This is so smart and original. I loved everything about this collection.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

The central theme in A Hundred Years and A Day is that time is always moving forward, and whatever we think is permanent, will eventually change in a blink of an eye.
the 34 short stories, each with a title that is a mouthful to speak and read, offers a glimpse into a small measured of time of interaction between individuals. In each story, The events of the past, present, and future are chronicled for the reader, perhaps to remind them of the inevitable passage of time.
Another interesting theme is about the impermanence in life. Shibasaki doesn't explicitly state in those words, but you can see the influence nay the stamp of it in almost every story - the first story where two schoolmates often meet each other through serendipitous moments but actually don't forge a friendship, or the lovely story about the tobacco shop that talks about transient spaces.

The stories are engaging, slice of life vignettes, where they tell you that sometimes the briefest of interactions — with another person or even with nature, is transformative and the results of it may only show up later. Shibasaki's stories are visually rich in emotions they engage of nostalgia, of humour, of lessons, of hard work, and of failure. The minimal use of words to describe the complex characters and their many layers (the story of the old man and young boy) stay with you long after you have turned the page.

Heartfelt, touching, raw, visceral, and emotional these 34 stories cover the gamut of themes of life, providing the reader with a complete perspective of life, and how at the end of all, nothing is permanent even the feelings once felt, will just remain as a mere whisper in your thoughts.
And, to truly live in the present and experience life, even the humdrum part of it is what is intended.

These were some neat short stories. If nothing else I am impressed that the author managed to summarize each of the stories in one sentence at the beginning of each one, and I was still interested in reading them beyond that one sentence summary.

It’s hard to put into words why I liked this, but I’ll try. I'm a fan of quiet books when they’re literary—where not a lot goes on, a narration of what could be banal day-to-day life but where you’re conscious of the author’s skill in extracting quirky details or in making the mundane just that little bit strange. Tomoka Shibasaki is clearly a master of the genre. The first clue is in the chapter headings, which are tiny stories in themselves:

1 One summer during a long rainy spell, student number one from class one and student number one from class two discover mushrooms growing in a flower bed next to a covered walkway at their school; two years after leaving school they bump into each other, but after that, ten years pass, twenty years pass, and they don’t meet again
2 The tobacco shop on the corner was draped in wisteria that burst into glorious blossom every spring; upon close inspection, it became clear that this wisteria was actually two wisteria plants that had grown intertwined; these days nobody remembered that one of them had been found on the street years before
3 A man in exile swims to a bay on an island, where he is rescued by a young boy and an old man; after the war ends, the man stays on in the village but barely speaks to anyone except the young boy

In these stories, people live in a place, and then move to other places. Buildings get demolished, and new ones are built in their place. Some buildings endure over a long time, like the ramen shop in one story. There’s one story set at an airport terminal, and another at a tiny train station. There’s a touch of the future, too: future resorts, and spaceships.

Mainly, Shibasaki seems to be preoccupied with time and how it changes people and places, with how time haunts us through memories and, like in a time lapse, the cyclical creation and destruction happening around us in urban settings. It’s meditative and thoroughly mesmerising. In the words of one character:

“I feel like I want to see the places that someone else saw, he said; I like thinking about places I’ve been to once but I no longer know how to get to, or places that you can only access at certain times, I feel like there must be some way of visiting the places that exist only in people’s memories.”

I loved this, and will read it again, likely many times over.

Thanks to Stone Bridge Press and NetGalley for DRC access.

The first few stories were good, the style was different and refreshing. But it soon became more difficult to finish it.

I think it was the writing style and the fact that most of the stories went nowhere. Every time I finished a story, I asked myself why I read this? It was slice-of-life, I knew that, but it felt too... unfinished? Or didn't land with me?

But still, there are a few gems in it and I would sugggest to future readers to read 1 story a day to befter appreciate it.

I'll be checking out more books from this author, so that's that.

Also, I got this book from Netgalley, so thanks for that.

This book was a very comforting combination of short stories. Shibasaki compiled stories about basic lives, while also emphasizing the importance of the human experience. There was love, lost, missed connections and recovered memories. It was splendid.

A Hundred Years and a Day is a collection of 34 *very* short stories that feel very "slice of life". While I can appreciate that when explored more thoroughly (ie Perfect Days and the like), these stories mostly fell flat for me. The concept of these mundane but thoughtful stories is something I was very intrigued by, but they began to feel disjointed and slightly repetitive. The shorter than usual length made it difficult for me to really find connection to the stories, or feel any real depth of emotion through them. There are a few that were more memorable than the others, and I would have enjoyed seeing some of these ideas blossom a bit more. I wouldn't be too keen to recommend this generally, but would suggest giving it a try if slice of life is your thing.

