There is a short story on The New Yorker website now called "Town of Cats", written by my favorite writer of all time, Haruki Murakami. Oddly enough, I saw it on the New Yorker website's most popular list. Imagine my surprise when, in the first page, the main character is buying a train ticket to Chikura in Minamiboso to hit the beach! Smart man...
(Well, it's actually to visit his mentally-ill, slightly emotionally abusive father, but, who needs details.)
I haven't finished the story yet, but I have high hopes! Check it out here: http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2011/09/05/110905fi_fiction_murakami
The Japanese name for the story is 猫の町.
Apparently, Chikura is also a setting in his current his (in Japan, it hasn't yet been translated into English) 1Q84.
I am currently welling up with pride. Chikura is on the MAP!
Thank you so much for sharing this! I also really enjoy Murakami Haruki. The story was great and left me thinking. And it's extra amusing to know that he wrote about the Boso!
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