Japanese horror and gothic literature focuses more on psychological
terror than anything else. Japanese horror uses techniques of tension and
suspense building with supernatural elements to leave the reader antsy and on
edge. In the novel A Wild Sheep Chase, many of these elements are utilized to
leave the reader constantly questioning what is going on and what the point is
to many of the happenings. Like many Japanese horrors, A Wild Sheep Chase has
ghosts and mystery surrounding them; the reader doesn’t know Rat, who is
commonly mentioned in the story as the narrator attempts to find him, is a
ghost until it is revealed later in the story.
This story focuses on the mystery that Rat’s disappearance and
the image of the sheep is shrouded in. The narrator is sent on a mission to
find a particular sheep in this image that was used at his ad agency as a
visitor tells him to take the ad down and do so. The visitor threatens his livelihood
if he does not comply. Many of the elements in A Wild Sheep Chase, such as the
unnamed narrator, the visitor, the happenings/tasks without any explanation
(finding the sheep, taking the ad down, the missing girlfriend later in the
story, the sheep man) all work together to create this incredibly mysterious
setting that pushes the reader to constantly ask questions about what is going
on.
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