Tag: Japanese

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2014 Books in Translation Other Prizes

Colorless Tsukuru and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage Shortlisted for the 2015 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize

Translated from the Japanese by Philip Gabriel

Five words from the blurb: friends, school, death, connections, reason

Tsukuru is 36, but as a teenager he was part of a group of five friends. One day they stopped talking to him and he felt abandoned. He hasn’t seen them for 16 years, but continues to be haunted by the mysterious way he was ostracised from the group. His girlfriend sees the pain this is causing and persuades him to track down his friends to discover the real reason that they blocked him out of their lives all those years ago.

I think I read this at exactly the right time in my life. I am also 36 and, coincidentally, was also part of a group of five in school. I married one of them, so am well aware of the way relationships effect the dynamics within a group. Last week we went to a wedding and the five of us were together again for the first time in fifteen years (although we have seen them all individually occasionally since then). Colorless Tsukuru and His Years of Pilgrimage perfectly captures the feelings of meeting people that you were once very close to. Discovering how old friends have changed is a strange thing, and imagining how small decisions from the past could have changed the course of your life is hard to get your head around. 

Murakami delves into a range of emotions, explaining them beautifully: 

Jealousy – at least as far as he understood it from his dream – was the most hopeless prison in the world. Jealousy was not a place he was forced into by someone else, but a jail in which the inmate entered voluntarily, locked the door, and threw away the key. And not another soul in the world knew he was locked inside. Of course if he wanted to escape, he could do so. The prison was, after all, his own heart. But he couldn’t make that decision. His heart was as hard as a stone wall. This was the very essence of jealousy. 

The first 80 pages of this book were very slow, but then Tsukuru started to meet his friends and the plot picked up pace. I was completely absorbed by the mystery and loved the way each character had a slightly different relationship with the others – I don’t think I’ve read many other books that have captured teenage group dynamics with this realism.

This book didn’t contain any of the strange mythology that Murakami is famous for, but it provides an insight into the lives of ordinary Japanese people. It isn’t necessary to know anything about the culture before reading this book, so is a good choice for those looking to try Japanese literature for the first time.

Overall, this is a strong book that deserves its place on the IFFP shortlist. The ending was perfect and I highly recommend it to anyone who has lost touch with old friends.

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Categories
2000 - 2007 Books in Translation

Strangers by Taichi Yamada

Strangers Translated from the Japanese by Wayne P Lammers

Five words from the blurb: ghost, parents, grief, isolation, reality

Strangers begins with Harada, a recently divorced scriptwriter, spotting a man who looks like his father. This is impossible as Harada’s parents died when he was just twelve-years-old, but a deep longing leads him to ignore this fact and he finds himself in a relationship with the parents he lost all those years ago:

A thirty-something couple could not possibly be the parents of a 47-year-old man – no, make that a 48-year-old man, as of today. But being with them had made me feel like a boy again. Of course, a boy could not have been drinking whiskey, but in a moment of alcohol-induced carelessness, I had actually addressed the man as “Dad”, and he had answered “Yeah?” exactly as if I were indeed his little boy.

Strangers is one of those rare novels that can be enjoyed on many different levels. It may simply be read as a gripping ghost story, but it also contains many layers beneath the surface and with thought it quickly becomes more complex than it initially appears.

This book encapsulates everything I love about Japanese literature. It is weird, but wonderful and contains a unique approach to literature that you won’t find in many Western novels. The simple, but powerful text seamlessly blends the Japanese spirit world with reality – creating a strangely convincing situation that the reader never questions.

I loved the way it captured the emotional intensity of grief without becoming depressing. The need for an adult man to maintain a relationship with his parents was wonderfully portrayed and I found the entire book touching. There was also a beautifully creepy atmosphere, but it retained a hopefulness and never became overbearing or scary.

The pacing of the book was perfect and I was gripped throughout. The simple, pared-back language allowed the reader to fill in the blanks and, whilst this won’t appeal to everyone, it allowed me to immerse myself in this bizarre situation. The ending was particularly satisfying and I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time to come.

Highly recommended, especially to those wanting to try Japanese literature for the first time.

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I read this book for Tony’s January in Japan project. Head over there to find out about many more wonderful Japanese books!

