What are you reading in 2024?

I have finished two books from Japan this year so far.

The Village of Eight Graves - Seishi Yokomizo. 5 stars. That's three of Yokomizo's books read now and have thoroughly enjoyed all of them. The Devil's Flute Murders and Death on Gokumon Island sit on my TBR pile.

A Personal Matter - Kenzaburo Oe. 3 stars. After not enjoying The Silent Cry at all it was with some trepidation I read A Personal Matter. Oe is not really my cup of tea but A Personal Matter is a much better book in my opinion. Oe's style is very rich, as though he has given a lot of thought to almost every sentence. It lacks the simplicity and beauty I find in the works of other Japanese authors. A Personal Matter is not a particularly enjoyable read and it can be distasteful in places but he makes you think all the time. If you haven't read Oe and want to try him out I would choose A Personal Matter of these two to get started.

I've started reading this year with a couple of soccer manga Blue Lock and Sayonara, Football. Blue Lock doesn't reflect the ethos of soccer I enjoy and follow, but I think Sayonara while more juvenile is a much more enjoyable series for my taste. Still feeling out the world of manga, so I think that might appear on my list a bit more this year again.

Still making progress with Seventeen which is really good so far even if I get distracted with other books and work.

>1 Pendrainllwyn:
The Village of Eight Graves is my personal favorite of Yokomizo and I'm so happy that his works have been made readily available to the English speaking world.

I love Oe in general but what I particularly love is his tackling of so many different subject matters so while I hated and even abandoned The Silent Cry, I loved and raved about A Personal Matter and many of his works I have also highly recommended over the years.

>2 stretch:
I have read many soccer manga series (although most haven't been translated into English yet) as that is my favorite genre of manga! In fact, I actually collect soccer manga. I haven't started Blue Lock yet but I do own the first 3 volumes. I know it's not pure soccer -- in fact it turns into a battle manga -- but I like the absurd soccer manga series as much as I like the more realistic ones so I'm looking forward to starting it. For now though I have a few already completed series I would like to read first.

In terms of Japanese literature reading I have nothing lined up for the beginning of the year as I'm taking a bit of a break. If I can I'll try to finish Hunchback as I'd like to have it read before it gets announced for translation (there is no way it doesn't get picked up for translation) but other than that I'll wait till I have a natural desire to read Jpn lit again.

I'm reading an anthology named Fuyugomori, short stories connected by being set in wintertime in the Edo period. I got it based on the title alone for Japanese reading practice. The authors included are Shotaro Ikenami, Miyuki Miyabe, Seicho Matsumoto, Mikio Nanbara, Mari Ueza and Ichiriki Yamamoto.

Miyabe's mystery story (titled 鬼子母火 / きしぼび and I have no idea how to parse that) was delightful enough that Apparitions: Ghosts of Old Edo went right to the top of my to-buy list.

>3 lilisin: I can defintely see how Blue Lock will transition into a battle manga. And it defintely has a certain appeal, I might even return to the series later once I've got a better handle on the world of manga.

Just read The Cape and other stories from the Japanese Ghetto - Kenji Nakagami

A copy and paste from the 75 Book Challenge ...

The author was born into a burakumin (outcaste) community in Japan. The burakumin lived in small alleyways at the edge of town and many of the men worked as labourers in construction and women raised families and some were sold to work in the red light district. The characters of "The Cape" belong to an extended family. The protagonist's mother has married twice but he was born to a third man she didn't marry. The story is characterised by every day dialogue between these characters. The protagonist lives with half-brothers and sisters and his mother's new husband. He has no contact with his father yet he looms large. The story can be hard to follow as the characters are often referenced by their relationship to one another rather than their names. The family tree provided at the beginning was very valuable.

There are two other stories. "House on Fire" involves the same protagonist at a later stage in his life with his own family now but still drawing on his relationship with his father and his father's other children as well. From being admirably restrained in much of The Cape, here he increasingly shows behaviours, drunkenness and violence, he witnessed in his extended family. Even with the family tree at times I found it hard to follow who was who. "Red Hair" is very sexually explicit, repeatedly. I think many people wouldn't like it at all.

These stories are very different from anything else I have read from a Japanese author. The word discrimination doesn't appear in any of the stories but they all seem to be about identity, the identity of the burakumin community or the protagonist's personal search for identity within an extended family of half-brothers and sisters and a father who he sees around but has no relationship with. Nakagami won the prestigious Akutagawa Prize for The Cape.

