My next Women in Translation Month read is ‘The Nakano Thrift Shop’ by Hiromi Kawakami, translated from the Japanese by Allison Markin Powell. I really enjoyed reading Strange Weather in Tokyo a couple of years ago (also known as ‘The Briefcase’ in the United States) and I was pleased to see another novel by Kawakami published by Portobello Books earlier this month with another excellent cover design by Natsumi Hayashi. Originally released in Japan in 2005, ‘The Nakano Thrift Shop’ tells the story of Hitomi Suganuma who starts working as a cashier selling second-hand goods in a thrift shop owned by the mysterious Haruo Nakano. He has several ex-wives and is having an affair with Sakiko while his older sister Masaya is an artist who regularly pops in and offers guidance. Meanwhile, Hitomi is largely preoccupied with another employee, the introverted Takeo, who helps Mr Nakano with house clearances.
If you have already read ‘Strange Weather in Tokyo’, then you can expect a lot more of the same from ‘The Nakano Thrift Shop’. The overall atmosphere is very similar while the only significant difference is that Hitomi and Takeo’s relationship is less central to the book than that of Tsukiko and Sensei. Kawakami’s fiction has been described as quirky, eccentric and offbeat which certainly applies to the entertaining cast of characters who come to the shop. However, the story is not as frivolous and whimsical as it first appears as there is also a sense of hesitancy and vagueness underneath the surface particularly where characters like Takeo are concerned.
Each chapter takes its title from an object which is sold in the shop. The book as a whole reads more like a collection of interlinked short stories about the comings and goings of various customers and employees with relatively little in the way of a linear plot. Kawakami moves easily between moments of humour and more profound meditations on relationships. The chapter ‘Apples’ is a good example of this, beginning with an amusingly deadpan exchange between Mr Nakano and an awkward customer who wants to sell his goods for wildly inflated prices through an online auction before moving on to a conversation between Hitomi and Masaya about the disappearance of Mr Maruyama and whether or not there is a connection between sexual desire and loneliness.
‘The Nakano Thrift Shop’ is an ideal introduction for those who are new to Japanese fiction, or for those who are looking for something a little less surreal than the early novels of Haruki Murakami and a lot less intimidating than something like Death by Water by Kenzaburō Ōe. It could be a possible contender for next year’s Man Booker International Prize longlist (yes, I’m thinking ahead already) following the shortlisting of ‘Strange Weather in Tokyo’ for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize in 2014, but we will have to wait until March to find out.
A Little Blog of Books 
One of my goals is to read more Asian lit this year which I have sorely neglected. This sounds like a great suggestion for my list!
LikeLike
Great, I think you’ll like it! I haven’t read much J-Lit recently either and it was good to revisit 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I loved this book, particularly the way in which the disparate, eccentric characters come to be almost like family to each other by the end of the novel. It’s a breath of fresh air. Delighted that Portobello used the same designer for the jacket, too
LikeLike
Yes it’s understated but effective. I love the covers too – very different from anything else I’ve seen.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This looks like a great read. Thanks for the review. Out of interest, how do you find books translated by women? Just the normal process of scouting a book shop?
LikeLike
Women in Translation Month was founded by a book blogger at biblibio.blogspot.com which has lots of good suggestions – and browsing bookshops helps too 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve read Strange Weather in Tokyo or (The Briefcase) the American version as well as Manazuru, and I enjoyed them both. I’m happy to hear good things about it. this one, and I can’t to read it!
LikeLike
I haven’t read Manazuru as I’m not sure if it’s available in the UK but I will hunt it down eventually!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I loved Strange Wearher in Tokyo! I will read this ine for sure!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m reading and loving this at the moment. It reminds me of Ogawa’s The Professor and Housekeeper in style – very beguiling.
LikeLike
Great! I read Revenge by Yoko Ogawa a couple of years ago but I have yet to read any of her other books so must get to this at some point.
LikeLike
This sounds brilliant, perhaps a bit like Banana Yoshimoto. Will put it on my To Look Out For list!
LikeLike
Yes, I haven’t read any Banana Yoshimoto but I have heard her books are similar in style to Kawakami so I will probably seek them out at some stage.
LikeLike
Having loved Strange Weather In Tokyo I will definitely give this book a read.
LikeLike
They are very similar in style so I think you will enjoy it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks. I have added it onto my to read list.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: Don’t Read Japanese? Four Blogs Bring Japanese Books to Life · Global Voices
Pingback: My Books of the Year 2016 | A Little Blog of Books
Pingback: The Man Booker International Prize 2017: Longlist Predictions | A Little Blog of Books
Pingback: Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata | A Little Blog of Books