Book Review: Where the Wild Ladies Are

The seventeen modern female short stories by Matsuda Aoko are inspired by Japanese folktales and traditional plays in her new book published in 2020. The Japanese female writer and translator made her debut in 2013 with the book ‘Stackable’.

Some of her stories in this anthology are based on plays, in Japanese rakugo 落語, which are performed on a Kabuki theater stage by a solitary storyteller.

Matsuda Aoko’s short stories are powerful modern ghost stories. You can understand them without knowing the Japanese traditional background. When it is necessary for the understanding there is a short introduction to the theme. In the back of the book, you find a list with titles of the original tales.

Many cultures believe that death is not the end but it is a transformation into another form of being. Folktales are based on myths, narrations about ghosts and strange occurrences. The strong ancestor worship tradition in Japan is a sign of this belief: this world and the afterlife is connected, and the dead can visit you.

Matsuda’s stories are not mere retellings, but original, sometimes funny, mostly empowering stories about contemporary women who meet a ghost, are ghosts or know about ghosts.

Many women grew up with the belief, that they are not good enough and with ideal body images, that results in the conviction they should be different. Matsuda is questioning traditional female role models and attributions. She writes about transience, change, self acceptance and empowerment.

My favorites stories of this collection are the following:

• ‘Smartening Up’ is a hairy story of empowerment. An online version of this story is published at https://granta.com/smartening-up/
• ‘My Superpower’– Leads to the question: “What is your superpower?”
• ‘Quite A Catch’– A tale about skeleton fishing.
• ‘Silently Burning’ is based on the famous Yaoya Oshichi folktale.
• ‘The Missing One’– A homage to Okiku who inhabits the well of Himeji Castle.

This book is a gem and I really, really liked it. Matsuda Aoko has also inspired me to read old myth and folktales.

If you like to read more traditional stories, you can start with some old anthologies for free at gutenberg.org. Here is a short list of interesting titles.

• In Ghostly Japan, by Lafcadio Hearn
  http://gutenberg.org/files/8128/8128-h/8128-h.htm
• Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things, by Lafcadio Hearn
  http://gutenberg.org/files/1210/1210-h/1210-h.htm
• Japanese Fairy Tales, by Grace James, Illustrated by Warwick Goble
  http://gutenberg.org/files/35853/35853-h/35853-h.htm
• Japanese Fairy Tales, by Yei Theodora Ozaki
  http://gutenberg.org/files/4018/4018-h/4018-h.htm

Reviewed Title:
Aoko Matsuda. Where the Wild Ladies Are. Translated by Polly Barton. Tilted Axis Press, 2020 (Cover).

Book Review: Moshi Moshi

“When we start something new, at first it is very muddy, and clouded. But soon, it becomes a clear stream, whose flow conducts itself quietly, through spontaneous movements.”

‘Moshi Moshi‘ is a love declaration to Shimo-Kitazawa, the beloved neighborhood in Tokyo with the hipster, Bohemian air. Famous for the many cafés, bars and restaurants, the secondhand shops. A lively, colorful atmosphere. The young and vibrant city district is known for its varied nightlife, local art, and design. Some call it the coolest part of Tôkyô.

Shimo-Kitazawa 下北沢 is six stops from Shinjuku with the Odakyû Line or four stops from Shibuya with the Keiô-Inokashira Line, a district in Tokyo (Setagaya).

But this quarter is in danger. City officials planned to build an 81-foot-wide thoroughfare, which will tear the neighborhood apart. In 2013 the train tracks were removed, and the station is under construction. Plus, it will be allowed to build higher buildings, which was restricted before. (links to articles about Shimo-Kitazawa with pictures: https://trulytokyo.com/shimokitazawa/ and https://www.shimokitazawa.info/ and https://www.odakyu.jp/station/shimo_kitazawa/).

The story in outlines
Yoshie–Yocchan– a young woman moves to Shimo-Kitazawa after the death of her father. He had died in a mysterious double suicide with a strange woman. On this day he forgot his cellphone at home and could not call for help. Ever since, Yoshie is haunted by dreams and her wish to call her dad because she wants to know who the woman was, and if he really wanted to die with her.

As she moves into a small, shabby apartment in Shimo-Kitazawa she feels free from the home of her parents. She tries to get rid of her memories. She grieves but gets better when she takes a job in the café Les Liens. Then, her mother comes to visit her, and asks if she can stay with her in Shimo-Kitazawa for a while. Imagine your mother wants to move into your tiny student apartment with you! So, that is the situation in the beginning.

Moshi Moshi もしもし means ‘hello’, especially on the phone. Or, if you want to say ‘excuse me!’, when calling out to someone. (for different use and meaning, please see: https://ejje.weblio.jp/sentence/content/もしもし).

Evaluation
The story is told by Yoshie’s point of view. You learn about her inner thoughts and her emotions in an interior monologue. The narrator reflects about the death of her father, about childhood and her future as the story moves on. The setting of Shimo-Kitazawa is essential. It becomes a symbol of the transience of all things.

Banana Yoshimoto’s novel sounds a little nostalgically, but it is understandable, because she describes changes, which are not only due to a natural cause, but due to gentrification of the beloved Shimo-Kitazawa. So, this is not mere regretting of the past, but some critical viewing about modern capitalism.

As always, I liked the writing style of Banana Yoshimoto. And I liked especially this novel, because I once knew the Shimo-Kitazawa, she is describing in her book very well. So, farewell lovely Shimo-Kitazawa, it was good to know you.

Reviewed title
吉本 ばなな. もしもし下北沢. 2010.
Banana Yoshimoto. Moshi Moshi. Translated by Asa Yoneda. Counterpoint, 2016 (Cover).

Art on Tuesday: Flower Viewing

This picture is an additional ukiyo-e from Hokusai’s series ‘Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji’. It is called ‘Tōkaidō Shinagawa Goten’yama no Fuji (東海道品川御殿山の不二)’. Mount Fuji seen from the Gotenyama hill in Shinagawa.

You see a scene in springtime. The trees with flowers in bloom. People are celebrating ‘hanami’ 花見, which means flower viewing. They are having a picnic on the hill or take a walk in the beautiful countryside. It is a tradition until today to do ‘hanami’ with family and friends or colleagues, enjoying the cherry blossoms and sit under a tree, drinking sake, eating and sing songs. Everybody is enjoying the coming of spring.