This was a straight winner for me! Beautiful writing style and beautiful story. I was totally immersed from the start. Will definitely be reading this with my students. Highly recommend this book!

It had been a while since I read some Asian fiction and it was such a refreshing change. I love the direct detailed style. This is a slice of life from the main character who just turned 20 and moves to Tokyo when their mother moves to China. It is a double POV showing where the two women are in their lives and how they navigate the world around them.

"A Perfect Day to be Alone" by Nanae Aoyama is a beautifully introspective novel that delicately explores solitude, self-discovery, and the quiet moments that shape our lives. Aoyama's prose is both lyrical and evocative, capturing the essence of what it means to find peace and meaning in one's own company. The narrative is rich with emotional depth, offering readers a glimpse into the protagonist's inner world as they navigate the complexities of isolation and personal growth. "A Perfect Day to be Alone" is a profound and meditative read, perfect for those who appreciate stories that celebrate the beauty of introspection and the power of solitude.

I'm reading a lot of Japanese and Korean fiction, usually cosier than this one, but with some common elements.
This is a poignant and fascinating one. A story about indipendence, being who you are, and growing up facing hardship.
I loved the storytelling and the characters
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This book navigates through the main character trying to find her way in life and place in the world. It explores this well and you see this through her relationships with others and as she gets new jobs, I found the main character unlikable and it stopped me from connecting fully with the book which was disappointing as I thought she came across a bit too mean at times, although I understand this is to reflect her loneliness and feelings at the time.

a perfect day to be alone is a bit uninspired, rather forgettable and the dynamic between the central characters wasn't all that compelling

Chizu decides to stay in Japan when her mother moves to China for work. Chizu moves to Japan to live with Ginko, someone she has never met. It was reminiscent of the odd couple.

Divided into seasons the book spans just over a year and follows Chizu as she somewhat matures.

An interesting read. thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I think the strength of "A Perfect Day to be Alone" lies in the parts that are unwritten and unspoken. Nanae Aoyama chose a first-person narrative, accurately showcasing the experience of a young woman, Chizu, who tries to navigate a pivotal moment in her life - her mother's relocation to another country, end of a relationship and move to a big city, in which she cohabitates with a 50 year older relative that she hasn't met before.

With the naivety characteristic for 20-year olds, Chizu's assessments of relationships, love or life choices are not always very complex or accurate, but they feel realistic. Same goes for the depiction of the relationship with her mother and the visible disconnect there that certainly informed Chizu. There are subtle hints, words from other characters, that suggest she's not the most pleasant person to be around, even though in her first-person perspective her reactions might be justified.

I think the ambiguity of the story makes it a challenging read, leaving a lot of room for interpretation. On one hand, it's an interesting narrative choice, but on the other, if we take this book just on it's face value, there might be not much to hold on to.

This is a short quirky novel translated from the Japanese. I like Japanese fiction and this is a little gem of a book. The story focuses on twenty year old Chizu whose mother goes to live in China, they seem to have a distant fractured relationship. Chizu goes to live with elderly Ginko where she is surrounded by pictures of deceased cats as well as a few living ones . It is such a detailed story for its size focusing on the relationship between the two of them . Chizu is lonely and doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere, struggling with relationships whereas Ginko has a man friend and is making the most of life going to dances and cooking meals. Chizu seems to be jealous of Ginko and comes across very spiteful at times . I really enjoyed this novel , it’s about loneliness, friendship, relationships and is partly a coming of age story.

This was a beguiling short read set over the course of a year.
Chizu is twenty year old woman whose mother moves to China from work and she decides to stay in Japan, moving into the home of a 71 year old distant relative, in Tokyo. It is both a unique and familiar coming of age tale, I really liked how the book followed the seasons, the detail and how Chizu's character and the relationship between the two women developed. This is one that will stay with me, a quiet read but a deeply satisfying one.

I really enjoyed how this was split into sections by season so we got to experience a year (plus a season) through Chizu's life. There's not a lot of action in this book which is fine by me but I can see why people would be bored by this. I loved the last season that we saw of Chizu's life.

The reason for the 3 stars is that Chizu was really unlikeable, and not in the 'i-hate-you-but-also-I-am-obsessed-with-you' way that I'm usually a big fan of. Part of the narrative revolves around Chizu's belief that she is a bad person and I can see how she grows as the narrative progresses but I just don't like her.

