goes out in a mini nurse uniform (or hot pants) that reveals her chest and thighs all year round.
Whether she has a patient or not, she always has a dull expression on her face, smokes a cigarette continuously, or lies down on the sofa and flips through a rock magazine.
After spending the day like that, the moment he receives a call from Irabu saying, “Hey, Mayumi-chan,” he quickly and accurately brings out two cups of coffee, or clutches a “thick syringe as thick as a hot dog” like a weapon and rushes to the patient with a fierce expression like a “Vajra God.”

The lineup of patients visiting the hospital is equally astonishing.
A yakuza boss who can't straighten his jaw at the mere sight of a toothpick, a psychiatrist who is tormented by the urge to rip off the wig of his father-in-law and hospital director, a veteran acrobat who frequently falls from the trapeze, a popular writer who struggles because he can't remember the plot of his own work...
As patients suffering from such ironic and absurd obsessive-compulsive disorder come to visit one by one, five independent episodes unfold, and each episode exquisitely follows the rhythm of the introduction, development, turn, and conclusion, completing the long novel series called “Swing in the Air.”

A prescription for modern people suffering from depression
In this way, it is clear that 『Swing in the Air』 is a work in which comedy is emphasized more than any other element.
However, the fact that it is funny alone is not enough to fully express the charm of 『Swing in the Air』.
At first glance, this work may seem like a simple comedy in which a bunch of strange people who don't exist anywhere appear, cause a scene, and then disappear.
But if you read the work carefully, you will realize that the bizarre characters are just like us living today, and the absurd happenings are fragments of modern society.
Author Hideo Okuda witfully and satirically captures the image of modern people who, without making any active efforts to escape the bleak reality, suffer from empty desires for escape, ultimately falling into depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
And through the travels of Irabu, a "playful person" who pushes forward through life with an optimistic attitude that doesn't think about the consequences, it opens up an emergency exit for readers to escape from the stifling reality that feels like a hamster wheel.
In short, this work is a story that shouts, “Don’t be scared, don’t frown, life is nothing special!” to modern people who live with at least one obsession, big or small.
With a brilliant sense of humor reminiscent of slapstick comedy, "Swing in the Air" is a delightful work that generously injects optimistic and positive energy into those weighed down by the weight of life.