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Four Seasons in Japan
Flo is sick of Tokyo. Suffering from a crisis in confidence, she is stuck in a rut, her translation work has dried up and she's in a relationship that's run its course. That's until she stumbles upon a mysterious book left by a fellow passenger on the Tokyo Subway. From the very first page, Flo is transformed and immediately feels compelled to translate this forgotten novel, a decision which sets her on a path that will change her life...
It is a story about Ayako, a fierce and strict old woman who runs a coffee shop in the small town of Onomichi, where she has just taken guardianship of her grandson, Kyo. Haunted by long-buried family tragedy, both have suffered extreme loss and feel unable to open up to each other. As Flo follows the characters across a year in rural Japan, through the ups and downs of the pair's burgeoning relationship, she quickly realises that she needs to venture outside the pages of the book to track down its elusive author. And, as her two protagonists reveal themselves to have more in common with her life than first meets the eye, the lines between text and translator converge. The journey is just beginning.
From the author of The Cat and The City, Four Seasons in Japan is a gorgeously crafted book-within-a-book about literature, purpose and what it is to belong.
It is a story about Ayako, a fierce and strict old woman who runs a coffee shop in the small town of Onomichi, where she has just taken guardianship of her grandson, Kyo. Haunted by long-buried family tragedy, both have suffered extreme loss and feel unable to open up to each other. As Flo follows the characters across a year in rural Japan, through the ups and downs of the pair's burgeoning relationship, she quickly realises that she needs to venture outside the pages of the book to track down its elusive author. And, as her two protagonists reveal themselves to have more in common with her life than first meets the eye, the lines between text and translator converge. The journey is just beginning.
From the author of The Cat and The City, Four Seasons in Japan is a gorgeously crafted book-within-a-book about literature, purpose and what it is to belong.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published June 22, 2023
1075 people are currently reading
20466 people want to read
About the author
Nick Bradley
2 books422 followersNick Bradley holds a PhD from UEA focussing on the figure of the cat in Japanese literature. He lived in Japan for many years where he worked as a translator, and currently teaches on the Creative Writing master's programme at the University of Cambridge. His debut novel, The Cat and The City, was published in 2020.
Four Seasons in Japan is his second, and was published in the UK on June 22nd 2023 by Doubleday. His work has been translated into fourteen languages.
Four Seasons in Japan is his second, and was published in the UK on June 22nd 2023 by Doubleday. His work has been translated into fourteen languages.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,136 reviews
November 12, 2023
Breathtakingly Spectacular! Best Book of 2023!
Once in a while, a book finds you. While browsing Twitter, the cover of Four Season in Japan stopped me in my tracks.
Sky blue. Japanese cherry blossoms. A cat.
You see my first cat, Melville, is buried under a beautiful Japanese cherry tree. Sky blue is my favorite color. Destiny.
This book….wow! It is deeply moving, life-changing.
Flo is an American translator living in Japan when one day she discovers a book on the subway. The mysterious book is about Ayako, a strong, opinionated yet resilient woman who takes in her down-on-his-luck grandson, Kyo.
Calling Jonathan Karp (CEO of Simon & Schuster) because every American should read this book!
Four Seasons in Japan gently covers so many different issues but not in a preachy way. It beautifully weaves in proverbs and has dazzling quotes.
Ayako is an imperfect character. She has such love in her heart, but her good intentions come out so harsh at times that she borders on cruelty.
However, so many people refused to give up on her. This is the book that we need in response to cancel culture.
In a world where society has lost its humanity, where people don’t even see each other as people anymore, the sense of community and connection in Four Seasons in Japan was really beautiful.
“Please treat me kindly.” – Four Seasons in Japan
What would the world look like if we actually treated each other kindly?
There are tons of metaphors and a lot to unpack in this book. If you like noodling on ideas from books, Four Seasons in Japan is gold.
I laughed. I smiled. I cried.
Four Seasons in Japan is not yet available in the US. However, beg or borrow a copy. I ordered mine from Blackwell’s (free shipping to the US).
Magic in a book.
