Strange Weather in Tokyo | Hiromi Kawakami

Shortlisted for the 2013 Man Asian Literary Prize, Strange Weather in Tokyo is a story of loneliness and love that defies age.

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.

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. Strange Weather in Tokyo is a moving, funny, and immersive tale of modern Japan and old-fashioned romance.

About the Author

Hiromi Kawakami is a renowned Japanese writer born in Tokyo in 19581. She graduated from Ochanomizu Women's College in 1980 and initially worked as a science teacher before becoming a writer. Kawakami made her literary debut in 1994 with her first novel Kamisama (God). She gained significant recognition in 1996 when she won the prestigious Akutagawa Prize for her work Hebi wo fumu (Tread on a Snake). Her writing is characterized by off-beat fiction that explores emotional ambiguity and everyday social interactions, often incorporating elements of fantasy and magical realism. She has been compared to writers like Lewis Carroll and Banana Yoshimoto, and cites Gabriel García Márquez and J.G. Ballard as influences.

About the Translator

Allison Markin Powell is a literary translator, editor, and publishing consultant. She received the 2020 PEN America Translation Prize for The Ten Loves of Nishino by Hiromi Kawakami. Her other translations include works by Osamu Dazai, Kanako Nishi, and Ryunosuke Akutagawa.