Categories
2013 Books in Translation Chunkster Thriller

From the Fatherland, With Love by Ryu Murakami

From the Fatherland With Love

Translated from the Japanese by Ralph McCarthy, Charles De Wolf, and Ginny Tapley Takemori

Five words from the blurb: Japan, invaded, North Korean, troops, death

From the Fatherland, With Love is a political thriller which describes a scarily plausible series of events in which North Korean special forces invade Japan. The book begins with them taking a sports stadium and its 30,000 occupants hostage and then shows how they progress to take control of increasingly large areas of Japan. The detail was so convincing that I spent most of my time worrying about the fact this book is in the public domain and terrorists could copy the clever (but devastating) ideas. I hope that authorities in Japan have read this book and closed some of the loopholes in their security and that terrorists don’t try to replicate any of the scenarios in this book, anywhere. Please visit to find about diy techniques.

I’m not normally a fan of thrillers, especially politically motivated ones, but there is something about the North Koreans that makes them especially compelling. I loved the background detail which explained what it was like to grow up under a tyrannical leader and how this upbringing changes the basic personality of the North Koreans. The interaction of the invading troops with the Japanese people was fascinating, although I suspect that most of the brilliant observations will be lost on those who aren’t familiar with the Japanese culture. I didn’t understand all the references to the Japanese political system, but a small amount of googling allowed me to understand the basic chain of command and I didn’t feel as though I was missing out on much.

 …the various intelligence services in Japan had no history of sharing information, and there was no system in place for integrating intelligence. In the event of an emergency or major disaster, it fell to the Security Council to collate information and direct the appropriate response to the crisis, but the various intelligence agencies lacked the channels for passing information to the Council in the first place. Why didn’t the Japanese government take intelligence seriously?….Suzuki thought there was a simple reason for it: that it simply wasn’t seen as necessary and therefore wasn’t considered important. Japan had no history of invasion by foreign countries, and was not composed of different ethnic groups with conflicting interests. For centuries domestic relations had been far more important than foreign ones, and the country was simply unable to adapt to the changed circumstances.

The book is 666 pages long and it did take a large investment of time to complete. There was a small section in the middle where I lost interest, but the momentum quickly picked up again and I was hooked through to the end. It isn’t a fast paced read, but the reader is desperate to discover how everything unfolds and so it remains gripping throughout.  There were a few too many characters for me, but I was impressed by the complexity and depth of the majority of them.

From the Fatherland, With Love is very different in style from Piercing, the only other book by Ryu Murakami that I’ve read. Piercing was very short and chilling. The only element shared by the books was the occasional gruesome scene involving blood-splattered violence; otherwise it would be impossible to tell that they were both written by the same person.

Overall this is a very intelligent book. It gives a chilling insight into the holes in Japan’s security; whilst at the same time giving a thorough examination of the Japanese and North Korean culture. Recommended to anyone who likes to learn from their literature.

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The thoughts of other bloggers:

 …a great story, and one whose ending works very well. Tony’s Reading List

…a compelling and shocking read. A Common Reader

…a wonderful cast of characters in a tale that rollicks along with all the mayhem, violence & action one expects from a Ryu Murakami book  The Parrish Lantern

Categories
Books in Translation Other Prizes Uncategorized

Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami

Strange Weather in Tokyo Translated from the Japanese by Allison Markin Powell

Shortlisted for 2012 Man Asian Literary Prize

Five words from the blurb: romance, old, teacher, friendship, solace

Strange Weather is Tokyo is a beautifully written story about the friendship that develops between Tsukiko and one of her former high school teachers. The pair meet by chance in a bar and over time their relationship blossoms into a strange love affair.

Very little happens over the course of the book, but I was captivated by the quality of the writing. If the same story had been set in England I’d have probably been bored, but there is something about the Japanese way of life that fascinates me. I loved the atmospheric descriptions of the bars and food had a high prominence – it was mouthwatering:

With renewed determination, I seized a piece of the fish with my chopsticks and dunked it in the gingered soy sauce. The firm flesh had a slightly peculiar flavour. I sipped from my glass of cold sake and looked around the bar. Today’s menu was written in chalk on the blackboard: MINCED BONITO. FLYING FISH. NEW POTATOES. BROAD BEANS. BOILED PORK. If sensei were here, he would definitely order the bonito and broad beans first.