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Once in a while, a book finds you. While browsing Twitter, the cover of Four Season in Japan stopped me in my tracks.
Sky blue. Japanese cherry blossoms. A cat.
You see my first cat, Melville, is buried under a beautiful Japanese cherry tree. Sky blue is my favorite color. Destiny.
This book….wow! It is deeply moving, life-changing.
Flo is an American translator living in Japan when one day she discovers a book on the subway. The mysterious book is about Ayako, a strong, opinionated yet resilient woman who takes in her down-on-his-luck grandson, Kyo.
Calling Jonathan Karp (CEO of Simon & Schuster) because every American should read this book!
Four Seasons in Japan gently covers so many different issues but not in a preachy way. It beautifully weaves in proverbs and has dazzling quotes.
Ayako is an imperfect character. She has such love in her heart, but her good intentions come out so harsh at times that she borders on cruelty.
However, so many people refused to give up on her. This is the book that we need in response to cancel culture.
In a world where society has lost its humanity, where people don’t even see each other as people anymore, the sense of community and connection in Four Seasons in Japan was really beautiful.
“Please treat me kindly.” – Four Seasons in Japan
What would the world look like if we actually treated each other kindly?
There are tons of metaphors and a lot to unpack in this book. If you like noodling on ideas from books, Four Seasons in Japan is gold.
I laughed. I smiled. I cried.
Four Seasons in Japan is not yet available in the US. However, beg or borrow a copy. I ordered mine from Blackwell’s (free shipping to the US).
Magic in a book.
Connect With Me!
Blog Twitter BookTube Facebook Insta
September 30, 2024
Flo is an American translator living in her dream city of Tokyo but her life’s far from perfect, her career’s stalled and her girlfriend is leaving her. Then she finds a mysterious book set in the port city of Onomichi, and becomes obsessed with finding its author and producing a translation. Nick Bradley alternates between Flo in Tokyo and the Onomichi narrative. The Onomichi novel centres on the rocky relationship between café owner Ayako and her grandson Kyo who’s come to stay with her while he studies to retake exams. Ayako and Kyo's storyline explores the growing bond between them - as well as the various stumbling blocks constantly threatening to derail it - and the everyday of their local community. Kyo's supposed to be preparing for medical school so he can become a doctor like his mother but his real passion is drawing, partly inspired by his feelings about his father who died by suicide when Kyo was very young. And as time passes he's increasingly torn between following his own path or conforming to his mother's expectations.
Bradley concentrates on storytelling here, building on his many years in Japan and his extensive background in Japanese fiction. The result is mostly fluid, accessible and undemanding. I enjoyed Bradley's more inventive flourishes and the attention to detail such as the inclusion of Kyo’s artwork, as well as the many references to Japanese culture, history and literature. But there were times when the writing felt slightly forced and flat, and the characters too stock – some of the ideas around generational divides, youth versus age, and their impact on Ayako’s sensibilities versus Kyo’s felt a little stereotypical, particularly Ayako’s as the forbidding, irascible older woman. I also found the contrast between the "found" novel and the episodes centred on Flo’s experiences an awkward one. It’s a very readable piece and there were numerous charming elements – particularly the street cats - and I can see it appealing to a number of readers but it didn’t entirely work for me: the resolution to both storylines was frustratingly abrupt; and Bradley’s story frequently strayed into the kind of life-lesson territory I tend to avoid.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Transworld for an ARC
Rating: 2.5
Bradley concentrates on storytelling here, building on his many years in Japan and his extensive background in Japanese fiction. The result is mostly fluid, accessible and undemanding. I enjoyed Bradley's more inventive flourishes and the attention to detail such as the inclusion of Kyo’s artwork, as well as the many references to Japanese culture, history and literature. But there were times when the writing felt slightly forced and flat, and the characters too stock – some of the ideas around generational divides, youth versus age, and their impact on Ayako’s sensibilities versus Kyo’s felt a little stereotypical, particularly Ayako’s as the forbidding, irascible older woman. I also found the contrast between the "found" novel and the episodes centred on Flo’s experiences an awkward one. It’s a very readable piece and there were numerous charming elements – particularly the street cats - and I can see it appealing to a number of readers but it didn’t entirely work for me: the resolution to both storylines was frustratingly abrupt; and Bradley’s story frequently strayed into the kind of life-lesson territory I tend to avoid.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Transworld for an ARC
Rating: 2.5
May 22, 2023
3.5 rounded down
It’s spring and cherry blossom season in Tokyo, Japan and yet American translator Flo Dunthorpe is in despair following the poor reception of her latest book translation. There’s another blow too as she is breaking up with her girlfriend who is going to live in the United States. However, will a lovely book she finds called ‘Sound of Water’ by the mysterious writer Hibiki restore her fortunes? Meanwhile, grandmother Ayako runs a cafe in Onomichi and is expecting the arrival of her daydreamer grandson nineteen year old Kyo. Like Flo, Kyo has lost his way in life after failing his exams and reluctantly travels to Onomichi to attend a cram school to help him get accepted to study medicine. After an unpromising start Kyo learns there’s way more to his grandmother than he initially gives her credit for.
