Books from Japan

Norwegian Wood follows Toru Watanabe, a university student in Tokyo who looks back on his youth and the relationships that shaped him. Haunted by the suicide of his closest friend, Kizuki, Toru becomes emotionally involved with Naoko, Kizuki’s former girlfriend, whose own grief makes intimacy difficult. At the same time, he meets Midori, an outspoken and independent young woman whose warmth and vitality offer a different vision of life. Torn between the past and the possibility of a new beginning, Toru struggles to understand love, loss, and responsibility. Set against the social changes of late-1960s Japan, Murakami explores loneliness, mental suffering, and the fragile connections that help people endure difficult periods. The novel captures the uncertainty of growing up and the lasting influence of relationships that cannot always be preserved.

The Second Chance Convenience Store follows Dokgo, a homeless man living near Seoul Station who has lost his memory and struggles to make sense of his past. His life begins to change after he finds and returns a wallet belonging to Mrs Yeom, a retired teacher who owns a small convenience store. Grateful for his honesty, she offers him food and eventually gives him a job at her shop. As Dokgo becomes part of the neighbourhood, his quiet kindness begins to transform the lives of customers and colleagues dealing with loneliness, family conflict, and personal disappointment. Yet his mysterious past continues to cast a shadow over his new beginning. Through the everyday encounters taking place inside the store, Kim explores social isolation, economic insecurity, and the importance of community. The novel celebrates compassion and suggests that small acts of kindness can help people recover their dignity and rebuild their lives.

In contemporary Japan, one scandal connects the lives of five people struggling with desire, shame, loneliness, and the expectations placed upon them. When a young man’s affair with an older woman is exposed online, the fallout ripples through the lives of teenagers navigating first love, a married couple facing infertility, a young man caring for his grandmother with dementia, and a single mother working as a midwife. Through these interconnected stories, Misumi Kubo explores the intimate realities often hidden behind the surface of everyday life: the pressures on women’s bodies, the stigma surrounding sexuality, poverty, family obligations, and the desperate need for human connection. Unflinching yet deeply compassionate, this award-winning Japanese novel finds hope in the fragile, stubborn force of life itself.