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Spring Snow
59,000 TNDTokyo, 1912. The closed world of the ancient aristocracy is being breached for the first time by outsiders – rich provincial families, a new and powerful elite. Kiyoaki has been raised among the elegant Ayakura family – members of the waning aristocracy – but he is not one of them.
Coming of age, he is caught up in the tensions between old and new, and his feelings for the exquisite, spirited Satoko. His devoted friend Honda watches from the sidelines. It is only when Satoko is engaged to a royal prince that Kiyoaki realises the magnitude of his passion.
‘An austere love story, probably my favourite of his novels’ David Mitchell, Independent on Sunday ‘[Mishima’s] best work, unnerving as it may be, still casts a spell; and I suspect it will retain its dark radiance’ Guardian
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Strange Weather in Tokyo
59,000 TNDA tale of modern Japan and old-fashioned romance. ‘Enchanting, moving and funny in equal measure, this compelling love story is expertly crafted against a backdrop of modern Japanese culture’ StylistTsukiko is in her late 30s and living alone when one night she happens to meet one of her former high school teachers, ‘Sensei’, in a bar. He is at least thirty years her senior, retired and, she presumes, a widower.
After this initial encounter, the pair continue to meet occasionally to share food and drink sake, and as the seasons pass – from spring cherry blossom to autumnal mushrooms – Tsukiko and Sensei come to develop a hesitant intimacy which tilts awkwardly and poignantly into love. Strange Weather in Tokyo is perfectly constructed, warmly funny and deeply moving. This edition contains the bonus story, ‘Parade’, which imagines an ordinary day in the lives of this unusual couple.
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Swallows
79,000 TNDTwenty-nine-year-old Riki is sick of her dead-end job, of struggling to get by ever since she moved to Tokyo from the country. So when someone offers her the chance to become a surrogate in return for a life-changing amount of money, it’s hard to turn down. But how much of herself will she be forced to give away?Retired ballet star Motoi and his wife, Yuko, have spent years trying to conceive.
As Yuko begins to make peace with her childlessness, Motoi grows increasingly desperate for a child to whom he can pass on his elite genes. Their last resort is surrogacy; a business transaction, plain and simple. But as they try to exert ever more control over Riki, their contract with her starts to slip through their fingers .
. . Vibrating with the injustices of class and gender, tradition and power, Swallows is an acerbic, witty vision of contemporary Japan, and of a young woman’s fight to preserve her dignity – at any cost.
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Sweet Bean Paste
59,000 TNDWith only the blossoming of the cherry trees to mark the passing of time, he spends his days in a tiny confectionery shop selling dorayaki, a type of pancake filled with sweet bean paste. But everything is about to change. Into his life comes Tokue, an elderly woman with disfigured hands and a troubled past. Tokue makes the best sweet bean paste Sentaro has ever tasted.
She begins to teach him her craft, but as their friendship flourishes, social pressures become impossible to escape and Tokue’s dark secret is revealed,with devastating consequences. Sweet Bean Paste is a moving novel about the burden of the past and the redemptive power of friendship. Translated into English for the first time, Durian Sukegawa’s beautiful prose is capturing hearts all over the world.
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Sympathy Tower Tokyo
59,000 TND‘So über-zeitgeisty that it might have been written this morning, yet it is far more than merely topical or trendy, as deep moral, political, social, cultural, architectural and lingual problems collide throughout this short novel. A contemporary gem.’ SpectatorWelcome to the Japan of tomorrow. Here, the practice of a radical sympathy toward criminals has become the norm and a grand skyscraper in the heart of Tokyo is planned to house wrongdoers in compassionate comfort – Sympathy Tower Tokyo.
Acclaimed architect Sara Machina has been tasked with designing the city’s new centrepiece, but is riven by doubt. Haunted by a terrible crime she experienced as a young girl, she wonders if she might inherently disagree with the values of the project, which should be the pinnacle of her career. As Sara grapples with these conflicting emotions, her relationship with her gorgeous – and much younger – boyfriend grows increasingly strained.