Thank you to NetGalley & Stone Bridge Press for the ARC.

As many other readers have mentioned, I feel as if I would have enjoyed this more if I could have read it in Japanese. I loved the premise of this book, but the actual stories didn't do much for me. I felt a limited connection to the characters, especially since most of them are not given names, and none of the plots really resonated with me.

In a weird way, it’s great that this collection has 34 stories. After one, I was like, mmh, what’s that? After two or three, I was ready to throw in the towel, but they sort of grew on me, and by the end of the 34th I think I got something out of them. It’s really the kind of collection where you can’t pick one story in the middle and just read that one. To me, they only work as an ensemble. Not to say that I’ve fallen head over heels, but I’d say they’re a solid 3 stars.

The stories seem random and quirky, just like the covert art with a few paper bags on a bland surface. Each story has an overly long title, that tells you all the is to know about the story, and what you see is really what you get. They have characters without names and specifics, set in places and times without certainty. It’s tough to relate, especially when they just give glimpses of some story and seem to end abruptly. Many span years and decades, and are summed up in a few pages.

Still, for me, they reflect the transient nature of life, the tiny events that make up our routine lives. The feeling I got, both by looking at the cover and reading those stories, is one of loneliness and melancholy. Even cities and villages that seem permanent fixtures of our lives constantly change and sometimes disappear. Buildings get erased, places change function, some cafés come and go. Friends or colleagues disappear from our daily life because they move away, and we never hear from them again.

I had not heard of Tomoka Shibasaki before, but it was a worthwhile reading experience. Definitely not for everybody, but even if the tone is low-key and subdued, I think I will remember it for a while.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley. I received a free copy of this book for review consideration.

Actual Rating: 3.5 stars, rounded down to 3

I think it’s inevitable that with a short story collection there will be stories you love and stories you hate- unsurprisingly that was also the case with ‘A Hundred Years and a Day’.

I originally placed this book on my TBR list as I’d read two stories from this collection that were published on the Granta website and was interested to see what the rest of the collection would be like. I also always add any translations by Polly Barton to my TBR list as I’ve enjoyed the majority of the works she’s translated. The collection is largely made up of on slice of life vignettes that revolve around the passage of time, focusing on seemingly mundane experiences. However, like with a lot of stories from Japanese authors, a surprising amount of beauty can be found in this mundane.

Often, the stories would cover a large span on time, with years or decades passing without mention- for some stories this wasn’t a problem, but for others it really didn’t work. I struggled with the first few stories in this collection, the narratives jumped forward in time quite abruptly and were written with an impersonal tone (often feeling like I was reading a list rather than a story), making it difficult both to follow the story and also to really care about the experiences being described. Towards the middle of the book however, I hit a run of stories that I really enjoyed (13, 15 and 17 being particular highlights). The tone of the writing changed- instead of the experiences being presented in a list-like fashion, they felt more like how a real person would recount their life and the flow was much better. From there, I had a much more positive experience with the book, enjoying the majority of the stories and finding them to be much better paced than the earlier stories- with the strongest stories being those where the length of time covered wasn’t too extreme or, where the length of time was extreme, multiple perspectives were used to tell the story.

If I could read this collection again for the first time, I’d definitely change my approach. I prefer to read books (even short story collections) in one or two sittings, but I think reading a few stories at a time and having some time to reflect on them is definitely a better approach for this book. I also wouldn’t read the stories in order, instead I’d read the small paragraphs at the beginning of each story and start by reading the ones that appealed to me most. I think with this collection you get the most enjoyment out of the stories that you can relate, but even those covering completely alien experiences can turn out to be extremely enjoyable and, somehow, exactly what you needed to read.

Thank you to Stone Bridge Press | MONKEY and NetGalley for the chance to read the DRC of this book.

This city feels like a shifting creature. A daily change that gradually transforms the skyline. The physical fabric of neighbourhoods imperceptibly changes from one morning to the next. As I meander around my neigbourhood a house that once stood now is a vacant lot with neatly tampered soil. A gaping hole that stands out like a missing tooth. This is the Tokyo that feels so familiar to me. Where change and permanence seem to be forever in a tussle. The melancholy note of an old familiar building turned to dust, transformed into a gleaming new building, which eventually will follow the same path of renewal. 
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There is a ghostly element to this process. You notice something new, something different. A fleeting image in the corner of one's eye. You ask yourself, has that always been there? There is something new about that building, but I can't quite put my finger on it. A change that you can't quite recognise. An unsettling tone to both what I remember and to what I notice.
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A hundred years and a day feels very much like seeing something change without noticing it, or seeing it change and feeling a sense of loss. Each building, each new family to the neighbourhood is a new story. In many ways, this collection of stories is a written description of this change. Out of rather simple and stark writing Shibasaki creates a collection of short stories that seem to underscore the impermanence of life. 
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As always with a collection of short stories, some work better than others. This is not a book to race through, neither is it a book filled with great excitement. It is a gentle book. Although no particular place is mentioned, it feels specific to a place and a city I am familiar with.

