Hi friends! So today I'm going to be doing a review on "Tokyo Ueno Station" by Yu Miri. This review is going to be short and sweet (like the title suggests) and spoiler free (however there will be the Goodreads synopsis in this and sometimes it can contain spoilers so please keep that in mind!)
"Born in Fukushima in 1933, the same year as the Emperor, Kazu's life is tied by a series of coincidences to Japan's Imperial family and to one particular spot in Tokyo; the park near Ueno Station - the same place his unquiet spirit now haunts in death. It is here that Kazu's life in Tokyo began, as a labourer in the run up to the 1964 Olympics, and later where he ended his days, living in the park's vast homeless 'villager', traumatised by the destruction of the 2011 tsunami and enraged by the announcement of the 2020 Olympics.
Akutagawa - award - winning author Yu Miri uses her outsider's perspective as a Zainichi (Korean - Japanese) writer to craft a novel of utmost importance to this moment, a powerful rebuke to the Imperial system and a sensitive, deeply felt depiction of the lives of Japan's most venerable people."
How I read this book: Physical Copy
Please check the trigger warnings before reading this book.
So the reason I wanted to read "Tokyo Ueno Station" is because this was the book club that I'm in second read! I genuinely didn't know what I was getting into with this novel but I am glad that it was suggested. This book is mostly heart breaking and I was not expecting to be as hurt as I was. I found it to be very poetic and it gave me a lot of insight into Japan's history as well as the way that homeless people are treated within the country. I definitely felt like I learned a lot more about Japan than I ever have before. With that being said, throughout some of the book I didn't actually know what was going on with the main character and found it to be a little boring and over descriptive at times, this didn't make me put the book down, but I really needed someone to tell me what's going on in a simple way for my brain to understand. I would definitely say if you're going to read this book make sure that you read the authors afterword also to fully grasp what actually has happened in the book. This book is very short (the actual story is only 168 pages) which makes for an easy read, the only thing I wish it did have though was chapters so I could stop and take a breather. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a short, sad contemporary to read but I would also note that this book is not for everyone.
I don't have any favourite/least favourite characters within this book.
I gave this book a 3/5 star rating on Goodreads.
What did you think of this book? Do you have any books you'd recommend for me to read and do a review on? Please let me know down in the comments below!
Have a wonderful day!
Love, Doe.
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