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Really touching. Weaves in and out of past and present - narrated by a ghost. 4/5 or 4.5/5

This book is beautiful when you get accustomed to the cadence. I think it‘s going to stay with me a long time and at some point, I‘m sure I‘ll flip this to a pick.

In my Japanese fiction era. Haven‘t read most of these but recently completed The Kamogawa Food Detectives and I really enjoyed it!

The setting and narrator should have guaranteed an atmospheric read but no. There was no atmosphere. No character depth or growth. No plot. Just vague musings and bits of history jumbled together.

I‘m almost done with the tagged book that Yoshi loves to use as pillow. The story line is not really clear at times and many things stay vague (so far) but it‘s a great glimpse into a life that ended on the streets. I‘m really enjoying it!

Time to start my next read! I hope it‘s as good as the cover is pretty 🥰

Birthday books! From family and friends- they all know me so well 🥰 I‘m excited to read them all!

very sad. It is hard to remember we must care for those who have nothing else, because we also must care for ourselves.
My 36th book of 2022. Meeting my goal right at the buzzer. 🎉

This book will not be for everyone, but if you are willing to give it a chance I definitely think it is worth a read. There is a lot to take away from it and I think it's a book that keeps you thinking long after you have finished it. Although it's not necessarily all for good reasons.

Kazu's story is a sad one, but it is beautifully told. It can be disjointed sometimes and not 100% clear, but I still enjoyed the book overall.

#BookReport 43/22

I read these three book. I bailed on The Marrow Thieves, kind of enjoyed Tokyo Ueno Station and loved All This Could Have Been Different.

I had high expectations of this book because my peers loved it and I am a sucker for Japanese books. This one didn‘t really work for me though. I wanted to know what had happened to the main character and I was interested in life in Ueno Park yet there was a lot of stuff distracting me from these two storylines. For me it was a bit too much in such a little book.

This book was heartbreaking. Set against the backdrop of Ueno Station where the 1964 Olympics took place, the novel follows the tragic life of Kazu, a man who worked construction on the buildings there and died in its homeless encampments as an elderly man. There is a lot of Japanese history woven into his struggle, too. Grab the tissues (and Google). This won last year‘s National Book Award for literature in translation, and it‘s deserving.

I read this book overnight, it was a short read of 180 pages. It was sad and the ending was no walk in the park, but I loved it nonetheless. It overlapped with Pachinko in some ways. Interesting to see how a Korean women lived her story compared to a Japanese man. Good short read.

Had a sunny warm Easter then April showers came back 🌧 started a new book last night super excited for it ☺️

This little book packs quite a punch.

“I studied his face, that face that looked just like mine and I could not help but think that my life has been pointless after all, that I had lived this life in vain”.

It‘s the story of a man on the margins of society in post war Japan. Very thought provoking and one is left with the thought that as a society we need to do better. Looking forward to discussing this one.

Ended up reading 5 books for Asian Readathon 2021! 🥳

1. Please Look After Mom by Shin Kyung-Sook: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
2. Tokyo Ueno Station by Yū Miri: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
3. Blood Heir by Amélie Wen Zhao: ⭐⭐
4. The Broken Circle by Enjeela Ahmadi-Miller: ⭐⭐⭐ (3.5)
5. The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The best thing about this experience is adding more Asian-authored books to my TBR. 📚🏮

This turned out a lot better than I thought it would be after reading the excerpt. The writing is beautiful, and the reader gets a glimpse not just of Japanese culture, but life in essence in Japan. We get the perspective of a homeless man here, and it is extraordinary to see through his eyes. Thought-provoking, haunting -- this book is everything. Happy to end Asian Readathon with this one.

⭐: 5

Whenever I read a hardcover book, I always remove the dust jacket. Love how Tokyo Ueno Station looks underneath, with that beautiful purple foil. 🥰💜

Started this yesterday, it‘s kind of hard to focus on as it drifts from story to story without realizing it.

