The reader is invited to accompany me on a trip (return, not one-way) to second childhood. Those of us who learned Japanese as adults missed out, after all, on a vast store of linguistic experience. Is it irretrievable? Maybe not. The child's world is laid out in children's books. Leave your adulthood at the gate and walk in. No one will ask you for an ID. No one cares if you're not under 12.

Judging by a book I chose more or less at random, however, childhood is not what it used to be. The title is "Onna no ko ni makenai zo" (女の子に負けないぞ) — roughly, "No Way I'm Taking a Back Seat to Girls," by Sanae Kamijiyo (2002). The opening scene is strikingly contemporary. It is the start of a new school year and Nikichi, 11, is entering fifth grade. The first day of school brings with it suspense: Who's in my class? Who will the sensei (先生, teacher) be?

The kids are assembled, but, mysteriously, the teacher doesn't show. Why? At last the vice principal appears, visibly ill at ease. The teacher . . . er . . . couldn't come, he stammers. Why not? An accident. What kind of accident? A . . . er . . . traffic accident.