"The yellow of the ginko leaves poured into my eyes like paint dissolving into water. Each leaf had a golden glow that was almost too beautiful-the ones that danced in the air, the soggy ones trampled by the people, and the ones that still clung to their branches." - Yu Miri, "Tokyo Ueno Station" translated by Morgan Giles.

Tokyo Ueno Station by Miri Yū, translated by Morgan Giles, was a heartbreaking tale of despair and homelessness in Japan, and a poetic lovely ghost tale. It was also a great glimpse into an area of Japan and its history. All in just 180 gorgeous pages!

Content warnings for child death, grief, suicide.

But then what of me remains here? A sense of tiredness. I was always tired. There was never a time I was not tired. Not when life had its claws in me and not when I escaped from it.

Miri Yu, Tokyo Ueno Station

"The turning of the seasons no longer had anything to do with me—but still, I didn't want to take my eyes away from that yellow, which seemed to me like a messenger of light."

Tokyo Ueno Station, Yu Miri

“And as I retreated into the future, the only thing I could ever see was the past. It was nothing as sweet as nostalgia or a longing for bygone days, just a constant absence from the present, an anger toward the future.”

Pg. 17

“I stood alone in the darkness. Light does not illuminate. It only looks for things to illuminate. And I had never been found by the light. I would always be in darkness—”

Pg. 55

“Suddenly the countless streams of rain interrupting my vision as I stared at a withered lotus flower appeared like a big black curtain—clearly showcasing my life, closed off with nowhere left to go. Even though the curtain's come down…why wasn't I getting up from my seat…? What more did I think there was to see…?”

Pg. 160

— Tokyo Ueno Station, by Yū Miri

Tokyo Ueno Station by Yu Miri follows the story of a man's working life in Japan.

Actually, this is probably too basic of a summary for the book. The book delvs into a lot of topics from the growth of construction around Tokyo, homelessness in Ueno Station and regret.

The main protagonist of this book suffers a lot of regret and missed opportunity. He missed out on watching his family grow up, there's also a feeling of alienation with his family, where he feels like he doesn't belong with them.

This is a man who suffered and lost out to be able to provide for his family, and there was no happy end for him.

I loved the comparisons between this man and the emperor of Japan. They were both the same age, but born into very different situations and circumstances. It really highlighted the class difference between the two. One who wants for nothing, and another who never gets anything he wants.

I really loved this book, it was really well written and I loved the haunted feeling throughout the book. There was a lot to unpack in this book that I don't think I'd be able to do justice in a simple review.

Overall, this book was amazing, and I really do recommend it to anyone, especially if you're interested in Japanese literature.

The hydrangeas were in bloom. The lighter blossom surrounding the smaller, darker center resembled a demon’s face.

Things like that always made me feel lonely when I was alive.

Now, noises, colors, and smells are all mixed up, gradually fading away, shrinking; I feel if I put out my finger to touch it, everything will disappear, but I have no fingers to touch with. I can no longer touch, not even one hand to the other in prayer.

If I don’t exist, I can’t disappear either.

Tokyo Ueno Station - Yū Miri

books cristina read in 2022: tokyo ueno station - miri yū

“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.”

“To be homeless is to be ignored when people walk past while still being in full view of everyone.”

Tokyo Ueno Station

—Yu Miri

08.20.2022

⛺️👑🌊🛠🐈

When you’re drawn to a random book at the bookstore simply because of its size and cover. Yes, the size. It’s just so adorable. 🥹

I breezed through Tokyo Ueno Station so quickly. Translated from Japanese, it delves into the life of Kazu, spanning from his birth to the present day where he has endured immense loss. His son, parents, wife, job, and everything dear to him are gone, and we essentially witness his life as a homeless man. It’s undeniably poignant. Thankfully, it was short. (3 ⭐️)

A bird that was neither a wood pigeon nor a swallow nor a falcon, a bird with a pure white breast that I had never seen before, flew down from a branch of the cherry tree. Paying no mind to me despite the noise I made as I walked, it hopped around on the gravel like a new teacher walking back and forth in front of a blackboard with a stick of chalk in hand.

Yu Miri, Tokyo Ueno Station (trans. Morgan Giles)

To speak is to stumble, to hesitate, to detour and hit dead ends. To listen is straightforward. You can always just listen.

