Kazu is dead. Born in Fukushima in 1933, the same year as the Emperor, his life is tied by a series of coincidences to the Imperial family and has been shaped at every turn by modern Japanese history. But his life story is also marked by bad luck, and now, in death, he is unable to rest easily, haunting the park near Ueno Station. It is here that Kazu’s life in Tokyo began and ended, having arrived there to work a labourer in the run up to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics before ending his days living in the vast homeless ‘villages’ in the park, traumatised by the destruction of the 2011 tsunami and enraged by the announcement of the 2020 Olympics. As a work of post-tsunami literature and a protest against the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, this novel is of utmost importance, a powerful rebuke to the Imperial system and a sensitive depiction of the lives of Japan’s most vulnerable people.
Publisher: Tilted Axis Press
ISBN: 9781911284161
Dimensions: 198 x 129 mm
An elliptical examination of the divisions between rich and poor in contemporary Japan - The Guardian
This is an absolute literary gem. Originally written in Japanese this book was translated by Morgan Giles and he does a stellar job at it. Set in, you guessed it, Japan, this is the harrowing story of Kazu, a homeless... More
At first the book's lack of chapters and willingness to jump time period mid-narration can be disconcerting but given a few pages to immerse yourself in the style, Tokyo Ueno Station truly benefits from being as... More
Sad and thought provoking yet somewhat plagued by a poor structure and rambling nature.
There is a powerful story to be told here but I felt it was somewhat lost and buried in the pages. With plenty of lost...
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