I like the two stories premise which is interspersed with Flo’s translation of Sound of Water and scattered throughout are some wonderful illustrations and photographs which add to the storytelling and I love looking at these. The setting in Japan is fascinating and lovers of all things Japanese will find this novel resonates. You get an excellent peak into Japanese society via Kyo and Ayako and the other inhabitants of the small town of Onomichi. If you are a cat lover they feature prominently too, especially Coltrane (not Robbie!).
This is undoubtedly wonderfully written with the intergenerational relationships and how this changes being very well described. Two worlds definitely collide here but Kyo learns a lot about himself but Ayako and him also come to terms with events from the past too. It has to be said, nothing much happens here, it’s clearly character driven, there are no earth shattering moments as it’s a quiet and mostly gentle tale. Personally, I would have liked more on Flo as I find her interesting but she’s by and large a vehicle for the direction of the storytelling
Despite the fact that there is a great deal to praise here, other readers love this a lot more than I do, I think it’s a case of the wrong reader rather than any issues with this well written book.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House UK, Transworld, Doubleday for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
It’s spring and cherry blossom season in Tokyo, Japan and yet American translator Flo Dunthorpe is in despair following the poor reception of her latest book translation. There’s another blow too as she is breaking up with her girlfriend who is going to live in the United States. However, will a lovely book she finds called ‘Sound of Water’ by the mysterious writer Hibiki restore her fortunes? Meanwhile, grandmother Ayako runs a cafe in Onomichi and is expecting the arrival of her daydreamer grandson nineteen year old Kyo. Like Flo, Kyo has lost his way in life after failing his exams and reluctantly travels to Onomichi to attend a cram school to help him get accepted to study medicine. After an unpromising start Kyo learns there’s way more to his grandmother than he initially gives her credit for.
I like the two stories premise which is interspersed with Flo’s translation of Sound of Water and scattered throughout are some wonderful illustrations and photographs which add to the storytelling and I love looking at these. The setting in Japan is fascinating and lovers of all things Japanese will find this novel resonates. You get an excellent peak into Japanese society via Kyo and Ayako and the other inhabitants of the small town of Onomichi. If you are a cat lover they feature prominently too, especially Coltrane (not Robbie!).
This is undoubtedly wonderfully written with the intergenerational relationships and how this changes being very well described. Two worlds definitely collide here but Kyo learns a lot about himself but Ayako and him also come to terms with events from the past too. It has to be said, nothing much happens here, it’s clearly character driven, there are no earth shattering moments as it’s a quiet and mostly gentle tale. Personally, I would have liked more on Flo as I find her interesting but she’s by and large a vehicle for the direction of the storytelling
Despite the fact that there is a great deal to praise here, other readers love this a lot more than I do, I think it’s a case of the wrong reader rather than any issues with this well written book.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House UK, Transworld, Doubleday for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
August 14, 2025
Loved this book.
There is nothing I can add to a review that hasn't already been written.
