Book Review: Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami

It is hard to imagine a world, where everything is where they are supposed to be but Strange Weather in Tokyo does exactly that: declutters the everyday busyness and brings us two completely different characters connected by the desire to find calmness. This is at least how I have read the book as I turned the pages slowly because it is a book to be read slowly. Even though it is a short book, I did not want to say goodbye to the peacefully odd world of Omachi Tsukiko and Mr Matsumoto “Sensei”.

In the book, there are two main characters, who may seem opposite of each other but in their lonely nature, they are quite the same. Tsukiko works at a mundane job and Mr Matsumoto is a Japanese teacher, who also was Tsukiko’s former teacher and everything slowly changes from the moment they meet each other again. Their loneliness is rooted deeply in their subconsciousness, never leaving their sight, so that the only way to feel some sort of belonging is through their random night outs. Sometimes they go meet at Santuro’s bar, mushroom picking, or the island where Sensei’s ex-wife is buried at. In its essence, the seems to be an outwardly love story but it is much more than that. These two characters are unconventional and outcasted characters but they are somewhat pleased about the fact that they are not so social when they start to bond with each other.

“Those nights, I open Sensei’s briefcase and peer inside. The blank empty space unfolds, containing nothing within. It holds nothing more than an expanse of desolate absence.”

Strange Weather in Tokyo, Hiromi Kawakami

There are a few characteristics in the plot similar to the Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata as is evident from the main characters. They are living a life full of routine, that is hard to break free from, and on the other hand, they are trying to understand the emotions they have never felt before. In Convenience Store Woman, Keiko Furukura can be considered an autistic woman, who has issues understanding emotions and what sort of behaviour is considered to be correct in public. Tsukiko and Sensei know how to behave but being in a conventionally accepted intimate relationship is not for them to comprehend because they do not feel the same as other people in their community.

I truly enjoyed reading this novel I started back in December 2021. It is the perfect book for a rainy day in bed, sipping a hot brewing tea. It’s a commentary on trying to explain the unexplainable feelings in a relationship so intimate that it is hard to explain with plain words. Kawakami’s simple yet expressive descriptions are what fulfilled my cravings for peace as a reader at the end.