Quick read.
Fascinating and confusing (in a good way) storyline.
Unique plot.
New Japanese author on my favorite list!

I tried to like this book, but I absolutely could not connect with it. It reads like the dialog of an anime or graphic novel but without any description of scene, time, characters. I had no idea where I was, who these people were, or even how old they were, what they were doing, or why I should care about them. The result was a lack of reader engagement and sympathy. Cute concept, but poor execution.

Wow! This was totally extraordinary! I come away from it thinking it the best book I've read this year. So many threads to tightly woven. A real joy to read. Not a mystery in the way that the other Keigo Higashino books have been. A touch of time travel, a sprinkle of magic, a wholly heartwarming tale. I loved it. I have really enjoyed all of this author's books and look forward to having more translated. Thank you to Yen Press and NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review. This really is my honest opinion!!! For what it's worth, I went immediately and purchased a copy to give as a Christmas gift. I highly recommend this author and this book in particular!

This book is for those who like a mild dose of magical realism in their reading. This supplements a twisted storyline with many branches, some keep coming back and connecting to another down the road to give us a whole new view at the point that it does.

The story begins with three boys who are fleeing a crime of some sort. They end up stumbling across an abandoned store and take shelter there. This move has them entangled in a lot more than they bargained for. It begins with one letter requesting advice, and then the story spins out moving through time, introducing us to a lot of people who have some problem or the other. Their different lives revolve around a few common points as we discover the deeper we go into the narrative. 

The people in the story have humble beginnings, and troubles too massive for their age, but they push through. What is fascinating, however, is the way their lives are all interlinked. What one decides to do has a cascading effect on another, and this is not limited to just one or two individuals. It is the kind of story that will get anyone thinking. I would have liked it even more if I was able to read it in the original language I felt because although the translation was brilliant, a few parts seemed off enough for me to be bothered by it. It is more satisfying once we reach the end, so it is worth sticking through the entire book even if it has you only mildly interested during the first part.

I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

The Miracles of the Namiya General Store is a brilliant work of art. The storyline and characters are well developed and interesting. Uplifting and a quick read.

This novel is a miracle! Fascinating--inspiring--truly spirit-lifting. I read it on a day I was feeling low, and as the story unfolded, so too did the wings of my spirit lift, with encouragement and inspiration and hope.


I am so grateful for readers' expanded capacity to acquire diverse literature. This novel is a fine example.

The Miracles of Namiya General Store is a book of interconnected short stories focusing on the lives of individuals who were helped or shaped by both the store and a nearby orphanage, called Marumitsuen. It follows a group of delinquents, an Olympic fencer, and a real estate tycoon amongst others. It’s a book about how everyone’s lives are connected to one another, how one small action can lead to much larger impacts spanning across generations.

This book comes full circle, showing how the past has impacted the future. The book opens on three young men, orphans who grew up in Marumitsuen, as they escape from a house they robbed. They’re in their getaway car, discussing plans for the night… their car breaks down. They hoof it over to an abandoned house nearby, where they intend to lay low for the night. Gradually, they begin to notice that things aren’t adding up… the clock on their phones is working strangely, and there’s an odd aura pervading the space. When a letter drops in through the mail slot requesting advice, they know something is up. Their first instinct is to leave, but ultimately… they don’t want to leave the author of the letter unanswered. She is a fencer training for the Olympics, and her boyfriend is struggling with cancer. Although he encourages her to live out their dream for her and keep training as hard as she can, she’s torn between acceding to his wishes and spending her time supporting him through chemotherapy.

As they correspond with her, they come to an abrupt realization: “Moon Rabbit,” as she signs her letters, is not from the present. The letters are coming across years to reach them. She’s confused when they mention the Internet or cell phones, and they ultimately nail down the “when” of her time by asking about favorite songs and films. Moon Rabbit is writing to them from 1979…. the year prior to Japan boycotting the Olympics. Armed with this knowledge, the boys give her advice and do their best to dissuade her from pursing her training and encourage her to stay with her partner. This doesn’t quite work as they intended, but it does ultimately work out for the best.

“He’s an amazing guy. No tricks, no bullshit. I mean, when I told him about my problem, he practically bopped me on the head. But he forced me to figure things out and see that I was getting in my own way. He’s the reason why I was finally able to stop worrying and throw myself into the training.”

After they finish their correspondence with Moon Rabbit, another letter drops in. As the novel progresses, it focuses on multiple other points of view so that we seen not only the letters from each of these individuals, but also how they implemented the advice they were given and about their lives back in time.

