okyo Ueno Station: A Novel (JR Uenoeki K?enguchi, 2014) by Y? Miri recounts the heartbreaking life story of an unnamed man, born in the same year as the now Emperor Emeritus Akihito (b. 1933; reigned 1989–2019). The protagonist’s son was born on the same day as Akihito’s eldest son, the present Emperor Naruhito, on 23 February 1960. In more ways than one, the life of the pro…