This collection of short stories I found interesting. I wouldn't want to read this style of story all the time, but this collection was like viewing art that challenges you a bit. I didn't care for the first story (a character was "named" student one from class one), but I'm glad I went further and tried the rest of the stories.

The author tends to skip over huge amounts of time in these stories. Decades can pass within one sentence. Huge life events are glossed over. The titles of the stories often served as a synopsis of the story that followed. Yet the stories worked. This style of writing gave me lots to think about for my own work.

There's always something different about Japanese literature compared to the others. The beauty of their writing and the freshness of their ideas never fail to draw me in, just like this book does. If you ever come across Japanese short stories, don't hesitate to pick them up! I’m giving four stars because this book might not be for everyone and some of the stories weren't my favorites. (And I personally didn’t really like the cover).

If you asked me what I would rate this book when I first started reading it, I would say at least 4 stars and above.
Now I’m not so sure.
The central theme of a hundred years and a day is passing of time, changing of environment and choices we make. It spans over decades and different countries. The countries, towns and characters are nameless. This is a choice by the author that I find interesting. It’s hard to get attached to characters that are nameless and not described. Man, woman, child.

I think how you feel about this book is mood based. When I started reading this book I was sad, stressed and extremely anxious. This book was sort of an escape and I was given a peek as if I was a passer-by into others lives. The world was bigger than I was.

Now? My main criticism is that it’s repetitive. Sure, it’s a collection of 34 short stories, some even as short as a page. But It’s easier read as a story a day not all in one go. Each story features different characters yes but it’s like I’m reading the same story over and over again. Perhaps this is due to the central theme.

I had honestly seen similarity between this book and sweet bean paste due to its depiction the flow of time and seasons. But I take it back lol.

I think, I think if I had continued to read this book in that state of mind. My review would have gone entirely in a different direction. But I can’t deny that I started to lose interest half way through the book which made me extremely sad.

I think the book should’ve been shortened to 12 to 14 stories instead or perhaps a loss in translation plays a major role. .

A high schooler, an office worker, a restaurant owner, a begger each story is told from a different perspective - multiple perspectives in fact and at times it skips months, years even decades ahead. I enjoyed it because the book sort of highlights how we’re just a point in time. My favourite story is story 32. I think it’s due to the warmth between the characters in this story.

I would rate this book a solid 3.25 stars. If you like slice of life books, then this book is definitely for you.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, this feels like one of those books that got lost in translation (through no fault of the translator). Japanese is notoriously different to translate into English, and I'm assuming that is what is to blame for the somewhat stilted language and dialogue. I found this collection to be repetitive in theme and voice. None of the characters were undisguisable from each other in how they spoke or thought, and the theme of "we get older and things change" was the main one, but the stories were all too short to really explore it. By the 25% mark I feel like I got everything I was going to get from this collection, and I was right.

A Hundred Years and a Day is perhaps best experienced in the original language within the storytelling traditions of Japan, because translated into English and read within a Westernised culture, it just didn't work. With 34 stories in total I was expecting variation but Shibasaki's stories lacked this entirely. Many of the stories were retellings of the same trope - people meet in childhood, time passes, the landscape becomes unrecognisable, they return to discover what they once knew is gone. I'd say almost a third of the stories all followed this structure and this became very tedious. Moreover, the language, for the most part, was prosaic, with only a few moments of beautiful description and narration. Otherwise it was simplistic and, again, boring. Unfortunately, this is a collection of short stories I wouldn't recommend; even while I appreciate what Shibasaki was perhaps trying to do - capturing the mundane life's experiences of us all and finding the beauty and wonder in the little moments - the narration and variation just wasn't strong enough for the collection to be enjoyable.

Short and really unique stories, but the writing style was telling over showing so it didn’t work for me. While the stories had unique premises, they were too short to stay with me and make an impact.

Unfortunately, I was not very impressed with this collection. The plots for each story were cute vignettes but not very gripping; additionally the characters and dialogue felt impersonal.

Thank you to NetGalley and Stone Bridge Press for the ARC.

This book of stories read much like a book of fables. Short, concise and to the point. Most characters do not have names, and are referred to mostly as the boy, or the girl, or the woman, etc.

I can appreciate the minimalistic nature of each story, however, this style is not for me. I really felt like there was not much substance or even a point to each of the stories. I guess I just like something with a bit more meat on its bones.

This was a very quick read, very small snippets into every day life’s interesting to see these quick changes.