This week I am bringing you somewhat mini reviews of three recent Japanese reads. I am not that good at being mini. Half the time they would only need one more paragraph to make them a normal review!
Before I Knew I Loved You by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (translated by Geoffrey Trousselot)
This is the sixth book in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series and it is very similar is structure and tone. There are four individual stories where we meet people who want to go either forward or back in time to get closure.
In the first story, a young woman hopes to meet up with the stepmother who she treated badly to say she's sorry. Then we meet a teenager who hopes to meet the girl that she liked. The last time he saw her he didn't say what was in his heart and now it is too late. In the third story, a woman has to decide whether to say yes to her partner, even knowing what she knows and finally, a young man wants to go back in time to see his dead father one last time. Each of these stories is moving and meaningful in it's own way.
One of the things about this series is that rules about the time travel do get repeated a lot. Despite that, every now and again it feels like the rules change ever so slightly. For example, it was a couple of books into the series before it said that people could go forward in time as well as backward. There was an aspect of the first story in this book which felt like the rules got a little bent. We will see if anyone else uses this particular method going forward.
Whilst this book is set in a cafe, there isn't that much food in them usually. People who visit the cafe can ask for whatever they like to eat and Nagare, the chef and owner, will make it for them if he has the ingredient. I did, however, enjoy the foodie aspect of the last story where the young man remembers the pasta dish that his dad had prepared for them.
So far I have listened to this entire series on audio narrated by Kevin Shen. I am not sure that I would even be able to read one of these books now without hearing his voice in my head, particularly when someone enters the cafe and he does the klang-dong sound of the doorbell.
The more I read this series, the more I find myself pondering the properties of hot water in Japan. The whole premise is that you only have maybe 10 minutes in the past, as you have to finish your coffee before it gets cold. However, when I make myself a tea, it takes at least 45 minutes before the tea gets completely cold. Maybe it is our definition on what temperature cold is that varies!
I did see something the other day that said that the author has recently finished the seventh book in the series. I will, of course, be reading it! Or rather, listening to it!
Rating 4/5
The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop by Takuya Asakura (translated by Yuka Maeno)
If you read a particular book at a particular time of year (specifically during cherry blossom season) you may suddenly find yourself visiting the Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop which is run by a young woman named Sakura and her cat Kabako.
This book shares a similar structure and feel to many of these popular Japanese books, including the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series. There is a hard to find setting, a bit of magic realism and four stories of people who need to find peace regarding some particular aspect of their life.
We meet a woman whose mother has recently passed away, leaving thing unresolved. In another story, there is a man with dementia who is trying something important and then two sisters whose lives are going in different directions. Of these, I thought the story about the man with dementia was very moving.
I didn't mind this one until the last chapter when it all got a bit weird which is a real shame because this is where we got to learn how Sakura ended up being in the store, so it would have been great to have been able to connect to this. I am assuming
This is a case where the absolutely gorgeous cover lured me in, but the book itself wasn't quite as good as I would have hoped it would be. I did love all the discussions about the four special books that were the triggers to bring the different characters into the store! Don't get me wrong. It was still a decent read, just not great.
This book counts for the Bookish Books challenge.
Rating 3/5
Matcha on Monday by Michiko Aoyama (translated by E Madison Shimoda)
On the cover this is advertised as "By the best selling author of What You Are Looking For is in the Library. The thing is that book is my least favourite of the four books I have read by this author so far.
Matcha on Monday is the companion book to Hot Chocolate on Thursdays which I read earlier this year. Whilst these two books share the common trait of featuring individual by connected stories, this time there are 12 stories (one for each month of the year). Some of the stories are set in or near the Marble Cafe in Tokyo, but others are set in Kyoto. This time there is no magical element, other than the power of unknown connections, and I don't think there is even a cat, although I could be wrong!
The Marble Cafe is normally closed on a Monday but every now and again the mysterious owner who is known only as The Maestro holds special events. In the first of the stories, a young woman visits the cafe during an event which is featuring matcha teas. In the next story, a man tries to visit the cafe after a fight with his wife but it is closed. Instead, he visits a nearby store. Then we learn more about the store owner and so the connected stories continue. Through the stories we learn lots about matcha, about several important Japanese traditions and more.
These couple of paragraphs give an example of how each of the stories is connected, and I love this whole idea!
"Right, we have no clue who they are, but they definitely existed. If you trace things back, the number of linked hands multiplies exponentially. If even one of those hands had let go, we wouldn't have made it here. Every encounter is the result of a long line of connections between people whose faces we'll never know."
Moved, I look at the Maestro.
He cradles his coffee cup with both hands and adds, "The most wonderful thing about this is that the far-off people who once held hands have no idea that they might be making someone somewhere down the line happy. That's what's great: unbeknownst to you, simply working on your life can impact the life of complete strangers."
I certainly found myself thinking about some of the things that happened in my life and where those magical hands, whether known or unknown, have helped me to get to where I am in my life right now. For example, my husband moved to Australia 8 years before we met. I'd like to thank whoever the first person was who put that idea in his head!
I enjoyed both of the books in the Marble Cafe series. And I will read whatever book is translated into English from Michiko Aoyama.
Rating 4.5/5
All of these books count for the Books in Translation challenge hosted at The Introverted Reader. Before I Knew I Loved You and Matcha on Monday count for Foodies Read hosted at Based on a True Story and Weekend Cooking which I host. The first two books count for the Speccy Fic challenge, hosted at Book'd Out and Before I Knew I Loved You counts for the New Release Challenge hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews.