There is nothing I can add to a review that hasn't already been written.
February 19, 2024
I have pretty mixed feelings about this book. One on side, I really enjoyed Kyo and Ayako’s story and how their relationship evolved throughout the book and how they learned from each other. However, I wish I could say I liked Flo’s part of the book but everytime we came back to her, I had a harder time getting through the book as I felt less interested. I believe the book lacked a little bit of balance between both stories, which gave a lot more development to Kyo’s story but didn’t leave enough time to Flo to make it more appealing.
July 12, 2023
"'Oh to be a cat,' he says. 'They dream , but they don't let their dreams consume them. That's the thing about humans - we feel like we have to make our dreams real. And that's what causes us such joy and discontent.'"
I absolutely adored this book. It's a gentle, reflective story within a story that's rich in japanese culture, contains beautifully formed characters and, perhaps most importantly, very lovely cats.
Bradley is a fantastic writer, and I love how he deftly explores the creative process and the feelings that being a creative often evokes. Plus, there's beautiful artwork, sassy grandmas with rich histories, cats named after jazz musicians and a real sense of place and time.
A total delight.
I absolutely adored this book. It's a gentle, reflective story within a story that's rich in japanese culture, contains beautifully formed characters and, perhaps most importantly, very lovely cats.
Bradley is a fantastic writer, and I love how he deftly explores the creative process and the feelings that being a creative often evokes. Plus, there's beautiful artwork, sassy grandmas with rich histories, cats named after jazz musicians and a real sense of place and time.
A total delight.
July 28, 2025
5 Stars. I did not have big expectations for this and out of the blue I found it to be quite amazing. I added to my favorites.
The story setting is in Japan with two POV's. One is a young man Kyo and the other is a young woman Flo, their stories are intertwined in a clever way.
Kyo has just failed his exams to get into medical school. He moves from home in Tokyo to a small town Onomichi with his grandmother. The small town has a "study school" so he can retake the exam.
Flo is a translator of books from Japanese to English. She has recently made a personal choice to pursue this less lucrative career path rather than being in publishing.
Kyo and his grandmother are the larger part of the book. His grandmother feels she needs to shape Kyo to develop properly and become a man. She is extremely tough, she lost both her son (Kyo Dad) and her husband. She was a past mountain climber until she nearly died on the mountain during a winter storm. She still walks up a steep trail everyday as part of her regiment.
Kyo has a gift for drawing which is a large part of the story. He meets a girl in Onomichi and has university friends that he visits. His Mom is a doctor in Tokyo with a busy life. There are good side stories throughout.
In general, the story reads smoothly and is very engaging. It adds to your energy rather than sucking it from you. I didn't want it t0 end. I feel i can read again, enjoy and still get things from it.
The story setting is in Japan with two POV's. One is a young man Kyo and the other is a young woman Flo, their stories are intertwined in a clever way.
Kyo has just failed his exams to get into medical school. He moves from home in Tokyo to a small town Onomichi with his grandmother. The small town has a "study school" so he can retake the exam.
Flo is a translator of books from Japanese to English. She has recently made a personal choice to pursue this less lucrative career path rather than being in publishing.
Kyo and his grandmother are the larger part of the book. His grandmother feels she needs to shape Kyo to develop properly and become a man. She is extremely tough, she lost both her son (Kyo Dad) and her husband. She was a past mountain climber until she nearly died on the mountain during a winter storm. She still walks up a steep trail everyday as part of her regiment.
Kyo has a gift for drawing which is a large part of the story. He meets a girl in Onomichi and has university friends that he visits. His Mom is a doctor in Tokyo with a busy life. There are good side stories throughout.
In general, the story reads smoothly and is very engaging. It adds to your energy rather than sucking it from you. I didn't want it t0 end. I feel i can read again, enjoy and still get things from it.
September 12, 2023
Flo is an American living in Tokyo, she’s just broken up up with her girlfriend, she’s stuck in a bit of a rut and she's not sure if she should move back to Oregon. One day, she finds a book on the train, it’s written in Japanese and Flo desperately wants to find the author Hibiki.
