Tokyo Ueno Station (novel)
Tokyo Ueno Station (Japanese: JR上野駅公園口, Hepburn: JR Ueno-Eki Kōenguchi) is a 2014 novel by Zainichi Korean author Yū Miri.
First edition cover (Kawade Shobō Shinsha, 2014) | |
Author | Yū Miri |
---|---|
Original title | JR Ueno-Eki Kōenguchi (JR上野駅公園口) |
Translator | Morgan Giles |
Country | Japan |
Language | Japanese |
Set in | Tokyo |
Publisher | Kawade Shobō Shinsha |
Publication date | 2014 |
Published in English | 2019 |
Awards | National Book Award for Translated Literature (2020) |
The novel reflects the author's engagement with historical memory and margins by incorporating themes of a migrant laborer from northeastern Japan and his work on Olympic construction sites in Tokyo, as well as the 11 March 2011 disaster.[1] In November 2020, Tokyo Ueno Station won the National Book Award for Translated Literature for the English translation by translator Morgan Giles.[2][3]
Reception
In its starred review, Kirkus Reviews called it Yu's "more restrained and mature novel" and praised her fusion of "personal and national history."[4]
Lauren Elkin of The Guardian wrote that the novel "most effectively conveys its concerns through dense layers of narrative, through ambiguity rather than specific fates."[5]
References
- Iwata-Weickgenannt, Kristina (2019). "The roads to disaster, or rewriting history from the margins—Yū Miri's JR Ueno Station Park Exit". Contemporary Japan: 1–17. doi:10.1080/18692729.2019.1578848.
- "'Tokyo Ueno Station' by Yu Miri wins U.S. book award". The Japan Times. 19 November 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
- Alter, Alexandra (19 November 2020). "Charles Yu Wins National Book Award for 'Interior Chinatown'" – via NYTimes.com.
- "Tokyo Ueno Station by Miri Yu ; translated by Morgan Giles". Kirkus Reviews. 29 March 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
- Elkin, Lauren (3 April 2019). "Tokyo Ueno Station by Yu Miri review – haunting novel of life after death". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 December 2020.