
Life is colliding
in Kabukicho backstreets
sake, singing, silence.
Life is colliding
in Kabukicho backstreets
sake, singing, silence.
There’s an old saying in the night markets of Tokyo
“A frog in a well does not know the great sea”
I never really understood what it meant
Until I found myself wandering the backstreets of Kabukichō
Looking for a reason not to go home
There’s something otherworldly about the place
A neon heaven calling to wayward souls
Like moths to a flame
On the way to a hostess bar
I cut through an alleyway
To see a parliament of black-suited men
Looming over a prone figure
The poor bastard had been beaten to a pulp
But he wasn’t who I was focusing on
One man stood apart from the group
He was the shortest among them
Yet somehow stood the tallest
Eyes the colour and hardness of flint
Stared in my direction
I’ve seen all kinds of stares in my life
Good, bad, happy, sad,
This man had none of them
His was a fathomless look
The kind you might expect from God
I have no idea how long I was standing there
Dumbstruck and exposed
But all it took was a simple nod from the man
A free pass to forget what I’d witnessed
And the spell was broken
The frog met the sea that night
Turns out wells are pretty damn comfortable
Haruki Murakami is known for writing surreal fiction, and that can be seen in After Dark. Taking place in a single night, the novel focuses on Eri and Mari Asai. The sisters are vastly different to each other, but are connected by a sense of loneliness. After Dark stirs up a lot of emotions, with Murakami using various techniques to keep the reader guessing what will happen next. Continue reading “After Dark Review: The Passage Of Time Is Like A Long Sleep”
Japan is known for its beauty and rich history, but the country has a dark side that isn’t explored as much as it could be. Japan’s seedy underbelly is exposed by Ryu Murakami’s In The Miso Soup, which focuses on the sex trade and Tokyo nightlife. Kenji, a young tour guide, takes an American tourist called Frank on a journey. But Frank is far more sinister than he appears to be and it’s not long before Kenji is dragged into a nightmare he wishes he could escape from. Continue reading “In The Miso Soup Review: Revealing The Dark Heart Of Japan”