In search of solace, in need of creative inspiration, Sara turns to the knowing words of an AI chatbot…Awarded Japan’s highest literary prize, Sympathy Tower Tokyo is an extraordinary novel from one of the most exciting new voices in world literature. Partly inspired by conversations with an artificial intelligence, it offers an extraordinary defence of the power of language written by humans, a touching exploration of the imaginative impulse, and an often hilarious send up of our modern world’s unrelenting conformity. ‘A bold interrogation of crime, punishment and redemption’ Economist’Stuns and illuminates.
Sympathy Tower Tokyo is an ode to language and possibility and the ongoing question of how to be in an ever-changing world.’ Bryan Washington, author of Memorial’A brilliantly ambitious struggle and mediation on language, thought and existence. A wondrous book’, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of Chain-Gang All-Stars
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Tales from the Cafe
59,000 TNDThe million-copy bestselling series. Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s heartwarming Tales from the Cafe, translated from Japanese by Geoffrey Trousselot, explores the age-old question: what would you do if you could travel back in time? More importantly, who would you want to meet, maybe for one last time?In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a cafe which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time .
. . From the author of Before the Coffee Gets Cold comes a story of four new customers each of whom is hoping to take advantage of Cafe Funiculi Funicula’s time-travelling offer.
Among some faces that will be familiar to readers, we will be introduced to:The man who goes back to see his best friend who died 22 years agoThe son who was unable to attend his own mother’s funeralThe man who travelled to see the girl who he could not marryThe old detective who never gave his wife that gift . . .
This beautiful tale tells the story of people who must face up to their past, in order to move on with their lives. Continue the heartwarming storytelling with Before Your Memory Fades, Before We Say Goodbye and Before We Forget Kindness – all out now!
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The Blanket Cats
59,000 TNDit left me feeling hopeful that a small step in the right direction is what it takes to make things better” Shanna Tan, translator of Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop “The Blanket Cats is a triumph” Jinwoo Chong, award-winning author of FluxFlux and I Leave It Up to YouIs three days with a cat enough to change your life?The troubled and anxious of Tokyo are desperate to find out. They all have their problems – and they all want to believe that a feline companion from a unique pet shop can help them find a solution.
But there are rules: they must be returned after three days, and they must always sleep in their own familiar blankets. In The Blanket Cats, we meet seven such customers, including a couple struggling with infertility, a middle-aged woman on the run from the police, and two families in very different circumstances simply seeking joy. But like all their kind, the blanket cats are mysterious creatures with their own unknowable agendas, who delight in confounding expectations.
And perhaps what their hosts are looking for isn’t what they really need. Three days may not be enough to change your life. But it might be enough to change how you see it.
“There’s more to the mysterious Blanket Cats than meets the eye. Shigematsu’s canny felines are adept at bringing clarity to their temporary owners and giving them a subtle nudge in another – often unexpected – direction” Cat Anderson, translator of The Chibineko KitchenTranslated from the Japanese by Jesse Kirkwood
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The Blanket Cats
69,000 TNDThe troubled and anxious of Tokyo are desperate to find out. They all have their problems – and they all want to believe that a feline companion from a unique pet shop can help them find a solution.
But there are rules: they must be returned after three days, and they must always sleep in their own familiar blankets.
In The Blanket Cats, we meet seven such customers, including a couple struggling with infertility, a middle-aged woman on the run from the police, and two families in very different circumstances simply seeking joy.
But like all their kind, the blanket cats are mysterious creatures with their own unknowable agendas, who delight in confounding expectations. And perhaps what their hosts are looking for isn’t what they really need.
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The Boy and the Dog
49,000 TNDThe new novel from the award-winning translator of Sweet Bean Paste Winner of the Naoki Prize Winner of the Society of Authors Sasakawa Foundation Prize Perfect for fans of The Guest Cat and Before the Coffee Gets Cold ‘It’s no wonder the author won the prestigious Naoki Prize for this novel, which is at times heartwarming and suspenseful, detailing true resilience and survival.’ Belfast Telegraph ‘Everyone, please read this English translation and keep a handkerchief nearby.’ Nozomi Abe, Sasakawa Prize judgeOne dog changes the life of everyone who takes him in on his journey to reunite with his first owner in this inspiring tribute to the bond between humans and dogs and the life-affirming power of connection. Following a devastating earthquake and tsunami, a young man in Japan finds a stray dog outside a convenience store. The dog’s tag says “Tamon,” a name evocative of the guardian deity of the north.