I stood alone in the darkness. Light does not illuminate. It only looks for things to illuminate. And I had never been found by the light. I would always be in darkness—

Gorgeous writing (and translating) - the descriptions are incredibly beautiful - but this book is just so so sad. I think this writer is amazing but if you are feeling emotionally fragile I would suggest setting this one aside for a while for more cheerful fare.

So I am having a nice bookish morning today! Happy Weekend everyone! My breakfast is a glorious peanut butter cheesecake from a bakery that is also an American Bookstore here in Krakow. The book wo n the #nationalbookaward for best book in translation. I am reading it for the book club #borderless

A man has died in Ueno Park, but his ghost remains at the train station, looking back on his life. This isn‘t so much a ghost story as a nonlinear story of a man‘s life. I liked but didn‘t love this, as I felt the material should have been more affecting than I found it to be.

#bookspinbingo audio edition

http://obsessedbookaholic.com/2020/08/31/tokyo-ueno-station-book-review/

#witbookhaul I stacked several women in translation books over the past couple of months. This one seems a bit too sad to read write now...but I hope to get to it eventually...about poverty in Japan from 1960s through close to present day told through the perspective of a homeless man. I also stacked a number of Nordic noir mysteries in translation and just started the Martin beck series written jointly by a married couple. #integrateyourshelf

A revealing and somber experience that flits between present past and future, woven together with history, geography and cultural traditions of Japan. The weight of Kazu‘s life is felt through every page as he recounts his final days living in Ueno Park. 8/10

#7covers#7days #covercrush Day 5

Have you already done this @Hestapleton ? 7 covers, 7 days, no explanations, try and tag someone new each day...

I‘m enjoying doing this @sudi ! But I feel like I‘ve already raved about my favourite book covers, so there aren‘t many surprises here...

I didn‘t get on with this - sadly, as I love Tilted Axis press and had high hopes for this one! An elderly homeless man reflects back on his life. It‘s a compassionate look at people living in poverty in Japan, but for me it lacked dramatic tension and was bleak. It failed the ‘am I looking forward to getting back to it?‘ test so I decided to let it go. But will keep an eye out for more work by Yu Miri.

How the hell is lighting a fire supposed to tell your ancestors that this is your house? You mean to tell me that someone who's reached enlightenment as a Buddha needs a fire to tell them where to come back to?

Reading with coffee.

Pick
Succint book translated from Japanese describing the life of a homeless man who lives in Ueno Park. Shame and despondency are a main cause of homelessness among this community. A unique and interesting story of the lives of the poor in Japan. Thanks for bringing this enlightening book to my attention, @RachelO

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A sad sad sad little book. Mainly pink with cherry blossoms and Redouté‘s roses, but turning yellow, the colour of autumn gingko leaves, in the last few pages. Beautifully written and one to re-read. I admit to having Japan tourist websites on hand, to trace the places/events/history described. A formerly homeless man looks back on his long life, and losses, listens in on other lives, and remembers from Ueno Park, Tokyo.

Suicide themes.

This is a beautifully written/translated little book.

It arrived! 😍 #TiltedAxisPress

As there‘s no blurb in the database:
“Born in Fukushima in 1933, the same year as the Emperor, Kazu‘s life is tied by a series of coincidences to Japan‘s Imperial family and to one particular spot in Tokyo; the park near Ueno Station – the same place his unquiet spirit now haunts in death. It is here that Kazu‘s life in Tokyo began, as a labourer in the run up to the 1964 Olympics, and 👇

How exciting is this? For Christmas, I was given a Tilted Axis Press subscription - they‘re a translated fiction publisher here in the UK who published Prabda Yoon (who I *may* have raved about last year). The sub gives me all 5 books they‘re publishing this year and the first one‘s on its way. I haven‘t had a book subscription before. Obviously I have Litsy to blame 😉.