Although Days at the Morisaki Bookshop came out in 2010, I only recently became aware of it and was drawn to the charming cover and the blurb on the back. It is the debut novel from Japanese author Satoshi Yagisawa and was translated into English by Eric Ozawa.
I really liked this short novel. My favorite part was seeing Takako develop a love for books and for reading, but I also enjoyed seeing her settle into the community of her temporary home and make friends. I was also fond of several other characters, especially Tomo and Wada.
I wasn’t a big fan of the Aunt Momoko character, but I did come to understand her better as the story progressed. I also found the prose to be a bit choppy at times, but I don’t know how much of that can be attributed to the translation since I can’t read it in the original language.
Have you read any Japanese literature? What do you recommend?
In So Many Words 