Sunday Scribbles #5

Strange Weather in Tokyo

The in-person book club sessions are now full. You can join the waitlist here or register for the virtual session here.

Published in Japan in 2001, Strange Weather in Tokyo was first translated into English by Allison Markin Powell in 2012 under the title of The Briefcase. I much prefer the cover art of SWIT, as well as the title itself, because there is less of a focus on Sensei. I haven’t read a ton of Japanese literature, so I went into Strange Weather in Tokyo with few expectations. There were definite shades of Convenience Store Woman in Tsukiko; she is a woman in her late thirties, struggling with loneliness, showing no desire to follow society’s expectations of her (i.e. have a family or chase a high-flying career).

The central relationship between Tsukiko and Sensei was touching. Today, with all the social media scrolling and dating app swiping, there’s something quaint about two people reconnecting by chance, IRL. But I would love to have your thoughts during the book club session. While we are far from My Dark Vanessa and Lolita territory, the reality is that Sensei sometimes addresses Tsukiko as if she were his pupil and they first met when she was a teenager. Moving on…the rituals surrounding food and eating were satisfying. There was a casual intimacy to the writing (and translation) that felt like we were with Tsukiko and Sensei in the izayakis, savouring regional delicacies and sipping on cold beer (or warm saké) with them. And wow, is there a lot of saké in this book.

Strange Weather in Tokyo has definitely left me curious to read more Hiromi Kawakami.

Further reading:
Words Without Borders interview with translator Allison Markin Powell.
Discover more of Hiromi Kawakami’s titles and fiction writing on Granta.
Natsumi Hayashi is the photographer behind the book’s cover art, who has produced several series around levitation.

CURRENTLY…

Reading: A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki. The writing is so lush. I am savouring every word and already feel that I will want to re-read this one. Also looking forward to going down a Ruth Ozeki shaped rabbit hole in the near future. All tips are welcome, thank you in advance.

Watching: Return to Seoul by Davy Chou. Park-Ji Min is captivating in her first ever role as Freddie, a young Korean woman adopted by French parents. Finding herself in Seoul by chance at 25, we follow the next eight years of Freddie’s life as she seeks out her Korean birth parents and grapples with the loopholes of Korean adoption laws, as well as her identity. (There’s a lot of soju, just to stay on trend with Strange Weather in Tokyo and the saké). Freddie is a frustrating character at times - but that is what makes the film. She’s not likeable and she shouldn’t have to be - she is simply human.

Donating to: The White Helmets

Thanks for reading. Next week, I’ll be introducing you to the wonderful women behind Librairie Majo. Lou xx