I am not sure why I have written so much about this particular book. I guess I found the author and his work interesting. I hope my next book is more enjoyable/uplifting.

Greetings. I was quite thrilled to find this group pop up as a suggestion. Always pressed for time but savor reading.

I would share with @lilisin that Shotaro Ikenami is an absolute favorite of mine. I have read him in translation but have since lost my two volumes. I may try to read him in the original but time will tell. If you do enjoy the Baian stories, there is an old series from Japan when Watanabe Ken was young in the lead role. The series is called Baian the Assassin: Collector's Box and truly enjoyable. The dark aspect is played down and the character is far more likable than in the stories.

I will share my 2024 reading goal in another post.

Best.

>7 SRB5729:

Thanks for the recommendation and feel free to post in many of the threads around here.
It's great to get some activity around here.

I quite enjoyed The Inugami Curse many years ago. I may go to read through the Detective Kindaichi Mysteries over a bit of time. I have many demands but really want to work a few items into rotation.

I am thinking of starting Kawabata's The Sound of the Mountain soon. I read The Master of Go some time ago and plan to reread that as well.

I recently lived in Tokyo for 3 years and having lived there for even that short period it really changed my perception of the country and made me, I believe, more sensitive to additional nuance or layers in some stories.

I loved The Inugami Curse and have liked all three Kindaichi books I have read.

Snow Country is the only Kawabata I have read. I am keen to try another and both Master of Go and The Sound of the Mountain sound like they are worth a try.

i am happy to time reading Kawabata as a discussion thread here. i would happily read Master of Go again.

>11 SRB5729: Good suggestion. As lilisin mentioned it's great to have some life on here. Don't wait for me but I am up for that. I don't have the book and live in a county where there's not much choice of literature written in English so I order from overseas in bulk. I have just bought a whole bunch of books so won't be ordering again soon but when I have the book I will see if you are still up for it.

I lived in Tokyo for 6 1/2 years. Loved it.

I started The Sound of the Mountain and it already has be seeing parts of Japan again mentally. I am enjoying Kawabata's sparse writing style. Somehow it conveys very vividly. Once I get farther along, I will post a new thread. Best.

Hi, I have only just got into reading Japanese books. My first Japanese book in the raw Japanese was called, Yureru, by Japanese rockstar, TK from Ling tosite sigure. It was splendid! I wish he had talked more about himself. LoL.

Since that I have gotten interested in reading more and more Japanese books. My latest is a novel. Idol, Burning by Rin Usami. I just posted a review for the book on my blog:
https://thehugeanifan.wordpress.com/2024/03/23/idol-burning-by-rin-usami-japanes...

I am glad I am able to change my blog focus to doing Japanese book reviews on my blog since Japanese literature does not get much attention. Can't wait to change that!

>14 BookLoverC:

Welcome to Japanese literature. Hope you stay a long time! :)

>14 BookLoverC: Welcome. It can be a touch quiet here.

Since my last post I have read.

The Miracles of the Namiya General Store - Keigo Higashino An enjoyable read. I preferred it to Malice. In case it's not your thing there is a lot of going back and forth in time.

The Thief - Fuminori Nakamura. I didn't like My Annihilation at all so I was pleasantly surprised to really enjoy this story of a pick-pocket getting caught up with more dangerous people. I don't finish many books in a day but I raced through this.

Taken Captive: A Japanese POW's Story - Ooka Shohei. Some of this autobiographical account was really interesting. Some of it mundane. I read The Great Escape by Paul Brickhill earlier this year. Many will be familiar with the movie. Both tales of a prisoner of war in the second world war. The books are very different on many levels. As one example, Brickhill found positives in most of his fellow prisoners, Ooka the reverse. I am doubtful I will read Fires on the Plain now even though it seems to have better reviews.

Recently I've read The Lonely Castle In The Mirror, by Mizuki Tsujimura. I really like the book! I've also read Fox Tales, by Tomihiko Morimi. A good book of Japanese tales, which I also loved! The final book i've read was Temple Alley Summer, by Sachiko Kashiwaba. I actually did not like this book as much as the others I mentioned, but still a decent book.

>16 Pendrainllwyn:

I didn't really enjoy the one Fuminori Nakamura book I read and am in no rush to read another at this moment.

Taken Captive is a great comparison read to My Hitch in Hell as you can compare the different experience of a Japanese POW to the American army, and an American POW to the Japanese army. The shocking comparison between Ooka's and Tenney's experience really add to the reading experience.

