Well, the review is by somebody who you thank in your acknowledgments at the end of the book...

I read the book, I have to say it's a pretty solid tale, once you get started it's hard to put down. James Joyce it isn't, but it does capture bubble-era Tokyo in nostalgic details. I think you should have had a scene set at the Homework's in the Hiroo Shotengai, that would have been the coup de grace.

Couple of things: you consistently misspell 仕方がない. It's shikata ga nai, not shigata ga nai. Also, you misspell 居酒屋 once as izakya. And April 1st (when they are in Ueno Park celebrating hanami) is the first day of the fiscal year, not the first day of the second fiscal quarter.

 

James Joyce I will never be - I use paragraphs.

Excellent catches. Thank you. The beauty of e-publishing is the ability to make instant fixes. I'll double-check everything.

I spent much of my childhood with family in a blue-collar section of Yokohama, near Kawasaki. I guess I absorbed more of the accent than I thought.

Edit: I've never heard of Homework's. I never lived there as an adult, only through high school in the early 90s with visits back since. If it was a bar or nightclub, despite my classmates' taking advantage of those places' unwillingness to card guests, I wouldn't have set foot in it.

 

I am surprised, it's been there since 1985 and in the early 1990s it was seriously popular, as the only place to get what they sold: https://homeworks-1.com/ Prices are the same since then.

 

Just bought a copy! I'll be back with an honest review in a few days.

 

Would've been far too sophisticated for teenaged me. I was a McDonald's guy back then. My taste buds hadn't hit puberty yet.

An honest review? I'd rather you say the book was good but I appreciate the support.

 

Took a double take with this comment, got me remembering that they have a really well priced child�s menu. I�ve never eaten here but my daughter has.

 

Good to know. We're going to be there for the Olympics and staying with my parents. I'll have to look the place up.

 

I'll tell Amazon anything for a price!

 

Finally got around to starting hoyateach's book which has been sitting in my kindle library for, well, a while. Third chapter in, wow! Love the little details in there.

 

I'll have to check out some of the books recommended in this thread. I recently read the power to complete by Mikitani and it has me interested in japans economic history, particularly the last 50-100 years or so.

 

Just finished it. Very enjoyable and a great story (read it in two sittings.) If you�re interested, a few comments.

1. Started too slow and ended too fast.
2. The prose could be enlivened and tightened up a bit.
3. It kind of missed the banking ethos of that era, but that probably made it a better story.
4. It didn�t really feel like the Tokyo I knew at the time. Could be a generational thing, but I feel like it lacked the intense sensual elements that were everywhere present in Tokyo. (Nailed it though on your Moti Butter Chicken description.)

Finally, thanks! A wonderful gift, which I really enjoyed.

 

Time for a re-watch.

 

Wow - thank you both so much! I'm only now seeing this or I would've responded sooner.

In response to your post, 5khours, pacing has always been my weakest point and I know I spent a fair bit of time scene-setting. Probably too much.

As for the banking, I had to make most of it up, hence the research. Found some old recruitment videos from Goldman, etc., from the 1980s which gave some fascinating insights into the office layouts and tech use at the time. What a difference from today.

I lived in Tokyo as a teenager in the early 90s and still go back when I can to visit my folks. I suppose I was too wrapped up in my teenage drama to pay much attention to the little things immersive details back then. I really wanted to add details like the incessant wailing of cicadas at parks in the summer or the rich green moss that grows in the narrow old street-side ditches but those weren't right for the season.

Oh, well.

But I'm glad you enjoyed it for what it was. I hope others do, too. My thanks again.