Book Review | Can Japan’s young people write their own history?

Through my five decades of dedicated reading, I believe in a certain axiom about books: No matter what is happening in your life, you will always find the book you need.

Of course, this is no secret. Every time you choose a book, something consciously or unconsciously makes the choice that fulfills a need you may not even know you have. Even though I knew this, I read an article in a magazine about a book called Four seasons in Japan by Nick Bradley and decided I wanted to read the book. I was halfway through it before I realized how much I needed it.

Four seasons in Japan is not a travelogue. It is more of a novel that could be described as a “feel-good” novel. I only discovered this after I had already read quite a few of them, and although the book did not live up to my expectations, I could not deny that the feel-good narrative worked. The stress I had been carrying on my shoulders for months began to dissolve, the worry lines on my forehead began to smooth out, the fingers I had clenched into fists to fight off a hundred little resentments began to unfurl. And all because, in a work of fiction, Flo, an insecure young American translator in Japan, picks up a discarded book and sinks deep into its story.

Most Four seasons in Japan focuses on the story that Flo has to translate. This story is about two people. Kyo is a boy who failed the college entrance exam and is sent to a factory-like Kota school in the small town where his grandmother Ayoko lives. Ayoko lost her son, Kyo’s father, to suicide and therefore feels unable to deal with a boy who is on the threshold of his future. Should she be gentle with him? Put hard pressure on him? Influence his career choice?

Ayoko is so distrustful of herself that she is initially completely unapproachable and Kyo is too scared to even ask her about the father he lost as a baby. But over time, the two enjoy each other’s company. Ayoko notices that Kyo doesn’t actually want to be a doctor. That is his mother’s dream for him. What Kyo really wants to do is art – and Ayoko knows that he is very talented. What will Ayoko do when push comes to shove?

There is nothing special about Four seasons in Japan. It’s good, but not amazing. But the gentle storytelling was exactly what I needed when I read it, so to me it will always be wonderful.

Four seasons in Japan

By Nick Bradley

penguin

P. 325; 550 Rupees