Kyo failed his university entrance exams, and he goes to live with his strict grandmother Ayako in her humble house in Onomichi and she runs a small coffee shop. Kyo's mother is a doctor, so doing well at cram school is extremely important and so he can resist the exams to get into medical school.
Kyo likes to draw, he’s a manga artist and a very talented one. Kyo is to spend a whole year with his grandmother, four seasons and he’s not impressed. At first he resents living with Ayako, she’s clever and makes a lazy Kyo accompany her on her daily walks, gets him away from his phone they start to talk and he meets other residents of Onomichi.
I received a copy of Four Seasons in Japan by Nick Bradley from NetGalley and Random House UK in exchange for an honest review. Mr. Bradley’s novel is wonderful, it’s a story within a story, and it’s about family, one that's experienced a lot of tragedy, becoming part of a community, and self-discovery and you’re taken on a journey. Kyo learns a valuable lesson, his life is his own and he needs to do what he wants and it might mean disappointing his busy mother.
At first I wasn’t sure if I would like the narrative, it’s very different to what I would normally read and often I struggle to make sense of this type of "quirky" book. I enjoyed reading about Japan, it’s culture, traditions, life in a small village, how Ayako wore a kimono, I was really engrossed in the tale and wanted to know what was going to happen next between Kyo, Ayako, in the cat alley and with Coltrane aka Mick Jagger. Four stars from me, I struggled to connect with Flo’s character, maybe this was deliberate to tie everything together and a brilliant debut.
Kyo failed his university entrance exams, and he goes to live with his strict grandmother Ayako in her humble house in Onomichi and she runs a small coffee shop. Kyo's mother is a doctor, so doing well at cram school is extremely important and so he can resist the exams to get into medical school.
Kyo likes to draw, he’s a manga artist and a very talented one. Kyo is to spend a whole year with his grandmother, four seasons and he’s not impressed. At first he resents living with Ayako, she’s clever and makes a lazy Kyo accompany her on her daily walks, gets him away from his phone they start to talk and he meets other residents of Onomichi.
I received a copy of Four Seasons in Japan by Nick Bradley from NetGalley and Random House UK in exchange for an honest review. Mr. Bradley’s novel is wonderful, it’s a story within a story, and it’s about family, one that's experienced a lot of tragedy, becoming part of a community, and self-discovery and you’re taken on a journey. Kyo learns a valuable lesson, his life is his own and he needs to do what he wants and it might mean disappointing his busy mother.
At first I wasn’t sure if I would like the narrative, it’s very different to what I would normally read and often I struggle to make sense of this type of "quirky" book. I enjoyed reading about Japan, it’s culture, traditions, life in a small village, how Ayako wore a kimono, I was really engrossed in the tale and wanted to know what was going to happen next between Kyo, Ayako, in the cat alley and with Coltrane aka Mick Jagger. Four stars from me, I struggled to connect with Flo’s character, maybe this was deliberate to tie everything together and a brilliant debut.
December 22, 2024
The concept of a story within a story is intriguing, but I found myself disliking Flo and wishing this book were only about Kyo and Ayako. There was nothing more to Flo than a struggling and depressing character. We never get to learn why she was like that, why she decided to stay in Tokyo instead of going abroad with her girlfriend, etc. Her whole POV seemed pointless, and—borrowing the prominent word in the book about her—exhausting to read.
Kyo and Ayako, on the other hand, although starting out just as exasperating as Flo, did have some depth and a gradual, but clear change in their characters and relationship. In the end, I became quite attached and wished I could’ve read more about them.
Kyo and Ayako, on the other hand, although starting out just as exasperating as Flo, did have some depth and a gradual, but clear change in their characters and relationship. In the end, I became quite attached and wished I could’ve read more about them.
August 18, 2023
Everything about this book was beautiful….a powerful message delivered with ease... and it radiates Studio Ghibli vibes, which I was all in for.🥹
August 26, 2024
Depresión, lazos familiares, la búsqueda de la vocación, descubrir nuestros sueños, luchar por lo que nos apasiona, volver a las raíces, una novela dentro de una novela conmovedora.
