Strange Weather in Tokyo: Hiromi Kawakami

In Strange Weather in Tokyo, Tsukiko Omachi runs into her high school Japanese teacher at a bar in Tokyo. She is 37, he is much older, around 70. He recognizes her, but she cannot remember his name, so she calls him "Sensei." They continue to see each other often at the bar and she always calls him Sensei, even after she knows his name and they are friends. For about the first half of the book, at least, I wasn't sure where the story was going. It seemed to be just a series of vignettes of their meetings over the next few years. 

Both Tsukiko and Sensei are loners. They don't see other people. Tsukiko has an office job, Sensei is retired. But as strange as their new friendship is, they clearly enjoy their time together. The relationship develops over time. At some point, there is a disagreement, and the two still go to their usual bar but don't speak at all. Eventually Tsukiko realizes how much she misses spending time with Sensei. Yet both of them seem to be afraid of taking the relationship any further. 

My thoughts: 

This book had some similarities to Convenience Store Woman. The story is narrated by Tsukiko. There are many conversations between her and Sensei, so we see the story of their relationship and learn bits about their background from her point of view and their talks. This story also provides an interesting perspective on life in Japan. I enjoyed reading about the bars that they frequented and other activities they shared. Both of them ate out for dinner frequently at bars in the evening. 

There is an interesting trip to a market place that sells foods at individual stalls plus other goods.

Stalls started to appear here and there on the street. There were stalls that only sold tabi boots. Stalls that sold collapsible umbrellas. Stalls for secondhand clothing. Stalls that sold used books mixed with new books.

.....

After we passed a corner stall selling odds and ends, more and more of the stalls had grocery items for sale. Stalls selling only beans. Stalls with all different kinds of shellfish. There was a stall that had crates full of little shrimp or crabs.

.....

The grocery stalls thinned and gave way to stalls selling larger items. Household appliances. Computers. Telephones. There were mini refrigerators lined up in different colors. An LP was playing on an old record player.  I could hear the low timbre of a violin. The music had an old-fashioned, simple charm. Sensei stood, listening intently, until the end of the piece.

Much of the book centers around the times that Tsukiko and Sensei eat a meal together. So there is a lot of discussion of Japanese foods. I was not familiar with much of the food, but it all sounded delicious, and I wished I could be there and they could tell me all about the food. 

Strange Weather in Tokyo gave me a lot to think about after the story was over. I loved the writing. It was simple, just telling what the two did together, how the relationship, whatever it is, progresses. The story was told in under 200 pages, and was a good length, not overdone. For me, the ending was unbearably sad, but in some ways it was a happy ending. 

This was my third book for the Japanese Literature Challenge 15.

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Publisher:   Counterpoint, 2017 (orig. pub. 2001)

Translated from the Japanese by Allison Markin Powell 

Length:       192 pages
Format:       eBook
Setting:       Tokyo, Japan
Genre:        Fiction
Source:       Purchased in 2021.