Yu Miri, Tokyo Ueno Station

Every new year, I try to feign literacy. Reading has always been difficult for me which sucks because I love learning and stories so much. This years attempt I must say has been the best so far.

So far I've read Convenience Store Woman, which was perfect as a light easy read to ease me into the habit, and I just finished Tokyo Ueno Station now. That's what I want to really talk about right now.

I spent the new year with my family in Tokyo. Whenever I travel, I like to try and read a book set where I'm going. I was in the book store and these two books called to me. I was trying to decide which one to buy for my trip. Luckily, @inappropriatesidekick has a copy of Tokyo Ueno Station and was willing to lend it to me. A very "why not both?" moment. So I bought Convenience store woman and borrowed my friend's copy of Tokyo Ueno. She warned me that it was a sad book when she gave it to me. Not the vibe I wanted going on this big family holiday so I decided to bring Convenience Store Woman instead and read Tokyo Ueno Station after.

Im glad I did things that way. Convenience Store Woman was exactly what I needed it to be. Just a fun light read about a possibly neurodivergent woman finding a safe haven in a convenience store. Nice little story about how happiness is different for different people. Read most of it on the flight there and finished it not long into the trip.

Towards the end of that trip we found out a close Tito of mine passed away. It was a difficult loss for my family. His son, my cousin, was supposed to be in Tokyo too but stayed behind since his dad was not well in the hospital. He had a heart attack a few weeks before the trip and would stay in the ICU until he eventually passed. We took turns visiting him before we left, making promises that we'd all go to Japan again next year. We even did a big clan karaoke rendition of his favorite Beatles song as a get well soon type video message. We came home a day after and went straight to the wake from the airport. The next couple of weeks would be a whirlwind of grief and drama for my family. Honestly, the whole ordeal revealed a side of my family I'm not too keen on.

After his burial, things calmed down. The dust settled. life after loss continues. I finally had the bandwidth to try reading Tokyo Ueno Station. Stories have a funny way of finding us when we need them. I knew my friend warned me this would be a sad book but she didn't tell me why it was sad or what the book was about. The blurb was pretty vague about the story too. So I came in pretty blind other than sad vibes. There was something about the media I stumbled upon after my Tito's passing that feels fitting. I found myself unwittingly consuming a lot of media about death and loss. Tokyo Ueno Station may be my favorite one to have come to me.

Tokyo Ueno Station is about a homeless ghost whose life as a ghost is not much more different than his life when he was living. It's so poetically written, not just in how Yu is able to really bring the park to life but also in how the plot rhymes with itself. Many narratives poetically parallel in this book. I have a habit of annotating the books I read (I got permission for this borrowed copy) and most of my annotations on this one are some form of dang or damn and the occasional :( in the margins. Book's got some bars. Sad bars. But BARS.

In a way it's the perfect book to read to get to know Tokyo from a very different perspective as there are many historical events mentioned in the book thru the eyes of the protagonist. He names his son after the son of the prince of Japan as they share a birthday. (Coincidentally shares a birthday with my mom too.) He works on building various Olympic venues thru the 60s. Then he's kicked out as a homeless man living in the park in an attempt to make Japan's bid for 2020 more appealing. All the while we get these little slice of life moments of him just listening to people as they walk through the park. It's big "time is a flat circle" energy the way we hop between flashbacks of his life to his ghostly present day. Even how that line is blurred, not sure if he's remembering something from his life or just narrating his current experience as a ghost. We have the broad strokes of these historical events and the finer details in these small glimpses into these everyday people's lives. Together it paints such a beautiful picture.

I wish to have this talent for such lyrical writing. It put to words feelings I found so intangible because of grief. It would have hit very differently if I read this before my Tito's passing. I'm glad I found this book when I did.

Books Read in January and February 2024.

Josephine Tey's novel was The Daughter of time.

I read both Ragtime and Under the Feet of Jesus for an American lit class at my grad school. The rest of these books were my own choices.

I'm still currently reading both Yerba Buena and The Infernal World of Branwell Bronte.

I start my Romantic Brit Lit course next week too (I just finished my American Lit Seminar). I'm getting close to the end of my English Lit Master's degree. I have only two classes left now.