strange weather in tokyo by hiromi kawakami

They reveal little to each other or to the reader. Only on jaunts into more natural settings, such as the mountains of Tochigi for mushroom hunting, does Tsukiko experience some sense of confused connection. Socialising is incidental. A love of sake, beer and traditional Japanese dishes brings the two together, on and off throughout the year. As the seasons pass, the odd couple indulge their appetites, but restrain their feelings.Īlone, together, in the city, there is always a feeling of disconnection. Neither character seems quite three-dimensional. Plain with the truth, the tone of the narrative is confessional. Bored, thirty-seven year old office worker Tsukiko gets to know Sensei, a man thirty year her senior. She recognises him from her own school days and they both enjoy drinking in a local bar. Socially awkward, she makes no bones about the fact that she goes there specifically to drink. Drink a lot. And eat. Strange Weather in Tokyo Cover Image by Yowayowa Camera WomanĮlegantly encapsulating an essence of ‘Japaneseness’ with all the elusive paradoxes that entails, this mesmerising book offers a read that is somehow light and breezy, yet possessing of literary depth. Nominated for the Man Asian Literary Prize 2013, Strange Weather in Tokyo is so much more than a romance novel about two lonely people who find solace in each other’s company.

Strange weather in tokyo by hiromi kawakami