"Well, there’s so much to read, and I’m so far behind." Wallace Stegner
When Saya sends a text to tell me she has a new boyfriend, I instantly write back: What's he like? But all she replies is: He's a doctor. Modern Japanese literature really is a world unto its own. From the dense, supernatural, magic realism fantasy that Murakami writes to the (often) saccharin sweet, story-with-message that … Continue reading What You Are Looking For is in the Library | Michiko Aoyama
Cover Design: Gingko leaves by Dana Li Five years ago I read Banana Yoshimoto's (1988) debut story Kitchen (which also contained the short story Moonlight Shadow). I enjoyed the two stories with some reservation about how deceptively simple they appeared. I think what I was trying to articulate back then is how it is possible for a … Continue reading Dead-end Memories | Banana Yoshimoto #JPNshortstories
There’s a person living not too far from me known as the Woman in the Purple Skirt. She only ever wears a purple-colored skirt – which is why she has this name. I had no idea what to expect from The Woman in the Purple Skirt - perhaps another Japanese story about a slightly odd … Continue reading The Woman in the Purple Skirt | Natsuko Imamura #JPNfiction
Tokyo Express | Translated by Jesse Kirkwood On the evening of the thirteenth of January, Tatsuo Yasuda invited one of his clients to join him at the Koyuki restaurant in Akasaka. His guest was a senior official at one of the government ministries. I acquired a reading copy of Tokyo Express back in November. At … Continue reading Tokyo Express | Seichō Matsumoto #JPNcrimefiction
One of the online sites that came up when I duck, duck, go'd this title, suggested She and Her Cat was one of the five translated books this season that could soothe a battered soul. My soul was not feeling particularly battered (except for this seemingly endless La Niña rain!) but I definitely felt soothed … Continue reading She and Her Cat | Makoto Shinkai & Naruki Nagakawa #JPNshortstories
May featured some wonderful, interesting stories, but I still don't feel up to writing about them in any length. I would like to acknowledge Cathy @746 Books and her glorious review of Claire Keegan's novella, Small Things Like These, last year that was the impetus for me picking up this book as soon as it … Continue reading May Mini Reviews
First things first, Grandpa's gone. Somehow I seem to have started 2022 with a run of books that have turned out to be only so-so. The Cat Who Saved Books was okay, but really it was little more than a simplistic YA story about why reading and books are so good. Yes, it's heart warming … Continue reading The Cat Who Saved Books | Sōsuke Natsukawa
When we left the hotel it was raining, a light, fine rain, as can sometimes happen in Tokyo in October. Cold Enough for Snow by Melbourne based author, Jessica Au, was the inaugural winner of The Novel Prize, a new biennial award established by Giramondo Publishing (Australia), Fitzcarraldo Editions (UK) and New Directions (USA). The novella … Continue reading Cold Enough For Snow | Jessica Au
A new series from Europa Editions, The Passenger collects the best new writing, photography, art and reportage from around the world. There are five books in The Passenger series to date - Japan, Greece, Brazil, Turkey and India. Two more are imminent - Berlin and Paris. I'm often a sucker for good packaging, and these books are … Continue reading The Passenger: Japan #travelwriting
First Person Singular has been my first foray into Murakami as a writer of short stories. I was somewhat wary. Having read and enjoyed his longer fiction (1q84, Kafka on the Shore, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage) and his non-fiction (What I Talk About When I Talk About Running) I wasn't sure … Continue reading First Person Singular | Haruki Murakami #ShortStories
From the best-selling author of Strange Weather in Tokyo comes a collection of playful, delightful, delectable Japanese micro-fiction. Take a story and shrink it. Make it tiny, so small it can fit in the palm of your hand. Carry the story with you everywhere, let it sit with you while you eat, let it watch you while … Continue reading People From My Neighbourhood | Hiromi Kawakami #JPNshortstories
What a wonderful reading experience! From the beautifully designed hardcover dust jacket (the gold seams actually sparkle in real life), to the impressive translation that seems to have captured the beauty and thoughtfulness of Neuman's original story, Fracture is a journey to savour. I knew I was in for a treat from the very first … Continue reading Fracture | Andrés Neuman #ARGfiction
I wanted to love The Forest of Wool and Steel far more than I did in the end. A coming-of-age story about a piano tuner from a remote mountain region in Hokkaido had all the right ingredients for me - one as a former (very amateur) piano enthusiast and two, as a recent visitor to Japan. It … Continue reading The Forest of Wool and Steel | Natsu Miyashita #JPNfiction
Week 3: (Nov. 11 to 15) – Be The Expert/Ask the Expert/Become the Expert (Katie at Doing Dewey): Three ways to join in this week! You can either share 3 or more books on a single topic that you have read and can recommend (be the expert), you can put the call out for good nonfiction … Continue reading Week 3 – Non-Fiction November
If Cats Disappeared from the World is an odd little book. I say odd because I'm not quite sure how I'm going to review it best.Obviously, it has a cute cover designed to attract the attention of any cat lover (me) and a title that would greatly concern said cat lover. I'm also a fan … Continue reading If Cats Disappeared from the World by Genki Kawamura
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