The length really worked in this books favour because I am pretty sure I would have DNF'd if it had been longer.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

Thank you #NetGalley for this ARC.

I have no feelings for this book. I didn't connect tot anything in it unfortunately. Might be someone else's taste, and for someone who just wants a lowkey book that's harmless I might recommend it. But honestly - this book wasn't really about anything and the protagonist was a little boring...

A charming tale of a lost young woman trying to make it in modern-day Tokyo, and the grumpy-yet-loveable older woman she lodges with. Chizu has decided to move to Tokyo, and with her mother getting a job in China she moves in with Ginko, a friend or distant relative of the family who has taken in many girls in the past as they start a new life. Chizu is in a relationship, but that soon ends, and she finds part-time work as a hostess and then at a kiosk in the local train station. She starts a new relationship, and slowly becomes aware that the strongest relationship she knows is the one between her landlady and her beau, a quiet but settled connection that Chizu watches and admires.

Over the course of a year Chizu's life changes, with new jobs and new relationships. It is a coming-of-age tale of finding meaning and purpose in life, and about moving on when the time comes. By the end, Chizu has moved out and is more confident, freer in her new life.

It's a simple tale, but beautifully written and heartfelt. I really enjoyed it. 4.5 stars, happily rounded up to 5.

(With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this title.)

This is about a woman in her twenties moving in with her 71-year-old eccentric distant relative after her mum goes to China, and follows them as they get to know each other. I love books about very different characters coming together, which is what drew me towards this one. It’s a beautifully translated novel, which has a brilliant sense of place, with everything feeling so vivid and real.

However, the characters were where this fell flat for me. I wanted to love this so much but I found Chizu unlikeable and didn’t feel like we got to know much about her. The moments where Chizu got to know Ginko, who was lovely by the way, were tarnished by Chizu’s personality. Everything seemed to move too fast without leaving any space for characters or relationships to develop, which was such a shame!

Atmospheric, melancholic, but ultimately I wanted more.

*I received a gifted copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

Japanese literature tends to be hit and miss for me, but I'm happy to say this little peek at Japanese slacker culture won me over. Short enough to be consumed in a single day, if that's your thing, or conveniently structured by the seasons of a year if you want to linger longer.

When her mother announces she is emigrating to China for work, 20yo Chizu decides to stay behind in Japan, but move to Tokyo for the first time. In Spring, arrangements are made for her to move into the spare room of an elderly, widowed, distant relative named Ginko, whom Chizu had never met before.

"The walls of my room were lined with cat photos, set in fancy frames just below the ceiling. They started on the left as you went in, continued above the window on the far side of the room and extended halfway down the right-hand wall." (Page 1 - OK Nanae Aoyama, you got me!)

These pictures turn out to be the 'Cherokees', Ginko's departed cats whose individual names are no longer remembered, but who were loved nevertheless. Chizu seems to take this and many of Ginko's other quirks in her stride, although she can at times be cruel in attitude and in what she says to the elderly lady. But soon enough, they are getting along and Chizu feels settled enough to add a second part-time job at a nearby train station to her first as a hostess.

As the year passes, both women are in relationships, and the elderly couple often invite Chizu along on their dinner dates. Chizu doesn't exactly reciprocate, but she does bring her boyfriend home for meals with them often enough to warrant his own set of chopsticks. But as the relationship fades, Chizu's insecurities lead to withdrawal and the need to make some big decisions about her life.

By the following Spring, Chizu's transformation is well underway.

In some ways this story reminded me of Melanie Cheng's book, Room for a Stranger, although this time we are looking at it from the younger lodger's point of view. But in Aoyama's book, I felt the connection between the two housemates was more tender and very close to becoming a genuine friendship. I'm happy to recommend this quiet, melancholic coming of age story.

Nanae Aoyama’s prize-winning novel’s a bittersweet blend of slice-of-life and coming-of-age story. It’s narrated by Chizu who’s just turned 20 - not much younger than Aoyama when this originally appeared in 2007. Chizu’s lived alone with her mother since early childhood but now her mother’s taken a teaching job in China. Instead of going with her, Chizu opts to move to Tokyo to stay with older relative Ginko, someone she’s never met. Suddenly thrown together, the two women are at very different stages in life. Ginko’s in her seventies, residing with her cats in a one-storey house in the Tokyo suburbs, for Chizu she’s a source of fascination and occasional irritation. Like many Japanese novels, Aoyama’s book unfolds over the course of a year from spring to spring, following Chizu in her efforts to define herself: to work out who she wants to be and how she wants to live. There are no major plot developments, Aoyama’s emphasis is more on character and mood, as Chizu forms a tentative bond with Ginko, drifting between bad relationships and equally dead-end jobs.