4,5 estrellas
4,5 estrellas
October 19, 2025
În acest roman, Nick Bradley își mută atenția din orașul supraaglomerat care este Tokyo spre zona rurală, atât de plină de tradiții și de obiceiuri care vin din istoria Japoniei. Dar interesantă este modalitatea prin care acest lucru este realizat: „Patru anotimpuri în Japonia” este construit pe principiul de „roman în roman” - o americancă mutată în Japonia, devenită fluentă în limba locului, descoperă un roman aproape necunoscut, dar fascinant, pe care încearcă să-l traducă în engleză; în paralel cu încercările acesteia de a descoperi autorul, editura, dar și cu problemele propriei vieți, acest roman ne este tradus și adus în prim-plan, un volum despre felul în care un tânăr ajunge în zona rurală, la bunica sa, pentru a se pregăti pentru examenele la medicină, doar pentru a se adânci în pasiunea sa pentru desen, dar și pentru a-și restabili viața emoțională - tatăl decedat, mama mereu ocupată, bunica distantă, cu traume adânci. Un „roman în roman” chiar pasionant.
Mi-a plăcut și această carte a lui Nick Bradley, chiar mai mult decât „Pisica și orașul”, are un ritm foarte potrivit și o senzație de prospețime pe care nu am găsit-o în ultimii ani în romanele cu atmosferă japoneză.
Mi-a plăcut și această carte a lui Nick Bradley, chiar mai mult decât „Pisica și orașul”, are un ritm foarte potrivit și o senzație de prospețime pe care nu am găsit-o în ultimii ani în romanele cu atmosferă japoneză.
May 1, 2024
this DRAGGED for foreverrr. The subject matter is so real and raw and yet I felt a disconnect with the characters and the story.
There were moments (short and few) were it was ALMOST good, ALMOST enticing enough, ALMOST moving, the characters ALMOST endearing and I’d think FINALLY its picking up… but the moments were fleeting 🫥
In the end it seemed just off beat, awkward, and kinda preachy.
The whole book in a book, translator writing about a translator translating, foreigner in Japan shtick felt very self indulgent and annoying lol.
Could’ve been something but it misses the mark spectacularly.
There were moments (short and few) were it was ALMOST good, ALMOST enticing enough, ALMOST moving, the characters ALMOST endearing and I’d think FINALLY its picking up… but the moments were fleeting 🫥
In the end it seemed just off beat, awkward, and kinda preachy.
The whole book in a book, translator writing about a translator translating, foreigner in Japan shtick felt very self indulgent and annoying lol.
Could’ve been something but it misses the mark spectacularly.
January 8, 2024
Oh I’ve absolutely adored this. What a beautiful, well-written and engaging story. The setting, the characters, the cats(!). I’ve loved everything about this and felt so immersed in the story, it almost felt as if I too was living and experiencing Japan through the seasons.
August 4, 2023
This book felt like a bittersweet story molded, formed out of love for peaceful life and the steps to finding purpose in life. Following Flo, who found herself stuck in a rut in her translation job after successfully making her debut and her relationship seems to be on the verge of breaking up. Feeling stuck with no purpose, a new translation project she doesn't care for, she soon found her fear of opening up makes her relationship crumbles in front of her eyes. Onboarding a train one day, she stumbled across a book left in the train & instinctively she picks up the book and read of the story of a grandmother and her grandson.
The story is about Ayako, an owner of a cafe in Onomichi whom lost her husband to the mountain and her son to suicide. Kyo, her estranged grandson was sent to live with Ayako after he failed his entrance college examination so he needs to study at the cram school in Hiroshima. His mother as a doctor was too busy to care for him so she sent Kyo to stay with his grandma. This starts the awkward relationship between two opposing personalities, different generations and the old vs young mindset. With struggles and hardships faced by both, the book followed the stories of these 2 characters as they feels alive on their own.
