Strange Weather in Tokyo
Hiromi Kawakami
Counterpoint
<p><b>Shortlisted for the 2013 Man Asian Literary Prize, <i>Strange Weather in Tokyo</i> is a story of loneliness and love that defies age.</b></p> <p>Tsukiko, thirty-eight, works in an office and lives alone. One night, she happens to meet one of her former high school teachers, "Sensei," in a local bar. Tsukiko had only ever called him "Sensei" ("Teacher"). He is thirty years her senior, retired, and presumably a widower. Their relationship develops from a perfunctory acknowledgment of each other as they eat and drink alone at the bar, to a hesitant intimacy which tilts awkwardly and poignantly into love.</p> <p>As Tsukiko and Sensei grow to know and love one another, time's passing is marked by Kawakami's gentle hints at the changing seasons: from warm sake to chilled beer, from the buds on the trees to the blooming of the cherry blossoms. <i>Strange Weather in Tokyo</i> is a moving, funny, and immersive tale of modern Japan and old-fashioned romance.</p>