Book Review
Title: Nipponia Nippon by Kazushige Abe
Genre: Japanese, Literary Fiction
Rating: 4 Stars
As most of my readers will know I’m a huge fan of any and all things Japan and while I’ve read manga for years I’ve only recently started reading Japanese literature and I’m loving it. My favourite to date is the Travelling Cat Chronicles which I recommend everyone reads but this is focusing on a young shut-in, Haruo and his connection with a native bird. Haruo has a strong connection to the crested ibises because the kanji of his name Toya can be read as crested ibis and this develops into an obsession. Haruo comes up with a plan to kill or free the birds because he doesn’t think people deserve them and goes to buy weapons with his allowance including a gun. We soon learn that this has been a lifelong obsession for Haruo and he never had any friends growing up because of it.
Haruo spends a lot of time reflecting on what has led to this decision to free or kill the ibises. When he first moved to Tokyo he did have a job but his obsession with the birds soon meant he was turning up late and eventually stopped going to work altogether. He ended up blaming this decision on the man that gave him the job claiming he was hateful and abusive towards Haruo which his parents accepted but he knew it wasn’t the truth. He keeps a detailed diary on his feelings towards the birds and the way they are treated along with the research he has done into the birds, their history, the breeding programmes and facilities. It is clear that will Haruo isn’t necessarily unhinged, he clearly has an obsessive personality which might be leading him down a dark path.
As Haruo continues with his planning we get to know more about him and we come to learn he has a dark past. In middle school and high school he became obsessed with a girl called Sakura and wanted to be with her but this eventually leads into him stalking her. Through this stalking he learns that she is sleeping with a teacher and tries to warn her parents about it but they won’t listen to him and he is shipped off to Tokyo to avoid Sakura’s parents getting him arrested again. However, he has recently learned that Sakura killed herself after that teacher was posted to a new school and abandoned her which infuriates Haruo as he knew before anyone else. He goes ahead with his plan to kill the ibises now but on his journey to Sado Island he meets Fumio who was tricked into coming to the Island by someone she was talking to online and she reminds Haruo of Sakura so he helps her out.
Haruo doesn’t tell Fumio why he is there but he does tell her it is do with his grief much like she why she is there as she feels responsible for the death of her younger brother after he got hit by a train retrieving a letter she intention threw away. Haruo is more determined than ever and breaks into the facility where the birds are and takes care of one security guard but in a fight with a second he ends up stabbing and killing the man. After this he realises destiny means nothing and allows the ibises to be free rather than killing them but the ending is where it gets interesting as we have two. In one ending Haruo is caught by the police and in the other he isn’t the one committing the crimes but someone else and he has been observing through the internet and it seems to be down to the reader to choose which ending they prefer the story to end with and I personally feel that this story is the product of an overactive imagination belonging to a teenage shut in so the second ending works better for me.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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