Tokyo Ueno Station
SynopsisPlot
Kazu is dead. Born in Fukushima in 1933, the same year as the Japanese Emperor, his life is tied by a series of coincidences to the Imperial family and has been shaped at every turn by modern Japanese history. But his life story is also marked by bad luck, and now, in death, he is unable to rest, doomed to haunt the park near Ueno Station in Tokyo. Kazu's life in the city began and ended in that park; he arrived there to work as a laborer in the preparations for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and ended his days living in the vast homeless village in the park, traumatized by the destruction of the 2011 tsunami and shattered by the announcement of the 2020 Olympics.
Story
About this book
Yu Miri's novel is narrated by Kazu, a man who has died and cannot find rest. He was born in Fukushima in 1933, the same year the Japanese Emperor was born, and a run of coincidences ties his life to the Imperial household without bringing him any of its comfort. Modern Japanese history shapes almost every turn of his path.
Kazu's time in Tokyo began at the park beside Ueno Station, where he arrived as a laborer while the city prepared for the 1964 Olympics. Years later he came back to the same ground and lived in the large homeless settlements that grew there. He carried the trauma of the 2011 tsunami, and news that Tokyo would host the 2020 Games hit him hard.
The book moves between memory and the present of a spirit fixed to one location, half listening to passersby and returning again to his own misfortunes. Ueno Park is one of Tokyo's busiest public spaces, sitting next to a station that handles enormous daily crowds. Yu Miri places national celebrations alongside the people who are moved on or unseen when such events arrive.
