Specs
Reviews
(3.57/5)Fantastic Simple Slice of Life Great for Inexperienced Readers
This was a fantastic little story about a woman who goes to 八丈島, a tiny island in the middle of the ocean that's technically part of Toyko. I had no idea about this island but the sense of place was so nicely done that this story made me was to go visit it someday!
The story itself isn't anything spectacular, but I think the author did a fantastic job revealing the scenes and events at a comfortable pace. Too often Japanese novels will dump you with information, interrupting the flow of the story. But I think this flowed incredibly nicely and the hints to Kawase's backstory and motivation to coming to the island was really done.
Don't read the blurb though! I'm honestly annoyed the blurb ruins the mystery a little. If it hadn't been for the blurb I think I would have enjoyed this story even more.
As for Japanese level, I'd say this is great for N3-N2 level learners looking to dip their toes into Japanese novels. The writing isn't complex and the scenes are very clear, but it still uses a lot of advanced vocabulary and kanji that you see all the time in novels.
I really thought I would enjoy this book. I love reading about new places and I'd never heard of Hachijojima before, so the opportunity to learn more was a plus. My life/work/health situation was a bit similar to the MC Kawase-san's when she was in Tokyo, so I thought I'd be able to identify with her pretty well. Plus, there's a cute and mysterious black cat... can't go wrong there. But I was really disappointed by the story, or lack of one, until the end of the book.
We get to see a lot about the island, which I did like. Nice details about local plants and animals, food, fishing, traditional crafts, that sort of thing. But in the end, it's almost all just tourism. Very little happens outside of Kawase-san's sightseeing experiences, and the few incidents and struggles that do occur are very quickly and neatly resolved by the island's residents or just like three sentences later.
A few examples: Bugs and rats in the house? Kawase-san's island liaison/contact person Hiyama-san shows up and takes care of (most of) the pesky creatures. Messed up cooking dinner? Hiyama-san shows up with extra food and cooks the rest. With how often Hiyama-san shows up, especially in the first half of the book, it would've been nice to learn more about him and get his thoughts on what's going on. But he's pretty much just there as a handy solution to island life problems.
As the book progresses, it hints at there being another layer to the story than a simple account of Kawase-san's stay on the island. I don't want to spoil this aspect of the storytelling since I did like how it was implemented, but I think it also made it necessary to omit details like characters' conversations and thoughts. Being about to read more about the side characters, like I mentioned with Hiyama-san above, would've given them much-needed personality and individuality... but it also would've gotten in the way of the mystery and impact of this second "layer" of the story.
For a similar concept but with a lot more charm and humor, I'd recommend Barakamon (anime/manga) instead.
