Check out Episode 16 of the Read Literature podcast.
In this episode…
Post-bubble Japan.
The history of socially-conscious Japanese literature.
And Yu Miri’s Tokyo Ueno Station, a powerful examination of Tokyo by one of the most invisible people imaginable—the ghost of a homeless day laborer.
Support this podcast by buying from Bookshop.org.
Tokyo Ueno Station by Yu Miri (translated by Morgan Giles)
Read Miri for Free:
- An excerpt of Tokyo Ueno Station at Words without Borders
- “Fukushima During Coronavirus: Life in Double Isolation” by Yu Miri (translated by Morgan Giles) at LitHub
- “North Winds Blow the Leaves from the Trees” by Yu Miri (translated by Morgan Giles) at Granta
This episode also recommends:
- Out by Natsuo Kirino (translated by Stephen Snyder)
- There’s No Such Thing As an Easy Job by Kikuo Tsumura (translated by Polly Barton)
- Touring the Land of the Dead by Maki Kashimada (translated by Haydn Trowell)
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Find Out More
Unseen Japan. Among many topics, Unseen Japan provides English-language news coverage about under-represented communities in Japan, including Zainichi Koreans and the homeless.
ETHOS Typology on Homelessness and Housing Exclusion
The Japan Foundation New York Literary Series: Yu Miri and Morgan Giles. Yu Miri and her translator Morgan Giles talk about Tokyo Ueno Station. Other guests include moderator Stephen Snyder, interpreter Bethan Jones, and Strong Women, Soft Power member Allison Markin Powell.
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“Marxist Literary Criticism: An Introductory Reading Guide” at HistoricalMaterialism.org.
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JFNY Literary Series: Yu Miri x Morgan Giles. An hour-long video interview and discussion about Yu Miri’s work and Tokyo Ueno Station, hosted by the Japan Foundation of New York.
The National Book Award Page for Tokyo Ueno Station. This pages includes the judges’ citation:
This deft translation by Morgan Giles of Korean-Japanese writer Yu Miri’s Tokyo Ueno Station is a welcome and necessary addition to the translated Japanese canon, which unfolds in the memories of a deceased narrator occupying the eponymous train station. The book is an observation of Japan at the gateway of its capital, at multiple thresholds of shifting eras, told in the bardo of a mourning father and compatriot, reciting his surroundings and circumstances as if a prayer, a mantra.
“Her Antenna Is Tuned to the Quietest Voices” in The New York Times. This article, written after the English translation of Tokyo Ueno Station won the National Book Award, contains more information about Miri’s biography.
“Why the World Needs Literature” in Metropolis. Morgan Giles talks about Tokyo Ueno Station and translating Yu Miri.
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“Literature” at Japanese Wiki Corpus
Japanese Literature at Facebook
Japanese Literature at Goodreads
Sources
Eagleton, Terry. Literary Theory: An Introduction. U of MN, 2008.
–. Marxism and Literary Criticism. U of CA, 1976.
“ETHOS—European Typology on Homelessness and Housing Exclusion” at Feantsa.org, 2005. (free)
Harris, Thalia. “Metalist DaiGo and Anti-Homeless Sentiment in Japan” at UnseenJapan.com, 2021. (free)
“JFNY Literary Series: Yu Miri x Morgan Giles” at Jfny.org, 2021. (free)
Keene, Donald. Dawn to the West: Japanese Literature of the Modern Era—Fiction, 4th ed., 1999.
Marcus, Marvin. Japanese Literature from Murasaki to Murakami, Association for Asian Studies, 2015.
Rich, Motoko. “Her Antenna Is Tuned to the Quietest Voices” at NYTimes.com, 2020. (free)
Scott, Simon. “Ball and Chain: Gambling’s Darker Side” in The Japan Times Online, 2014.
–. “Yū Miri” in Into the Light: An Anthology of Literature by Koreans in Japan, U of HI, 2011.
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