The man decides to keep Tamon, becoming the first in a series of owners as the dog journeys south to find the boy whom disaster tore him from. Over the course of five years, Tamon will be taken into six vastly different homes, the final one belonging to his beloved first owner, Hikaru, a boy who has not spoken since the trauma of the tsunami. An agent of fate, Tamon is a gift to everyone who welcomes him into their life.
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The Calico Cat at the Chibineko Kitchen
69,000 TNDFor fans of WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR IS IN THE LIBRARY and BEFORE THE COFFEE GETS COLD, discover the second book in the irresistibly uplifting Japanese hit series about cats and the healing power of food. **Contains four mouth-watering recipes**The Chibineko Kitchen is no ordinary restaurant: the food can bring someone you’ve lost back to you, for one last time. It’s been months since Kotoko first visited the tiny restaurant by the sea.
Now she works there, alongside the chef Kai and his mischievous kitten Chibi. One sunny morning, the restaurant opens its doors to Nagi, a young woman facing an impossible choice. Should she marry her boyfriend, despite knowing she only has a few years left to live, or protect him from pain by refusing? She is desparate for advice from the one person no longer around to give it – her mother.
Next to visit are an anxious man rebuilding his life after shutting himself away for years, a lonely widow unaware that she is surrounded by friends, and an actor hoping to rekindle his career. Each leaves the restaurant nourished and reminded of what matters most in life. Moving and irresistibly uplifting, The Calico Cat at the Chibineko Kitchen is a culinary hug for the soul.
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The Convenience Store by the Sea
59,000 TND‘The Convenience Store by the Sea makes magic from life’s simple moments . . .
an unexpected treasure revealing what’s truly important in life. I will hold it close for when I need a reminder!’ Laurie Gilmore, bestselling author of The Pumpkin Spice Cafe’If you loved Before The Coffee Gets Cold you will love this!”A perfect, feel-good story about finding joy in unexpected connections, ideal for those who love a cosy, heartwarming escape!”Bubble bath fiction’ The Herald’A delightful tale of community and connection’ My WeeklyWelcome to Tenderness! A quaint seaside town in Kitakyushu, Mojiko is full of hidden delights. And one unexpected treasure is the 24/7 convenience store, Tenderness.
At first glance, it’s a store like any other. Sure, it’s a bit odd that the handsome manager has his own fan club. And perhaps the customers are somewhat eccentric.
But there’s a warmth about Tenderness that draws you in. The bright lights are always on. The employees know you by name.
And the shelves are stacked with delicious treats, from strong hot coffee to sweet parfaits, egg sandos to ramen, crispy fried chicken to refreshing soba. After a while, you get the feeling that whatever you need might just be waiting for you here… The Convenience Store by the Sea is the heartwarming international bestseller from award-winning Japanese author Sonoko Machida.
A a series of interconnected vignettes set in a 24/7 Japanese convenience store, the novel tells the delightfully quirky and heartfelt stories of the store’s customers and employees, offering us all a unique recipe for a good, fulfilling life. Translated by Bruno Navasky.
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The Dilemmas of Working Women
69,000 TNDThe classic Japanese bestseller published in English for the very first time – a darkly funny and relatable book portraying the lives of five women’Witty, wise and thought-provoking’ Cecelia Ahern’Crackles and pops with humour, empathy and intelligence’ Lisa Owens, author of Not Working’So brilliantly written that I kept trying to memorise sentences in order to repeat them to people later’ Roxy Dunn, author of As Young as ThisIzumi needs to get a job. Haruka needs to stop talking about how she once had cancer. Kato needs to get through a shift at the convenience store without being harassed.
Mito needs to break up with her boyfriend – or marry him. Sumie just needs somewhere to live. In this classic Japanese bestseller, published in English twenty-five years after it took Japan by storm, the lives of five ordinary women are depicted with irresistible humour and searing emotional insight.