Historical novel set in Britannia AD61 (East Anglia)
Tell us the one thing you’d like to do, visit, or see in Japan – and win this great prize!
17th July 2015
Japan is one of the jewels of Asia, and one of our absolute favourite countries in the world. We are therefore extremely pleased to offer this fabulous Japan themed prize in our competition this month.
There are two great books to be won:
The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide – the delightful New York Times best seller described as enchanting, mesmerising, beguiling, charming, thoughtful, lyrical, moving, captivating! A middle aged couple is living in a quiet suburb of Tokyo, in a small guest house, set in the grounds of a larger mansion. Husband and wife are both involved in writing and books, and theirs is a low-key, slightly dusty life surrounded by their books and a beautiful garden. Nothing much happens in their world until a small cat arrives, and ruffles their regular routine. She is capricious and curious and soon inveigles herself into their home and becomes pivotal to their lives.
And Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami. Tsukiko is in her late 30s and living alone when one night she happens to meet one of her former high school teachers, ‘Sensei’, in a bar. He is at least thirty years her senior, retired and, she presumes, a widower. After this initial encounter, the pair continue to meet occasionally to share food and drink sake, and as the seasons pass – from spring cherry blossom to autumnal mushrooms – Tsukiko and Sensei come to develop a hesitant intimacy which tilts awkwardly and poignantly into love. Perfectly constructed, funny, and moving, Strange Weather in Tokyo is a tale of modern Japan and old-fashioned romance.
Plus a Japanese doll bookmark and an ‘origami’ play handkerchief – all packed together in a beautifully designed Japan book box!
This is a prize really worth winning. To enter the competition all you have to do is fill in the Comments Box below and tell us the one thing you’d most like to do, visit, or see in Japan. It’s that simple!
The competition will close at midnight UK time on Tuesday 28th July. The winner will be the first name out of the hat on Wednesday 29th July.
The very best of luck!
The TripFiction team
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Thank you so much. The book box is so colourful and I am looking forward to reading the books!
Congratulations to Sara Hill!
Her name was first out of the hat when we drew the winner this morning.
Well done, Sara.
I would explore the street food and high street shopping. Japanese quirky art and stationery has always caught my eye, so lots of shopping cute, quirky little items. Japanese dessérts are rarely heard of, that is one food item I want to discover when in Japan.
I love Japan and, after college I spent a year there teaching English. I never got to try one of the beautiful, outdoor onsen hot springs and would love to take my family there during cherry blossom season!
Definitely Harajuku culture in Tokyo! Also spiritual places!
I’d like to try different types of Japanese food. I would also like to visit Cat Island and an anime store.
I would like to try Japanese food, wear a kimono, and make myself familiar with Japanese theatre.
I would love to see some authentic Kabuki theatre!
I would like to see exotic birds fluttering through cherry blossom.
I would like to visit Japan to eat sushi and would like to visit Cat cafe on Tokyo Japan.
I would love to visit Kyoto with its Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines and Mount Fuji!
I’d like to visit some of Tokyo’s many cat cafes!
It’s the Cherry Blossom for me, so fleetingly beautiful.
I would want to go shopping in Harajuku! i would love to see all the girls in their super cute outfits and then shop in the stores for my own! I love Hello Kitty!
I’ve always had a fantasy of sitting on a bullet train speeding past Mount Fuji…….will I ever get to do that?
Japan is indeed a gem. One of the things I’ve never done is attend a Kabuki Theater, Japanese dance and drama. It is my dream to return to Japan, its been over thirty years since I’ve seen my family.
I would love to visit the cat island, Tashirojima, and also visit the small train station of Kishi and meet Tama, the only cat station master in the entire world.
Somewhere that inspired Banana Yoshimoto so I can suck up some of her humanity – her kitchen or her lake perhaps.
The amazing city of Tokyo, it looks so eclectic and would also get to visit Disneyland there which would be a good all round family trip:-)
It would have to be tea with a geisha.
For those that haven’t been, do yourself a favour and visit, immerse and get lost, eat things you have never seen, visit shops you have never seen, wonder in amazement that so many people get on with their business without too much trouble, ride on the best rail network anywhere, take photos of amazing sites – you get the idea
Oh and keep coming back to TripFiction
I would really love to visit Japan’s cat island – Aoshima – because I am cat crazy!
I would like to see the Kabukiza Theater where traditional Japanese drama is performed by male artistes. You can rent a headset which translates the action and buy food and drink to eat as you watch. I imagine it to be very colourful and a memorable day out.
Hey, i’d love to go to Okinawa Island … and the other islands in the Okinawa group, especially the neighbouring island of Kudaka where older women practice hunting sea snakes at night. Japan seems to me to be a country full of beautiful contradictions. A must visit and truly unique. Oh, yes, and my Spanish nephew has just moved to Okinawa and I’d like to visit him too…)
I’m very excited to be visiting Japan in September and looking forward to exploring on foot, parts of the old imperial highway between Tokyo and Kyoto. It looks like a magical landscape that hasn’t changed in centuries, dotted with traditional towns and tea houses out in the wilds on the highway.
I would *love* this prize. I’ve been wanting to read Strange Weather for ages. I’d really love to get out of the city and see snow monkeys bathe in hot springs.
I’d like to see the blossom trees.
i would love to sample all of the fresh sushi!
After recently watching the BBC documentary about Japan, i really want to see the cranes dancing in the snow.