On that note I would not not read Fires on the Plain. It's a masterpiece of writing and a harrowing, terrifying read.

>16 Pendrainllwyn: I haven’t read Ooka’s POW account, but I will second Lillisn endorsement of not not reading Fires on the Plain. It’s a disturbing and harrowing accounting of the terrible toll of war on an individual. A classic in themes on anti war works. It’s one of those books that have stuck with me in every detail long after the last page.

>18 lilisin: "It's a masterpiece of writing and a harrowing, terrifying read." Oh. Well that kind of work appeals to me. You have changed my mind! Maybe Ooka is more liberated in Fires on the Plain than in Taken Captive where he seemed compelled to cover daily routines and describe all his immediate inmates no matter how how much he disliked them.

My Hitch in Hell sounds very interesting. I have added it to my wish-list. Thank you very much for the suggestion.

>19 stretch: Oh. A second recommendation against. I will seek out My Hitch in Hell first. Thanks.

"It’s one of those books that have stuck with me in every detail long after the last page." On second thoughts that sounds like a good reason to read the book !

Hi, everyone! I read different genres, including Japanese fiction and manga. It's nice to find a group dedicated to Japanese literature on LT.

When it comes to Japanese fiction, so far this year, I have read The Great Passage.

Some thoughts:

“A dictionary is a ship that crosses a sea of words.”

Here is a book about people who are in love with words, here is a book about the making of a dictionary. It’s heart-warming, geeky, poignant, funny. There are lots and lots of cool details about Japanese language, meanings of various words, and the process of editing and publishing a dictionary. My inner geeks and nerds were very happy.

When Aroki the editor has to retire and needs a successor, he knows that “my task is to find someone who loves dictionaries as much as I do – no, more.” Enter Majime, a walking definition of nerdiness and geekiness. Here he is, at a welcome dinner with his new colleagues:

“What’s your hobby, Majime?" Nishioka boldly asked, searching for a friendly ouverture.
“If I had to pick something, I guess it would be watching people get on the escalator.”

Silence descended on the table.

(There is an excellent explanation for this fascination with escalators, don’t you worry.)

For Majime, this is a story of finding his calling, his agency, a life he loves. Watching it happen is a pleasure. The romance is understated and cute. When it turns out that there is a potential love interest for Majime (Kaguya – she is a chef, and she is not letting anyone “interfere with her world”), the editorial team has to go and check her out. What if she doesn’t understand the lifestyle of dedication that lexicography needs? I really don’t know what this says about these people… ahem. By the way, Majime, when a girl you adore asks you out, you don’t start thinking about the deeper meanings of two similar verbs so that you forget to answer. Just a thought.

I like it when an annoying and obnoxious character becomes someone you can root for, just because the author switches POV.

“Majime was incapable of flattery. Since Majime had said it, Nishioka could believe it: he was needed. He wasn’t a deadweight after all. He felt a burst of joy and pride.
Majime had turned back to his desk with an unconcerned look on his face, little suspecting that he had been Nishioka’s salvation.”

Of course, there are deeper things at play here than just the process of dictionary-making. Words and language define us, connect us, define the world around us, and influence how we see the world. In the end there is sadness and joy, tragedy and a sense of accomplishment, and work that has neither a beginning nor an end.

“Words gave things form so they could rise out of the dark sea.”

5 stars!

After that, I decided to read Kokoro, because characters in The Great Passage talked about it.

Some thoughts:

The writing is like looking at the sea, seeing the waves come and go. The rhythm lulls you and you follow along, almost despite yourself. It feels both light and heavy, simple and very intricate.

This short novel has 110 chapters. The reader can take a breath in between, reading slower, reflecting, letting thoughts settle for a moment. I liked that.

There are three stories here:

📖 The unnamed young narrator who meets and comes to admire an older man he calls Sensei. “Admire” is the wrong word, though, it is more of an intellectual obsession born out of loneliness and an undefined youthful longing for “something else”. A very strange, yet compelling, friendship dance follows, with the narrator always wanting more, and with Sensei always drawing back.

“...whenever some unexpected terseness of his shook me, my impulse was to press forward with the friendship. It seemed to me that if I did so, my yearning for the possibilities of all he had to offer would someday be fulfilled.”

There are hints of tragedy and dark secrets in Sensei’s past, and his marriage is a melancholy thing. Sensei seems to fear the young man’s admiration.

