Review of "The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop" by Takuya Asakura

  

This book fits into the genre of Japanese healing literature, described as 'feeling like the literary equivalent of a gentle embrace, offering solace like a cup of tea on a rainy afternoon.'

The novel is comprised of four stories centered around a bookshop/coffeehouse described as follows: An old wooden building with a bronze weathercock atop its roof, located near a cherry tree with flowers of all colors.



The shop, named Sakura, is owned by a girl called Sakura and her cat Kobako.



The bookshop is a magical place that works as follows: Kobako chooses a book, and Sakura reads a passage from the book aloud. If it's a warm spring day, and someone nearby is sitting beneath a cherry tree and reading the same passage at the same time, they can see the shop and go inside.

The shop receives four visitors in the course of the story.

✱✱ Mio Kusunaki

Mio Kusanaki, who draws a series in a manga magazine, just lost her widowed mother Hiroko.



Hiroko had always been very strict with money, and provided no fripperies when Mio was a child, and no assistance when Mio went to college. Though Hiroko was always supportive, and taught Mio to hold her head high, an emotional distance had grown between the two women, which Mio regrets.



Following Hiroko's death, Mio learns about her mother's financial difficulties. Mio also recalls her mother reading The Little Prince to her, and wishes she could remember her mother's voice.



Later, Mio goes for a walk, buys some food, sits on a bench beneath a cherry tree, and reads a passage from The Little Prince. The bookshop owner Sakura is reading the same passage at the same time, so the shop appears, and Mio finds her way inside.



Sakura welcomes Mio, seats her at a table, and serves a cup of coffee. Meanwhile, the cat Kobako jumps on the table and makes himself comfortable. Sakura then tells Mio how the magical establishment works, and explains Mio was 'called there' because she wanted to hear her mother's voice and to speak to her mother.

This leads to a phantasmal experience that helps Mio move on.

✱✱ Shingo Kukukawa

Shingo Kukukawa is a retired train driver whose wife Yuriko passed away five years ago. Afterwards Shingo suffered a stroke and has mild dementia and memory loss. Thus Shingo's daughter Sanae moved him to an assisted care facility where her daughter Mai (Shingo's granddaughter) works as a cook.



When Shingo goes down to breakfast one morning, Mai says, "Oh, Grandpa. That outfit again. Isn't it about time that you had it dry-cleaned?" And Shingo - who doesn't recognize Mai - becomes irritated and thinks, "She had called him Grandpa. Who did she think she was, lumping all older men together like that?" In fact Shingo's fading memory sometimes makes him lose his temper.

Shingo frequently recalls his job on the railway, and thinks about being young, courting Yuriko, and proposing to her after dancing to 'Route 66' by Nat King Cole. Still, Shingo can't remember something Yuriko said, and it agitates him.



One day, Shingo's daughter and granddaughter take him for an outing, and bring Yuriko's favorite book, Ten Nights of Dreams. Shingo is sitting under a cherry tree reading a passage from the novel when the Sakura bookshop appears and Shingo walks inside.



As above, the girl Sakura explains about the magic establishment, seats Shingo at a table, and gives him a cup of coffee. As usual, the cat Kobako hops on top and settles down. Shingo is led to remember a promise he made to Kuriko after she agreed to marry him. This leads to a magical experience that eases Shingo's mind and makes him happy.

✱✱ Kaho and Shiho Fukamachi

Kaho and Shiho Fukamachi are twin sisters who are about to be separated, since Shiho is moving to Tokyo to attend medical school. As little girls, Kaho and Shiho were like two halves of a whole, so that if Kaho fell and skinned her knee, for example, Shiho's knee would hurt as well.



Things seemed to change when young Kaho and Shiho both developed a crush on a classmate called Shoma Hiiragi. The children were about 12-years-old when Shoma fell ill with acute leukemia and was hospitalized. The twins' mother took them to visit Shoma, and Kaho happened to find herself alone with the boy.



There was some awkward conversation, and Shoma said 'If I could, I would marry both you and Shiho'. Kaho then said something she regrets, and some time later, Shoma died. From that point on, Kaho felt like she carried a secret, one that she couldn't even share with her own family.

Now that Shiho is leaving home, Kaho invites her sister to go for a walk to look at the cherry blossoms. Along the way, Shiho pulls out the book Peter Pan, which was a childhood favorite of both girls. Shiho reads a passage out loud, the path to the Sakura bookshop appears, and both girls go inside.



As before, the girl Sakura explains how the bookshop works, seats the guests at a table, and brings coffee. Like always, the cat Kobako jumps on top and makes himself comfy. Sakura then tells the twins, "Each of you has something you want to know, something you want to confirm, and if possible, something you'd like to confess to each other."

This leads to a mystical experience that helps heal any rift between the twins so they can move forward happily.

✱✱ Kazuhiko Tonami

In the book's final chapter, we learn the truth about the magic bookshop/coffeehouse, and how it came into existence. Writer Kazuhiko Tonami's wife, called Sakura, was taking her beloved cat to the vet when a violent storm with raging waves swallowed their car. Tonami mourns the loss of his wife so deeply, he can't even continue to write. Then the couple's daughter Kozue has a dreamlike experience that helps her sets things right.



The novel is overly repetitive, but it's a creative addition to the healing literature genre, and would probably appeal to readers who need a 'feel good' boost.

Thanks to Netgalley, Takuya Asakura, and Harper 360 for an ARC of the book.

Rating: 3 stars