Short, nighttime stories set in TOKYO

29th May 2024

Goodnight Tokyo by Atshuhiro Yoshida, nighttime stories set in TOKYO.

TR: Haydn Trowell

The concept of these short, interconnected stories is interesting. Matsui drives a taxi at night and every morning (as it were, actually the middle of the night) he sets off at 1am to pick up a variety of passengers. He has to drop them off all over the metropolis and as he drives he gets to hear some interesting stories. Stories that are coloured by the dark city, as it winds down a little during the hours of darkness, just for a few hours. Matsui ends his night always at his favourite diner, tempted by one of their famous dishes.

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Each story has a delightful title. “The Loquat Thief” is the opening story and Mitsuki is a ‘procurer’ for film sets. This time, at very short notice, she has to find some loquats for first thing in the morning, so she is on a night-time mission to hunt them down in order to fulfil her duty. Her story is picked up after one of the frequent earthquakes that plague the city, in “Two Moons”. She has by then secured the peanut crusher… (whatever that is).

Other characters come and go, sharing aspects of their lives with the reader through the vehicle of Matsui’s taxi.

I very much like fiction set in Tokyo, as it takes me back to time spent there. With these stories I struggled to really engage with the narrative and characters, and I think these stories won’t stick with me for the longer term. I also get the manga/cartoon nature of artwork chosen for the book cover, as that is the popular publishing sector, but this cover would not attract me to buy in a bookshop.

Tina for the TripFiction Team

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