The Quiet Place Book Club: Tokio Ueno Station by Yu Miri

Join us for the May meeting of The Quiet Place Club, where we will discuss Tokyo Ueno Station (Tilted Axis Press, 2019) by Yu Miri (trans. Morgan Giles).

Described as “a chronicle of hope” and “loss”, as a “work of fiction, psychogeography and history all at once”, and as an “urgent reminder of the radical divide between rich and poor in postwar Japan”, Tokyo Ueno Station explores the country’s present and past paying attention to the contrast between the ruling Imperial system and its overlooked vulnerable people. Kazu, a spirit who haunts the park near Ueno Station, narrates this compelling story, in which events such as the 1964 Olympics, the destructive consequences of the 2011 tsunami and the 2020 preparation for, yet again, the Olympic games, are intertwined with the laconic and existential musings of the spectre, who is not able to rest peacefully.

I used to think life was like a book: you turn the first page, and there’s the next, and as you go on turning page after page, eventually you reach the last one. But life is nothing like a story in a book. There may be words, and the pages may be numbered, but there is no plot. There may be an ending, but there is no end.

You can purchase a copy of Tokyo Ueno Station from Fox Lane Books.

Please register in advance for this meeting. Everyone is welcome!

Email: amk565@york.ac.uk / kw1408@york.ac.uk