“The memory of having sat at someone’s feet will later make you want to trample him underfoot. I am trying to fend off your admiration for me, you see, in order to avoid your future contempt.”

📖 The narrator coming to his parents’ home to be with his dying father. These are harrowing chapters. Young man’s time with Sensei has corrupted him somehow, I feel, made him less of who he should be. The decision he makes at the end of Part 2 is impulsive and rash. We never see its aftermath, making it all the more tragic.

📖 The third story is Sensei’s letter, his confession. The love story has a lovely beginning. “Whenever I saw her face, I felt that I myself had become beautiful.” I found the portrayal of romantic love in a misogynic society interesting. How does a clever, sensitive man reconcile romantic love with his contempt for women in general? (He tries. He doesn’t, not really.)
With the love triangle in place, the story turns ugly. It is about people unable to express their feelings and talk to each other about them. This evolves into an emotional impotence and an inability to act when you need to (it gets tedious for the reader, though).Words said and words unsaid destroy everyone involved.

“Words are not just vibrations in the air, they work more powerfully than that, on more powerful objects.”

Sensei does a vile, dishonourable thing. After that, his life is but an imitation of one.

It’s interesting how things authors don’t show you can still be powerful – we never see the young man’s reaction to the letter, but just thinking about it hits you hard.

I feel melancholy after finishing, but I liked the experience of reading this classic.

4.5 stars

it's been a busy year, so far:

Japanese Children's Favorite Stories , Florence Sakade
"The Boy in the Earth", Fuminori Nakamura, Allison Markin Powell (Translator)
Cult X, Fuminori Nakamura, Kalau Almony (Translator)
The Rope Artist, Fuminori Nakamura, Sam Bett, (Translator)
Renegade Edo and Paris: Japanese Prints and Toulouse-Lautrec, Xiaojin Wu
The Flowers of Buffoonery, Osamu Dazai, Sam Bett, (Translator)

and have on order:

Haruki Murakami's new novel, The City and Its Uncertain Walls

On Kokoro, by Natsume Soseki---this is one my favorite books, and I've been re-reading it annually for the past twenty-five years or so. It works on so many different levels. Spend months afterwards thinking about it.

On Fuminori Nakamura---I've read him since "The Thief" (2009), also called "Suri" ("Pickpocket"), Fuminori Nakamura, Satoko Izumo (Translator), and have found him challenging, much in the same way Natsuo Kirino and Ryū Murakami are.

I finished Silent Parade, another mystery in Detective Galileo series by Keigo Higashino.

Some thoughts:

First things first: it was nice to meet the familiar characters again. Yukawa, Kusanagi, Utsumi. As the series progresses, the detectives are getting better and better at their jobs. This is shown very well. Kusanagi certainly knows how to interrogate a suspect! Yukawa is still the smartest person in any room, though.

I really liked the police procedural parts, and conversations between Yukawa and Kusanagi, Yukawa and Utsumi.

“What’s all this about? Come on, tell me.”
“It’s so blindingly obvious, I really shouldn’t need to.”

“You shouldn’t be the one to decide if your idea is stupid or not. And you certainly don’t want to rush to judgment about something being impossible. Buried inside a crazy idea, you can often find useful hints for solving problems. You should come out and say it, and see what a third party has to say.”

As for the mystery itself, there are two missing person cases that seem to be connected. There is grief, trauma, perseverance in the face of grief and dreams of revenge. The investigation proceeds, and the case becomes more and more convoluted. Reader: I understand what happened! Author: No, you don’t. Reader: Well, I understand now. Author: Trust me, you don’t. Reader: Oh. Now I know what happened. Author: You don’t, I told you!”

Putting the puzzle together is very interesting, but gets too convoluted. I lost track of all the characters who were not the detectives and wasn’t emotionally involved, except in the end – unlike other books by this author I had read. The story is very dark, but I was more interested in the solving of the mystery than in feeling things.

I think I am left with 3.7 stars rounded up to 4. Flawed Keigo Higashino is still better than many other things out there.

P.S. I am still planning to read everything by Keigo Higashino that had been published/will be published in English.

Japanese Women Poets: an Anthology edited by Hiroaki Sato. A very enlightening read - I was mostly familiar with the earlier eras but not the Meiji-Shōwa period and found quite a few writers to look closer into if I ever find the time.

The Easy Life in Kamusari by Shion Miura.

