Coin Locker Babies

Coin Locker Babies (コインロッカー・ベイビーズ, Koinrokkā Beibīzu^?), 1980) is a novel by Ryu Murakami, translated into English by Stephen Snyder. The translation was published in 1995 by Kodansha (講談社 Kōdansha) International Ltd.

Plot summary

It is the surreal story of two boys, Hashi and Kiku, who were both abandoned by their mothers during infancy and locked in coin lockers at a Tokyo train station in the summer of 1972. Both boys become wards of the Cherryfield Orphanage in Yokohama, where the tough and athletic Kiku comes to the defense of the slight, and often picked on, Hashi.

They are adopted by foster parents, the Kuwayamas (the wife is Zainichi Korean) who live on an island off Kyushu. At the age of 16 both move into a diseased urban wasteland named Toxitown, in Tokyo. Hashi becomes a bisexual rock star, employed by an eccentric producer named D. Kiku becomes a pole vaulter and with his girlfriend Anemone, a model who has converted her condo into a swamp for her crocodile, searches for a substance named DATURA in order to take his revenge upon the city of Tokyo and destroy it. Along the way, however, in a search for Hashi's real mother, Hashi and D come upon a woman who turns out to be Kiku's... with grave consequences for them all.

Film adaptation

A film version of the book is currently in development, starring Val Kilmer, Tadanobu Asano and Asia Argento. The screenplay was worked on by Jordan Galland, Peter Kline and Sean Lennon. The film is being directed by Michele Civetta and produced by Don Murphy & French Mini-major studio Wild Bunch.

Legacy

The creators of the game "Silent Hill 4: The Room" stated in an interview that this book was an influence for that game.^[1]
The character Anemone from the series "Eureka Seven", and her pet Gulliver, were also named after the character and her pet alligator from the novel.

References