Shortlisted for the 2013 Man Asian Literary Prize, Strange Weather in
Tokyo is a story of loneliness and love that defies age.
Tsukiko, 38, works in an office and lives alone. One night, she happens
to meet one of her former high school teachers, "Sensei," in a local
bar. Tsukiko had only ever called him "Sensei" ("Teacher"). He is 30
years her senior, retired, and presumably a widower. Their relationship
develops from a perfunctory acknowledgment of each other as they eat and
drink alone at the bar, to a hesitant intimacy, which tilts awkwardly
and poignantly into love.
As Tsukiko and Sensei grow to know and love one another, time's passing
is marked by Kawakami's gentle hints at the changing seasons: from warm
sake to chilled beer, from the buds on the trees to the blooming of the
cherry blossoms. Strange Weather in Tokyo is a moving, funny, and
immersive tale of modern Japan and old-fashioned romance.