I was enchanted by Kamusari, a remote mountain village in modern-day Japan. Kamusari is a place where time slows down and traditions are important.

The Easy Life in Kamusari is a slice-of-life pastoral novel with a touch of magical realism. The story follows Yuki Hirano, a recent high school graduate who doesn’t know what to do with his life. His parents blackmail him (the nature of the blackmail is hilarious) into going to Kamusari to work as a forestry trainee.

Yuki is used to the hustle and bustle of his city, Yokohama. I really liked how the author let me experience the atmosphere of Kamusari through Yuki’s eyes: dense forests, rice fields, and traditional Japanese farmhouses. At first he is bored, he hates the village and the difficult work. Yuki’s transformation from a nonchalant city boy to someone who loves forestry and Kamusari way of life is very touching. The descriptions of the villagers and interactions between characters are quirky and humane. It adds a lot of charm to the book.

“Life here strikes me as pretty unusual. The people are funny in a way. They seem so mild-mannered, but then they’ll quietly say or do something totally destructive.”

“The incoherence of a crazy quilt, the orderliness of spun silk: these two opposites were subtly interwoven into village life.”

I have a lot to say about Miho’s and Yoki’s (Yoki is one of the forest workers) marriage, but I’ll just let Yuki observe instead:
“Miho, walking alongside me, murmured, “I suppose you think I am crazy?” Um, yeah, not being an option, I said nothing.”

The magical realism elements are not a big part of the story, but they add a lovely flavour. There are gods and spirits living on Mount Kamusari – they are essential to village life, but they are only there when the story requires it. Forestry is just as essential to Kamusari and its people – without the forest, there would be no village.

The writing is simple and concise, yet poetic. I loved the descriptions of spring, the summer festival and the awesome drama of the autumn festival. The slow pace lets the reader savour every page.

If you want to read a heartwarming coming-of-age story, then Kamusari is the right place. It made me happy.

Malice by Keigo Higashino

I was captivated. By now, I know that Higashino’s books promise an unconventional mystery, and this one did not disappoint. There is a lot about writers and writing, childhood traumas that come back to haunt us, and evil we cannot explain.

The story begins with the murder of Kunihiko Hidaka, a famous author, whose body is discovered by his wife and his friend, Nonoguchi. Both have alibis. It is up to Detective Kaga to unravel the mystery. Since this is not a “regular” mystery, the readers will know who the murderer is early on. Kaga hunts for the motive behind the crime, navigating a labyrinth of unexpected twists.

The writing is thoughtful and contemplative, with a lot of dialogue and small details that tell so much. There are no action scenes, but the book still reads quickly, and I was hooked from the first chapter. Higashino’s style is understated, as always. I liked how he managed to create a sense that something much darker, a greater evil, is at play than it seems at first. I was not conscious of it all the way, but this is what kept me on the edge, unable to put the book down.

There are two POV’s: Nonoguchi, who is writing his account of the case, and Detective Kaga, whose notes are dry and concise, but slowly reveal the person behind them. Kaga is meticulous, responsible, and stubborn; he is someone who is merciless when necessary but fundamentally good. There is no evolution for these characters, it’s more about slowly peeling back layers to reveal hidden truths. Kaga’s backstory and his reasons for leaving teaching are heartbreaking. This backstory ties into the murder case in poignant ways.

There were moments that shocked and infuriated me. The final chapter was especially riveting, with Kaga’s restrained yet palpable anger getting under my skin.

Having read several of Higashino’s works, I think that "Malice" is one of his best. I think I liked it as much as Salvation of a Saint, if not more.

>28 Alexandra_book_life: Yes, a good read. Very complex. Maybe a touch overly so for my taste. Maybe I should read it again one day.

I haven't posted here for a while. Since Taken Captive, I have read
Once and Forever - Kenji Miyazawa (short stories)
The Factory - Hiroko Yamada
A Quiet Place - Seicho Matsumoto - slow but enjoyable and well written
The Temple of the Golden Pavilion - Yukio Mishima
Nails and Eyes - Kaori Fujino - disappointing

The Temple of the Golden Pavilion is outstanding. Great literature. Mishima makes you think. I find I have to read some sentences / paragraphs a few times to try to make sure I grasp what he is getting at. My third Mishima and I have found them all rewarding. Will read more.

I hope to finish The Stones Cry Out by Hikaru Okuizumi today. Stretch lists this as one of their top three Japanese books in an earlier post. I can see the appeal. I am really enjoying it.