It is probably worth pointing out that the cover of this book is quite misleading. The floating woman implies some supernatural element, but this book is firmly grounded in reality. Anyone looking for the more bizarre aspects of Japanese fiction will be disappointed.

Despite the slow pace of the plot I read this book very quickly – it only took a few hours to reach the emotionally charged end. It’s the perfect way to be briefly immersed in Japanese culture.

Recommended to those who love all things Japanese.

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For more Japanese book reviews see Tony’s January in Japan blog..

Categories
1960s Books in Translation

The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima

The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea (Vintage Classics) Translated from the Japanese by John Nathan

Five words from the blurb: savage, boys, mother, affair, sailor

Yukio Mishima is an important Japanese author; infamous for committing seppuku (ritual suicide) at the age of forty-five. He was born into a samurai family and is renowned for having complete control over both his mind and body. I was keen to see this power and try one of his books for the first time.

The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea was first published in 1963 and concentrates on a group of thirteen-year-old boys who commit a range of savage acts. Noboru is one of this gang. He lives with his widowed mother, but everything changes when she begins to have an affair with a ship’s officer and he observes their sexual relationship through a hole in his bedroom wall.

I was gripped throughout and completed this short book in a single day. The writing was excellent and the descriptions were particularly evocative:

He never cried, not even in his dreams, for hard-heartedness was a point of pride. A large iron anchor withstanding the corrosion of the sea and scornful of the barnacles and oysters that harass the hulls of ships, sinking polished and indifferent through heaps of broken glass, toothless combs, bottle caps, and prophylactics into the mud at habor bottom – that was how he liked to imagine his heart.

Readers of a sensitive nature should be warned that some of the scenes in this book, especially one involving the murder of a kitten, were graphic and disturbing. These scenes had more impact because they were sandwiched between gentle ones observing nature and the sea.

My only problem with this book was that I didn’t see the point of it. The reader wasn’t given enough background information to understand why this group of boys became so violent. Without knowing (and so being able to sympathise with) their motivations the book lacked that extra power. This was compounded by the faceless nature of the gang – it was impossible to bond with characters known only as “Boy 2” and “Boy 3”.

This was a compelling read, but overall I wouldn’t recommend it. Perhaps those who enjoy short stories would have more luck with it?

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The thoughts of other bloggers:

…a genuinely perverse book, and worth reading because of the insight it gives into a mindset that is alien to most of us. Asylum

I didn’t really enjoy this book. WinstonsDad’s Blog

…it has a really powerful ending and it’s one I would definitely recommend. Dead Saukko

 

Categories
2000 - 2007 Books in Translation

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami

Hard-Boiled Wonderland And The End Of The World

Five words from the blurb: unicorn, librarians, descent, tradegy, detachment

Hard-Boiled Wonderland is my fifth Murakami (I’ve read Wild Sheep Chase, Norwegian Wood, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and Kafka on the Shore) but although I loved the bizarre scenes, I think I understood this book less than any of the others I’ve read.

The book contained a dual narrative: one part set in an alternative version of modern Japan, the other in a mysterious walled city. These short, alternating chapters added pace and ensured the reader was never bored.

The plot revolved around unicorns; trying to avoid strange vicious creatures called INKlings; and bizarre experiments on the mind. I loved the first two aspects, but the third confused me. I also failed to understand the book’s concept. I think I’d benefit from reading a study guide, as far too much went over my head.

The writing style was simpler and less vibrant than the other Murakamis I’ve read and I initially struggled to connect with it. It took about 70 pages before I was gripped to the plot and there was one point, about 40 pages in, where I even considered abandoning it. Luckily I persevered and was rewarded with more of Murakami’s unique brand of weirdness.

“Your shadow is on the verge of death. A person has the right to see his own shadow under these circumstances. There are rules about this. The Town observes the passing of a shadow as a solemn event, and the Gatekeeper does not interfere.”

The joy of this book is the way it transports you out of your comfort zone. It is unpredictable, entertaining and completely bonkers, but I wish I there had been more adventure and less complex mind theory.

Recommended to those who are already Murakami fans, as I don’t think this is a good place to start.

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Have you read this book?

Did you understand it?

Is it your favourite Murakami? 

To find more Japanese literature reviews head over to Tony’s January in Japan blog.