Its a heartwarming story where I was more invested in Kyo and Ayako's story more than Flo's part of the story. Its a book within a book format told alternatively, with breaks to show Flo's side of story to get a full glimpse on the process of her discovering the book "A Sound of Water" by Hibiki to her translating it and meeting the author. Its interesting but I prefer the book Sound of Water more than reading on Flo's stories.
We get Four Seasons in Japan as the theme for the story "Sound of Water", with each season potray the evolving connection between Ayako and Kyo. Ayako was a strongheaded woman, no nonsense attitude, brash at times but nice at heart although it gets frustrating when she will expect more from someone else while using her age as a reason for her grandson to behave when she obviously gets out of boundary. Its really irked me at some point but I understand the difference in generational thinking. While Kyo is a young boy, lonely and struggles with his own thoughts, not knowing what to do with his life, his affection for his mother and the missing figure of his father. All Kyo wants is to know who is his father, what kind of person he was and it was painful & sad to see the boy missed his father, never know him as a father and no one seems want to tell him about his father. The potrayal of sadness & grief were present in this book, its the one that tugged my heartstrings the most. For both of them, they lost their loved one, Ayako with her regrets for not letting his son achieve his dream and Kyo, for not having the chance to meet him🥲.
There is a heavy depiction of depressing and suicidal thoughts that really gets to me which i found myself choked up just thinking about it. Its the feeling that is relatable but hurts the most. I want to hug Kyo so bad reading it.
Overall, its a pleasant read, a chill, slice of life and laidback story but with a much depth on addressing mental health issuess too. Highly recommended for everyone to read.
Thank you to Times Reads and Ms Putri for the review copy
The story is about Ayako, an owner of a cafe in Onomichi whom lost her husband to the mountain and her son to suicide. Kyo, her estranged grandson was sent to live with Ayako after he failed his entrance college examination so he needs to study at the cram school in Hiroshima. His mother as a doctor was too busy to care for him so she sent Kyo to stay with his grandma. This starts the awkward relationship between two opposing personalities, different generations and the old vs young mindset. With struggles and hardships faced by both, the book followed the stories of these 2 characters as they feels alive on their own.
Its a heartwarming story where I was more invested in Kyo and Ayako's story more than Flo's part of the story. Its a book within a book format told alternatively, with breaks to show Flo's side of story to get a full glimpse on the process of her discovering the book "A Sound of Water" by Hibiki to her translating it and meeting the author. Its interesting but I prefer the book Sound of Water more than reading on Flo's stories.
We get Four Seasons in Japan as the theme for the story "Sound of Water", with each season potray the evolving connection between Ayako and Kyo. Ayako was a strongheaded woman, no nonsense attitude, brash at times but nice at heart although it gets frustrating when she will expect more from someone else while using her age as a reason for her grandson to behave when she obviously gets out of boundary. Its really irked me at some point but I understand the difference in generational thinking. While Kyo is a young boy, lonely and struggles with his own thoughts, not knowing what to do with his life, his affection for his mother and the missing figure of his father. All Kyo wants is to know who is his father, what kind of person he was and it was painful & sad to see the boy missed his father, never know him as a father and no one seems want to tell him about his father. The potrayal of sadness & grief were present in this book, its the one that tugged my heartstrings the most. For both of them, they lost their loved one, Ayako with her regrets for not letting his son achieve his dream and Kyo, for not having the chance to meet him🥲.
There is a heavy depiction of depressing and suicidal thoughts that really gets to me which i found myself choked up just thinking about it. Its the feeling that is relatable but hurts the most. I want to hug Kyo so bad reading it.
Overall, its a pleasant read, a chill, slice of life and laidback story but with a much depth on addressing mental health issuess too. Highly recommended for everyone to read.
Thank you to Times Reads and Ms Putri for the review copy
May 4, 2024
2.5
I really wanted to like this book, but it's impossible I'm afraid. There's not one likeable character in there, the concept of a book within a book is wonky and the fact that a white, non-Japanese man is writing from the pov of the Japanese people feels icky to me.