Just finished The Stones Cry Out. Very good. Right up my street.

>29 Pendrainllwyn: As a geologist I am partial to books that feature rocks. The description of optical mineralogy at the beginning should be the intro in textbooks. Glad you enjoyed it.

>29 Pendrainllwyn: Maybe it will be more rewarding on a reread, you never know.

I've been meaning to read Mishima for ages, but lots of other books keep getting in the way. Someday, someday... :)

I'm glad to see that my Japanese reading speed continues to pick up, that I've been able to finish a few books this year, interspersed with more ordinary reading in English. Earlier in the year, I read up through クドリャフカの順番, third in the 〈古典部〉シリーズ series. During my visit to Japan in June, I picked up 黒部の山賊 and 夜のピクニック from Kinokuniya's in Matsuyama and Kanazawa, and I just recently finished ペンギン・ハイウェイ, which I had purchased a long time ago earlier in my language studies. Now starting 舟を編む, received from a friend just last week!

>29 Pendrainllwyn: I have read a bit of Mishima as well. The initial cruelty at the beginning of Temple of the Golden Pavilion was quite impactful. Thankfully, not due to personal memories, it just inspired a loathing for groupthink. My favorite Mishima work is Spring Snow. I will have to find the right words but I can at least share how much I liked it.

>35 SRB5729: My favorite Mishima work is Spring Snow.

That's book One in his The Sea of Fertility tetralogy I believe. His masterpiece. The four books are on my shopping list. It's nice to have his '"best" work to look forward to. Meanwhile, Mishima's The Sound of Waves is sitting on my TBR pile with many other books which will take a while to get through.

>33 mirryi:
Congratulations on your reading progress!
I have both 夜のピクニック and ペンギン・ハイウェイ on my physical TBR waiting to be read. I just finished reading recently 消滅世界 which was excellent and at the same reading level as the other two so might be a good book for you to look into next!

>36 Pendrainllwyn: I am actually looking to read The Sound of the Waves later this year.

>37 lilisin: Thanks! I'd definitely recommend both, and 舟を編む. I looked up 消滅世界, and it sounds harrowing and something in line with her other work (I think I read コンビニ人間 a while back. Appreciate the recommendation!

I've been interested in the Japanese civilian experience of WW2 lately and I'll try to write something on what I've been reading.

So Lovely a Country Will Never Perish by Donald Keene was an enormously absorbing experience. It's a run-through of the Pacific War from around Pearl Harbor to the early US occupation period as recorded in the diary entries of Japanese writers, journalists and such running the whole political gamut from leftists writing at their own peril to gung-ho war supporters - none of whom know at any point what is truly going on.

The Catch and Other War Stories collects four non-combat short stories with an enjoyable variety of viewpoints.
In Kenzaburo Ōe's titular story the people of a small village isolated by a landslide catch a downed airman and the narrator, a young boy, befriends him.
"Sakurajima" by Haruo Umezaki describes a signals officer stationed in southern Kyushu at the very end stage of the war, with everyone anticipating the inevitable and imminent US invasion from Okinawa (which of course never happened) that will hit right where he is.
"Summer Flower" by Hiroshima bomb witness Tamiki Hara is famous enough to have an English Wikipedia page. I had a deja vu feel reading it, possibly because of its influence on later depictions of the immediate effects of the bomb.
The book ends with a Hayashi Fumiko story, which is to say on a dark note, about a war widow resorting to prostitution to survive and support her ill brother and senile father.

The Atomic Bomb compiled by Kyoko Selden and her husband presents writings by atomic bomb survivors - all regular people, not professional writers. There are short stories, memoirs, poetry (the tanka and haiku sections include the Japanese originals), drawings... I've been slow getting through this because it's a little harrowing.

In the language study side I'm going through A Reader of Handwritten Japanese and having lots of fun. It's a textbook, puzzle-solving game, calligraphy exhibition and keigo manual in one. If I ever get to the end of it I'll supposedly be equipped to read medieval manuscripts.

Just finished the compelling but pretty grim Cannibals by Shin'ya Tanaka. The family dynamics and how all the characters confront their existence is interesting. The nature of the abuse suffered by the women is off-putting, and could have been framed differently I think, but I am torn on that.

I just finished Eclipse by Keiichiro Hirano

A strange and satisfying novella. It has a style that I am not used to in Japanese fiction – the sentences are long, flowing, colourful. You will need to absorb them slowly and patiently.

