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Woman on the Other Shore
Mitsuyo Kakuta
Translated by Wayne P. Lammers
Hardcover 272 pages
152 x 226mm 630g
ISBN : 978-4-7700-3043-6 / 4-7700-3043-6
Publish : Aug, 2007
Price : $22.00 |
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[ About the Book ]
The poignant and soothing story of two thirty-five-year-old women—one a housewife and a mother, the other an unmarried company president—and their unlikely friendship, by one of the most popular and prolific writers working in Japan today.
This compelling novel, widely acclaimed for its perceptive portrayal of the everyday lives and struggles of Japanese women, struck a deep chord with readers throughout Japan. In 2005 it won the prestigious Naoki Prize, awarded semiannually for the best work of popular fiction by an established writer.
Sayoko, a thirty-five-year-old homemaker with a three-year-old child, begins working for Aoi, a free-spirited, single career woman her own age who runs a travel agency–housekeeping business. Timid and unable to connect with other mothers in her neighborhood, Sayoko finds herself drawn to Aoi's independent lifestyle and easygoing personality. The two hit it off from the start, beginning a friendship that is for Sayoko also a reaffirmation of what living is about.
Aoi, meanwhile, has not always been the self-confident person she appears to be. Severe classroom bullying in junior high had forced her to change schools, uprooting her and her family to the countryside; and at her new school, she was so afraid of again becoming the object of her classmates' cruelties that she spent most of her time steering clear of those around her.
The present-day friendship between Sayoko and Aoi on the one hand, and Aoi's painful high school past on the other, form a gripping two-tier narrative that converges in the final chapter. The book touches on a broad range of issues of concern to women today, from marriage and childrearing to being single and working for oneself. It is a universal story about both the fear and the joy of opening up to others.
- The title of the book is Woman on the Other Shore. How do you interpret that title?
- On the surface, Aoi and Sayoko seem to come from two completely different worlds and current life situations. In order to be friends, there must be a common bond between them. What do they share that makes them friends?
- Do you think that women with such different life experiences can be real friends? Or do you think these differences are ultimately too fundamental to transcend?
- Many children have been bullied like Aoi. This experience continues to haunt her throughout her adult life. Do you think it's normal for an incident from childhood to have such a profound influence on her so many years later?
- How did bullying effect Aoi's future relationships—with friends, colleagues, even her parents?
- Are there people who are natural victims? Does that attitude become a self-fulfilling prophecy?
- In what ways does Kakuta's characterization of bullies indicate her own underlying attitude toward people who pick on other people?
- Does the nature of Aoi's friendship with Sayoko reflect growth, or is she simply trying to recreate a relationship from her past?
- How would you characterize Sayoko as a mother? As a wife? As a friend?
- From what you've read or from your own personal experience, do you think that the characters of Aoi and Sayoko are accurate depictions of contemporary Japanese women? Are they different from other female characters you've encountered in the Japanese fiction you've read?
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About the Author
MITSUYO KAKUTA was born in Yokohama in 1967. She began her writing career while still a student at Waseda University. She is the author of over a dozen books and the recipient of several literary awards, including Japan's most prestigious for popular fiction, the Naoki Prize, which she won for Woman on the Other Shore.
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