Aoyama’s clearly invested in representing women on the margins of Japanese society, her central character Chizu provides an opening for an oblique exploration of Japan’s so-called “freeters” (フリーター, furītā), a group of younger people not in education or full-time employment. Instead, they seem somehow rootless, engaged in low-status, temp work. Most often women, "freeters" like Chizu are frequently represented as a social problem, misfits who’ve failed, or refused, to achieve the status of adult in Japanese society: seemingly without aspirations; lack of money makes them less likely to live independently, marry or produce children; a potential economic burden because they don’t contribute to pensions or have health insurance.

Aoyama’s sympathetic but refreshingly unsentimental portrait of Chizu raises additional issues relating to femininity and cultural expectations. Chizu’s clearly uncomfortable in her own skin, she longs for meaningful relationships yet holds herself apart from everyone around her. Prickly and frustrated, Chizu exists in a state of muted rebellion, she supposedly despises those who appear settled and “normal” but secretly envies their apparent certainty. She expresses her yearning for intimacy by stealing small objects from people around her, reminders of loss and/or symbols of what might have been. She carefully scrutinises older women like her mother and Ginko in an attempt to work out what futures are possible. Although at times some of Aoyama’s creative choices, such as placing Ginko’s house next to a train station to suggest transition and fleeting connection, felt a little obvious. They also prefigured Aoyama’s ultimate refusal to provide a neat or lasting resolution to Chizu’s predicament. Displaying the influence of writers like Banana Yoshimoto and Françoise Sagan, Aoyama’s acutely-observed piece rewards close reading. I particularly enjoyed and admired Aoyama’s controlled combination of the direct and the lyrical, the copious, atmospheric depictions of light, colour and sensation. Although I would’ve loved to see some scenes that presented things from Ginko’s perspective. Translated by Jesse Kirkwood.

A Perfect Day to be Alone is a very charming novella, perfectly carving out its quiet coming of age tale.

Our main character, Chizu, moves in with a distant older relative, Ginko, after her mother moves to China. She has no interest in going to university, has an unsatisfactory relationship, and feels a bit aimless. Ginko has housed many young people in the past, in her little Tokoyo based home, and is no stranger to stray twenty-somethings.

We watch as the months pass by, as Chizu tries to carve out her place in the world, communicates with her aging house mate, and takes on a variety of jobs.

It’s short, quaint, and inviting. It really swept me away to this little Japanese house situated behind a train station. The depth of the setting truly shines in this book - it’s written, and translated, so well. I could picture everything so perfectly, it was almost a shock to lift my head away from the page to realise I wasn’t curled up by the kotatsu, with Chizu and Ginko, myself.

Even though Chizu can be quite short and abrupt, it didn’t take away from the charm, instead solidifying the reality of how it feels when you’re feeling quite lost in life and unsure of everything. It’s highly introspective, and we truly get an understanding of how she’s feeling throughout this time in her life.

It’s a pleasant, if slightly unconventional, slice of life, and the perfect book to pick up if you’re after a little literary escape.

Thank you to the publishers, and Netgalley, for the copy to review.

A contemplative and somewhat melancholy short novel moving through the seasons and telling the story of a 20-year-old Chizu moving in with a 71-year-old Ginko (and her cats) in Tokyo. Chizu’s observations are often pessimistic and even cruel, but her experiences of moving from home to a new city, falling in and out of relationships, and finding her small place in the adult world are very relatable. The translation from Japanese was done very well, retaining the beauty in the writing. The strange fondness that grows between Chitzu and Ginko was moving and overall a wonderful little read.

This is a very interesting and captivating short book which I enjoyed reading very much.
It’s a nice pallet cleanser in between fast, high action thrillers and cheese romance novels.
The slow pace and the uncluttered sentences create a gentle story about a young woman entering adulthood.

If you want a cute and wholesome literary fiction you should read this! It was sweet and short but definitely worth reading.

The writing in this was so beautiful and elegant and really made you feel for the main character. It delves into a lot of family relationships and dynamics which I liked and really makes you think and reflect on your own life.

Give it a go if this sounds like it’s for you, but it’s definitely an acquired taste.