WHY JOIN JFT BOOK CLUB?

You can read a book by yourself, but when you read something thought-provoking or moving, it’s natural to want to discuss it with someone else. This will be an exciting opportunity to connect with other book lovers from different cultural backgrounds, find new and interesting books, authors, or themes, and develop a richer understanding of Japan that you wouldn’t gain from reading alone!

HOW DOES THE UPCOMING JFT BOOK CLUB WORK?

1. Once you register for the event, you will receive guiding questions to help you think more deeply about the manga.

2. On the day of the event, we will meet via Zoom and in person at Japan Foundation Toronto Library (2 Bloor St E #300, Toronto, ON M4W 1A8 Canada). *How to find us: https://tr.jpf.go.jp/about-us/how-to-find-us/

3. We will start with a quick introduction & ice-breaking activity (*Light refreshments will be served for in-person participants)

4. Depending on the number of the participants, we will break into a few small groups to discuss questions so that everyone has a chance to share their thoughts.

5. After each breakout session, each group will share what they have discussed with other groups.

*There is no right or wrong answer. Different perspectives make discussion more fun and vibrant!

WHERE YOU CAN FIND THE BOOK?

Sakura  (physical copies, ebooks and audiobooks) and the original Japanese version『さくら』(physical copy) are available at JFT Library! The checkout of the physical copies are limited to JFT Book Club participants for a 1-week loan period (non-renewable). 

To get a new library card or to renew your existing card, please follow the instructions found here.

  Borrow Ebook     Borrow Audiobook 

Email Library to place hold (physical copy) 

For more information about the book or where else you can get the physical copies, click here.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Sakura

(The original Japanese version:『さくら』)

Written by NISHI Kanako

Translated by Allison Markin Powell

Published by Shogakukan, 2005 / HarperVia, 2026

Available in English at last, the international bestseller from one of Japan’s most acclaimed authors, a touching tale of a broken family contending with the pain of the past to live in the present, helped by the unforgettable dog who becomes their lifeline.

Sakura is the story of a family who is happy, until it isn’t. Skipping back and forth in time, it begins when the narrator, Kaoru, receives a letter from his estranged father announcing he will be home in Osaka for New Year’s. The letter spurs Kaoru to go back to his childhood home, and though he is apprehensive at returning, his spirits are unexpectedly lifted when he is greeted by Sakura, the family dog.

Growing up, the Hasegawas were the perfect family. Kaoru’s loving parents doted on their children. Kaoru’s baby sister, Miki, was cute and charismatic, and his older brother, Hajime—a natural leader, athlete, and charmer—was the superstar. The middle child, Kaoru was good at school, but not a star student, friendly with girls but never popular. He was content to exist in Hajime’s shadow, and occasionally bask in his light. Then Hajime was involved in a tragic accident that fractured the Hasegawas, with nothing to keep them together but memories and melancholy.

Returning home, Kaoru and his family must find the strength to reckon with the past and pick up the pieces of their shattered lives. Luckily, there is Sakura, who somehow has managed to stay happy. What’s her secret? As the Hasegawas learn to let go, it is Sakura who holds the key to help them move forward.

A major bestseller in Japan now available in English, Sakura is a tender, bittersweet, funny, and beautifully told tale about the magic and mysteries of familial love, from one of Japan’s most acclaimed writers.

— from Publisher’s website

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

© Shingo Wakagi

NISHI Kanako is a Japanese writer and artist. She is the author of the novels Sakura, which was a major bestseller in Japan; Tsutenkaku (Osaka Tower), which won the Sakunosuke Oda Prize; Fukuwarai (Lucky Laugh), which received the first Hayao Kawai Prize; and Saraba!, which won the prestigious Naoki prize in 2015. She was named Vogue Japan’s Woman of the Year in 2015 and among Granta’s Best of Young Japanese Novelists 2016. Several of her books have been adapted for film. Born in Tehran in 1977, Nishi grew up in Cairo and Osaka and lives in Tokyo.

ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR

Allison Markin Powell has been awarded grants from English PEN and the NEA, and the 2020 PEN America Translation Prize for The Ten Loves of Nishino by Hiromi Kawakami. Her other translations include works by Osamu Dazai, Kanako Nishi, and Kaoru Takamura. She was the co-organizer and co-host of the Translating the Future conference, served as co-chair of the PEN America Translation Committee and currently represents the committee on PEN’s Board of Trustees, and as part of the collective, Strong Women, Soft Power, is curating JFNY’s online literary series.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR FROM SHORT STORIES

Burn (燃やす)

There was something running from my eyes, but it definitely wasn’t tears.
Somehow, they didn’t deserve to be called tears.
Whatever it was, they were stickier than tears, and gave off a strong smell.
And anyway, I certainly wasn’t crying.

Fiction written by NISHI Kanako
Translated by Allison Markin Powell
Grove Atlantic, 2018

Burn (the English version) is published by Grove Atlantic in 2018 in Freeman’s: Power, the fifth issue of an anthology selected by literary critic John Freeman. 

*The digital copy is available for circulation on JF Canada/USA Digital Library. To get a new JFT library card or to renew your existing card, please follow the instructions found here.

Read Here  

「燃やす」 (the Japanese version) is published by Chikuma Shobo as part of NISHI Kanako’s anthology 『おまじない』 in 2021.

*The digital copy of  『おまじない』is available for circulation on JF Canada/USA Digital Library. To get a new JFT library card or to renew your existing card, please follow the instructions found here.

Read Here  

VIO

I had an odd feeling as I regarded Yō, who knew things about me that I hadn’t known.

Fiction written by NISHI Kanako
Translated by Allison Markin Powell
Granta.com, 2020

VIO is originally published in Japanese in the June 2019 issue of “Subaru”. The work has been translated into English by Allison Markin Powell as part of Granta’s 20 for 2020 series, one of twenty timely and exciting new works from the Japanese published at Granta.com.

Read Here

On Beauty, Sexual Violence, and Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye

Morrison neither consoled me as a victim, nor condemned me as the perpetrator.

Essay written by NISHI Kanako
Translated by Allison Markin Powell
Literary Hub, 2020

Read Here

Merry Christmas

After all, our bodies too are frameworks in and of themselves. We cannot escape these boundaries.
But we can make their edges softer. For the sake of others, we can change shape, and draw closer to one another

Essay written by NISHI Kanako
Translated by Allison Markin Powell
Fifty Storms, 2015

Read Here  
*The Japanese version is available on NISHI Kanako Official Website.