在东京大川（原文此处可能有误，应为Tatekawa）一间毫不起眼的公寓里，一位美国妇女聘请了一位日本妇女来翻译有关日本出生率下降的采访内容。美国妇女对日本的认知带着傲慢的态度，而日本妇女则自认为有足够的客观距离。她们在情感纠葛中历经磨难、相互较量，最终走向崩溃。此时，故事走向了科幻领域，因为翻译工作中断，她们所处的世界仿佛被对自身死亡的认知所浸染。这个社区曾经历过灾难，1945年3月9日晚被美国炸弹摧毁。 第三个主角是塔特卡河，这条运河被一条高架公路覆盖，公路穿过翻译所住的公寓，该街区也因此得名。塔特卡河以蓝色、绿色或闪亮的黑色扭曲图案倒映着混凝土世界，它承载着不断变换的事物，有鸟、鞋、避孕套、螃蟹、塑料袋、花、大鱼、小鱼，还有死亡与生命。 英文原文：In a faceless apartment in Tatekawa, Tokyo, an American woman hires a Japanese woman to translate an interview about the declining birth rate in Japan. The American woman's understanding of Japan is arrogant; the Japanese woman fancies she has excessive critical distance. They struggle, fight, and break down in love or desire. At this time, their story veers into the realm of science fiction because the translation interrupts their work, and their story comes from a world infected by the knowledge of their own death. This community has known disaster, being destroyed by American bombs on the night of March 9, 1945. The third protagonist is the Tatekawa River itself. This canal is covered by an elevated highway that passes through the translator's apartment, giving the neighborhood its name. The Tatekawa River reflects the concrete world in twisted patterns of blue, green, or shiny black. It carries a constant stream of changing things: birds, shoes, condoms, crabs, plastic bags, flowers, big fish, small fish, death, and life.