Eclipse reminded me of The Name of the Rose – that is, if the latter was a fever dream. In 1482 a young Dominican priest scholar named Nicolas is traveling through France, looking for a complete manuscript of
Corpus Hermeticum. Nicolas believes that his mission in life is to reconcile Christianity to “pagan” philosophy. There is a lot of such dichotomy and duality in the book - Christian vs pagan, mind vs body, sin vs God, world of flesh vs the divine, female vs male, etc. Can we meld and reconcile?

Nicolas has a habit of thinking deeply about everything he sees. There is a lot of theology and Christian philosophy that an unwary reader might drown in. (I had to quickly refresh my memory on Thomas Aquinas and Willian of Ockham.)

For no particular reason other than curiosity, Nicolas decides to stop at a remote village to visit an alchemist. His interactions with the villagers are very nicely written, and the descriptions are beautiful.

“… we passed three young women who had come flying out of the building. They were all dressed in long white gowns whose hems, flipping in the wind, were like clumps of earth kicked up by galloping horses.”

There is another Dominican there, an inquisitor who carries Bernard Gui’s Inquisitor’s Manual everywhere with him. (Hello again, The Name of the Rose.)

The geometrical layout of the village might carry a deeper meaning and there is a bridge where people have seen ghosts. Nicolas’ first meetings with Pierre the alchemist are powerful and poetic.

Then we go into a territory which is very weird, very disturbing, and impactful. Horrible things happen. There might be a hint of an explanation at the end, but this is up to the reader to determine.

Having finished, I am left with the feeling of wonder and a conviction of having been elsewhere.

This is not a book for every kind of reader. But I am glad that I have read it.

P.S. The preface summarises the plot in great detail. I realised this in time and skimmed forward in panic, as I wanted to go in blind. You’ve been warned :)

Huge thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!

5 stars

Expected publication date: November 12, 2024.

I've read another great mystery by Keigo Higashino, Newcomer I loved it :)

Every mystery by Keigo Higashino does something interesting, something unexpected. The structure of Newcomer was wonderfully done. There is a murder investigation, but we only see glimpses of it. The mystery is intriguing, of course, and I was hooked. But this book is about everyone caught in the aftermath of the murder – chance witnesses, friends, family.

Kaga goes from place to place in the neighbourhood – a rise cracker shop, a traditional Japanese restaurant, a china shop, a clock repair shop, a pastry shop… He talks to people, we see them, learn their stories. He solves their mysteries as an aside in his investigation. Thus Kaga leaves a trail of people coming to terms with things, somebody finding closure, somebody becoming a better person, families discovering secrets that bring them closer together. It is by turns tragic, poignant, touching, and sweet.

I loved Kaga here, even more than in Malice. Higashino let the readers see him from the point of view of so many characters. He came alive, and I admired him so. Clever, humane, cunning and ruthless when necessary.

“He said that the detective in question was very sharp, very eccentric, and, to top it off, very stubborn. I imagine he was talking about you, Detective Kaga?”

I didn’t think about what Kaga looked like in Malice, it was an unnecessary thought for that book. Here, one of the characters remarked that he has a face fit for a samurai tv-drama. From then on, every time Kaga appeared on the page, I thought of Toshiro Mifune. Such fun!

The most touching and wonderful thing about this book is Kaga’s attitude to his work, what he wants to make of it, and what justice means to him.

“Oh, I am investigating the murder; of course I am. But my job as a detective should go beyond that. People who are traumatized by a crime are victims, too. Finding ways to comfort them is also part of my job.”

I am so happy that Keigo Higashino’s books exist.

A third of the way through The Tale of Genji and man, I don't like this guy. I can't imagine what the norms were in 1000 AD Japan when the author wrote this, but the dude is just helping himself to every woman who catches his eye and the only good news is they all fall in love with him. Despite the fact he loves-and-leaves and they all know about each other. The mind boggles. Losing track of how many times he promises he has only honorable intentions and then whoops, there's another baby on the way, or that kid he adopted is his wife now. Anyways, it's feeling more like soap opera than honest drama so I guess hating on the guy is perfectly okay so long as it keeps me reading to see what outrageous thing he does next.

What's its reputation in Japan? I understand it's held to be a classic comparable to Shakespeare's aura in English?

Add me to this list of people aiming to read Mishima. I've Spring Snow on the shelf and will get there eventually, then decide if I'm swimming across the rest of the sea.

