Tanizaki criticises the Westernisation of Japan through his depiction of Naomi, with her Eurasian features, saucy demeanor and control over traditional Joji who kowtows to her commands. The book was released in the 1920s at the height of the ‘modern girl’ trend, when young Japanese women strove for independence by eschewing the mainstream kimono for Western-style clothing and bobbing their hair, similar to American flappers. The titular character is the love interest of the protagonist Joji, who marries Naomi as a teenager in an attempt to turn her into a his perfect woman.

It’s hard to find a character as infuriating and difficult as Naomi. Literary tip: The action takes place all around Tokyo and the surrounding prefectures, but the ‘90s-era descriptions of bars in Ginza, Shinbashi and Tsukiji are still amazingly accurate today.īuy ‘Lady Joker’ volume 1 from Penguin Random House They’re the first official English versions of any of Takamura’s work, but we hope they won’t be the last. The English translation is split into two volumes, released in 20 respectively. Takamura includes so much detail in her evocative descriptions of real places you can almost use the book as a map to trace the characters through the city. Don’t expect typically terse detective story prose – the book is jam-packed with sharply observed sights and sounds of early ‘90s Tokyo. It also marked her turn towards literary fiction, and you can see the influence of both genres here. This epic 1997 novel by Kaoru Takamura cemented her reputation as one of Japan’s best crime writers. The first step? Kidnapping the CEO of Japan’s biggest beer company from right outside his house. Five men sharing a love of horseracing and a sense of alienation from modern Japan hatch a plot to get back at the country’s corporate and political elite.

Sumire murakami