The Mad Kyoto Shoe Swapper and Other Short Stories

Rebecca Otowa's collection of short stories offers a unique insight into Japanese culture and society, exploring themes of love, work, marriage, death, and family conflict from both the Japanese and foreign perspectives. The stories are illustrated with the author's own black-and-white drawings and provide a captivating glimpse into everyday life in modern Japan.

Format: Hardback
Length: 160 pages
Publication date: 04 May 2023
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing

Rebecca Otowa, an American woman who married into a Japanese family and has lived in Japan for over thirty years, presents a captivating collection of stories in her book "Convenience Store Woman." Through the eyes of both the Japanese and the foreigner, she explores universal themes such as love, work, marriage, death, and family conflict. The collection includes:

A Year of Coffee and Cake: A young American wife in the Tokyo suburbs suspects her next-door neighbor of murdering an elderly relative.

Rhododendron Valley: An elderly man decides to commit suicide to deal with his terminal illness and to spare his family pain.

The Mad Kyoto Shoe Swapper: A reclusive young Japanese man enjoys the strange hobby of stealing shoes from temples, but it gradually consumes him.

Genbei's Curse: A downtrodden woman loses her temper with her demanding, sick father-in-law. Years later, old and sick herself, she can now empathize with him.

Trial by Fire: A true story passed down through the author's family of a gruesome trial to settle a land dispute in 1619.

Love and Duty: The Japanese custom of duty chocolates (chocolates gifted by women to men on Valentine's Day) has repercussions for an American and a Japanese woman.

Uncle Trash: Told in the form of newspaper articles, this is the story of an old man, his hoarding addiction, the annoyance it brings his family, and his eventual revenge.

Watch Again: A man starts stalking his ex-wife.

Otowa's writing is characterized by her unique perspective as an American woman living in Japan, and her stories offer a glimpse into the cultural differences between Japan and America, particularly regarding women's sensibilities. The book provides a thought-provoking and entertaining exploration of the human experience, offering a fresh perspective on familiar themes through the eyes of a foreigner in a foreign land.

Weight: 312g
Dimension: 203 x 130 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780804856577