>44 Cecrow: I hope that you do get to Spring Snow. Right now it is favorite of the tetralogy, but I may have to read them again to make sure. That is of course, if I can allocate the time to savor and not just rush through.

I've read quite a few Japanese books since my last post and am languishing on writing reviews. I plan to make an effort to get all these done before the end of the year. I especially want to review Vanishing World as the English translation will be out early next year. Also, want to review An Exotic Marriage as that story is an Akutagawa Prize winner.

沙耶香 村田 : 消滅世界 (Vanishing World)
秋吉理香子 : 暗黒女子 (The Dark Maidens)
Aki Shimazaki : Mitsuba: Au coeur du Yamato
Aki Shamazaki : Zakuro: Au coeur de Yamato
乙一 : 死にぞこないの青
志駕 晃 : スマホを落としただけなのに
有希子 本谷 : 異類婚姻譚 (An Exotic Marriage; also published as Picnic in the Storm; located in The Lonesome Bodybuilder: Stories)
今村 夏子 : あひる

Finished A Death in Tokyo, which was excellent.

”Murder really is like a cancer cell - pain and misery spreading unstoppably.”

This book is also about another kind of darkness that engulfs everyone, the innocent and the guilty – the poisonous consequences of not taking responsibility for what you had done.

Mr Aoyagi was stabbed, and the prime suspect is in a coma. This case seems to be an easy one, and the top brass want to have everything wrapped up as soon as possible. Of course, there are detectives that just want to do their jobs well, no matter what the top brass want. It’s quiet and dignified.

I love Kaga as a character more and more as I am reading this series. His sense of justice; his humanity and compassion; his ruthlessness towards those who do not deserve to be called human beings; the way he truly sees everyone and notices details. The scene as the restaurant at the very beginning, when Kaga stops a phone scam, just because he takes a moment to observe an elderly lady at the next table. This is just such a great moment that tells you (once again) what kind of person he is. Kaga also finds things out thanks to people he had met in Newcomer, and it warmed my heart.

”The more fool’s errands you go on, the more cases you solve.”

In this book Kaga is working the case together with his cousin, Matsumiya. It’s obvious that they have a back story, and there is also the untold story of Kaga and his father. Kaga’s father is dead, and there seems to be no closure. I wanted to know more, and I’m sad about the lack of context – why can’t they translate all the books in the series, so that we can read them in the right order?

Higashino kept me glued to the pages as always. The plotting is impeccable, but I am impressed by how good Higashino is at small details that make the characters and the setting some alive: the shrines of Tokyo, the origami cranes, the wake and the funeral.

The solution to the mystery left me heartbroken, more heartbroken than after other Higashino books. Also, that ending… so poignant and so fitting.

I am about 60 pages into Soseki's The Three-Cornered World. I did not enjoy the first thirty pages much. The narrator had an arrogance that just rankled me. The next scenes became much more visual and enjoyable/engaging. I will update as I finish. Best to all.

To close out 2024, my 17 Japanese literature reads of the year were, in order of reading

The village of eight graves - Yokomizo
A personal matter - Oe
The cape and other stories from the Japanese ghetto - Nakagami
The miracles of the Namiya general store - Higashino
The thief - Nakamura
Death in midsummer - Mishima
Taken captive - Shohei
Once and forever - Miyazawa
The factory - Yamada
A quiet place - Matsumoto
The temple of the golden pavilion - Mishima
Nails and Eyes - Fujino
The stones cry out - Okuizumi
Ten night's dreaming - Soseki
Inspector Imanishi Investigates - Matsumoto
Days at the Morisaki bookshop - Yagisawa
The flowers of buffoonery - Dazai

Not a vintage collection to be honest.

Stand outs for me were The Stones Cry Out and The Temple of the Golden Pavilion. I also really enjoyed The Village of Eight Graves and The Thief.

A Personal Matter was much better than The Silent Cry but neither appealed much at all. Will not read Oe again. Nails and Eyes was disappointing.

Taken Captive was a serious work and a valuable read. I am glad I read it but I didn't care for Shohei's outlook on many of his fellow prisoners much.

I have a soft spot for Seicho Matsumoto. His crime books are of the police work type. They lack drama and move along slowly with plenty of detailed enquiry that often doesn't lead anywhere but they work for me. I will read more of his work in 2025.

Short stories often don't wow me but I found Death in Midsummer and Ten Night's Dreaming noticeably better than most.