Touring the Land of the dead Review

Tws: sexual assault, workplace harassment, physical abuse, depression, mental health

In "Touring the Land of the Dead", Maki Kashimada gifts us with two novellas, the first about the coexisting loneliness and companionship of married life, the second about the fear of losing one's closest friends to romantic relationships.

Touring the Land of the Dead

This first short story was definitely the one that impacted me the most for how sadly familiar a lot of the themes in it were.

When Natsuko makes a seemingly impromptu decision to take her chronically ill husband to a wellness/spa weekend where two generations of her family had previously stayed, her carefully compartmentalized life unravels until she is forced to confront her past.

What I liked the most about this story was that it progressed in a completely inverse way to what I would expect: as Natsuko examined her life, the more her love for her husband and her life emerged. Natsuko's life and choices are not everyone's dream but they were hers and I liked seeing a character taking pride in exactly the life they have instead of what people tell them they should strive for.

I left this couple, confident that they were going to be fine.

Ninety-nine kisses

Tws: not really but...well you'll have to read it yourself I guess.

In "Ninety-Nine Kisses", Nanako struggles with being seen as a woman before everything else, now that she and her four sisters are grown up and romantic relationships are expected. When several of her sisters fall for the same newcomer, chaos ensues.

I connected with Nanako's fear of losing her friends and sisters to a romantic partner and how that would signify the end of something they had shared. With this being a particularly female-centred story, there were a lot of insights not only when it came to female sexuality and psyche but what it means to be a woman in contemporary Japan which I found quite interesting.

Nanako really weirded me out though.

Conclusions

For those curious about Japanese literature, or trying out translated fiction in general, short stories like these are a good way to prepare yourself for the culture shock that may follow. There is no particular villain or journey in these tales, only a few unimportant moments that matter to very few people for a very short time. Just like life.

And yet, both these stories will cling to your mind.

Thank you to Europa Editions for sending me this copy.

Rating: 3/5 stars