While I feel that the core conceit of this book was solid, I felt that overall the plot alone wasn’t enough to justify the slice-of-life nature of this story. Slice of life is very difficult to write well, given that the other elements of the book need to be strong enough to overcome the lack of plot. Characters, atmosphere, and prose are key to a successful novel… and unfortunately, I found that they did not come through with enough strength for me to be fully drawn in to this book. Given the glowing reviews of this book as it is written in other languages, I suspect part of this may be due to a slightly lackluster translation – in the original Japanese, it’s very possible that the prose is utterly to die for. The English version, unfortunately, leaves a bit to be desired and comes off as dry and slightly simplistic.

All in all, this is a good book to read if you want something that’s optimistic as well as a quick and easy read. It’s friendly, cozy, and extremely accessible. This is probably a better fit for people who tend to read fiction as opposed to fantasy or science fiction, as these elements are somewhat lighter than I might have hoped. The story overall is very grounded in reality and feels more like a parable of sorts rather than the exploration of new ideas I tend to expect from speculative fiction.

4.5 stars for originality alone.

"Compare the people who write to me as lost, astray. In most cases, they have a map but just won't look at it, or don't know how to find their own location."

What a delightful story. I have no idea how to review this story. Basically, three bandits find a run down convenience store as a hideaway. When a letter comes through the mail slot asking for advice, they realize this store's owner used to give advice in the past when it was still running. So they decide to test it out. The story then twists and turns in each chapter coming all back together almost like a Mobius strip. You cant help but smile in the end.

There's time travel, history, and some fun plot twists in this story. I found the translation to be a bit odd at times but since I didn't read it in its original language I can't tell if that was stylistic choice or just poor translation. It's a reasonably simplistic story and not a giant amount of character development but some.

The idea is so novel that I was delighted just on that alone. If unusual novels are your thing I think you will enjoy this one. I did.

Huge thanks to netgalley and Yen Press for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

An amazing story and a great reading experience.
I liked the fleshed out and well written cast of characters, the setting and the atmosphere.
The plot kept me hooked till the end and made me smile an think.
I'm happy I requested this ARC because I discovered an excellent author and I hope to read more books.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

The Miracles of the Namiya General Store is a Japanese novel that I can heartily recommend to anyone and everyone. You don't need any sort of pre-existing cultural knowledge to grasp this one. The simple writing style is approachable for most ages (though this is adult fiction) and the story's focal points are wonderfully effective and meaningful on a universal level. Also recommendable as a first entry into the oft puzzling sub-genres of magical realism and time travel, as the realism aspect is strongly grounded and the other aspects are simply stated yet whimsical.

Great things-
+ This is a briskly-paced and focused read. At 320 pages it all goes by pretty fast. Belonging to a more generalized fiction category, I think it would be appealing to many.

+ One thing I want to mention (though this is more of a personal bit) as a fan of many types of Asian fiction, the amount of translated work out there is relatively small and many of them have strange or very adult themes, are cognitively challenging, and often seem to be chosen for their outlandishness. The Miracles of the Namiya General Store is different. Its tone is largely uplifting and feel-good, which is something of a rarity. There are some heavy moments, but the overarching vibe is positive.

+ There are several characters and while we only view small slices of their lives that are relevant to the story, they each feel different and offer some worthwhile perspective.

+ This concept is invigoratingly creative. It would make such a good TV show. There is a live-action film adaptation which I’m looking forward to watching as soon as possible. The existence of adaptations does serve as a plus for me when choosing books since it's fun to see the worlds and characters realized in other mediums.

The not-so-good

- I have nothing too damning to put in this section. The writing style might be too simplistic for some who might prefer a more deep and literary style.

- Since this is split up into more episodic sub-plots, some of those plots might be of wildly varying interest. I found the final one to be the less interesting of the batch. The ending is somewhat abrupt.

In closing, I greatly enjoyed The Miracles of the Namiya General Store. It will be an experience I won’t soon forget. Would love to read more translated novels with this level of approachable prose and imagination. Many thanks to Netgalley and Yen Press (Yen On) for providing me an e-ARC of this title for the purpose of review.

ARC Copy...I don't know how this compares with the movie adaptation I am aware of but...minimal fantastical elements with the time traveling letters all focus on one particular night at one special store being the only fantastical. The rest felt like a snap of the past eras (like the Beatles fan discussing events of that era including the first Beatles Japan tour and Osaka Expo 70), and hallmarks of a realistic Japanese drama mood.

Lovely feel good read. It was well written and flowed well. I enjoyed it very much. The plot was good and interesting. Hard to put down