I really wanted to like this book, but it's impossible I'm afraid. There's not one likeable character in there, the concept of a book within a book is wonky and the fact that a white, non-Japanese man is writing from the pov of the Japanese people feels icky to me.
Want to read
June 28, 2023SO EXCITED that there's a new book out by Nick Bradley. It's been years since I read A Cat In the City, and when I saw his name came up with his new book in a magazine it was WOW 💥 from me. I can't wait to get my hands on this one. I'm sure it'll be amazing.
A Cat In the City
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
A Cat In the City
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
July 21, 2024
"Having found myself that close to death, I suddenly knew that I wasn't ready to die. I experienced awe and wonder at this world we live in. How incredible existence is. The probability of our being here, of having survived as a species on this tiny speck of a planet."
May 30, 2023
This book-within-a-book novel follows the lives of three characters: Flo - the translator, Kyo - the lost boy, and Ayako - the grandma.
Flo finds a book left behind on the Tokyo’s underground and immediately gets into its story, trying to translate it into English and publish it abroad. She does everything in her power to try and find the mysterious author of the novel, whilst falling in love with the book itself. The book talks about Kyo, a 19-yo boy who has just failed his exams and was sent to live with his grandma in the rural Japan. Although their relationships starts off coolly, as Kyo has to heavily readjust to his current living situation, both him and his grandma Ayako learn new things from each other.
Nick Bradley wrote an incredible love-letter-to-Japan novel. The mentions of places, train lines and even customs made me feel like I was back in Japan. He did an incredible job at explaining some of the traditions and sayings in Japanese, which can make the read easy even for someone who knows nothing about Japan.
The author’s ability to write two separate stories and combine them together in a seamless manner is incredible. The ‘mysterious book’ chapters are written in a way that could make on believe it was written by a Japanese person, while the ‘real life’ chapters have a slightly more western feel to them. Nick can also describe the surroundings in a way which feels like you’re right there.
This love letter to Japan is about love, loss, grief, loneliness, being lost and not knowing what to do next. The characters are well written, the writing is vivid, the story-line is complex but not over complicated.
I highly recommend.
ad: thank you NetGalley and Doubleday for my ARC. It was a pleasure to read this book.
Flo finds a book left behind on the Tokyo’s underground and immediately gets into its story, trying to translate it into English and publish it abroad. She does everything in her power to try and find the mysterious author of the novel, whilst falling in love with the book itself. The book talks about Kyo, a 19-yo boy who has just failed his exams and was sent to live with his grandma in the rural Japan. Although their relationships starts off coolly, as Kyo has to heavily readjust to his current living situation, both him and his grandma Ayako learn new things from each other.
Nick Bradley wrote an incredible love-letter-to-Japan novel. The mentions of places, train lines and even customs made me feel like I was back in Japan. He did an incredible job at explaining some of the traditions and sayings in Japanese, which can make the read easy even for someone who knows nothing about Japan.
The author’s ability to write two separate stories and combine them together in a seamless manner is incredible. The ‘mysterious book’ chapters are written in a way that could make on believe it was written by a Japanese person, while the ‘real life’ chapters have a slightly more western feel to them. Nick can also describe the surroundings in a way which feels like you’re right there.
This love letter to Japan is about love, loss, grief, loneliness, being lost and not knowing what to do next. The characters are well written, the writing is vivid, the story-line is complex but not over complicated.
I highly recommend.
ad: thank you NetGalley and Doubleday for my ARC. It was a pleasure to read this book.
November 29, 2024
This book was so… boring. If it wasn’t for a book club I would probably dnf it or just took MONTHS to finish it. There were moments when I thought it had a potential but overall they all went flat. The cover is pretty tho.
ALSO - really surprised by high rating. Really.
ALSO - really surprised by high rating. Really.
April 20, 2025
這本書不只封面好看，故事也很有趣。雖然是本以日本為背景的小說，但作者是英國人。《尾道四季》一書裡描寫來自美國的芙珞在偶然之間遇見了《水之聲》這本書，讓剛剛出版第一本譯作就迷失自我且在感情上面臨危機的她重新找到目標，因而開始著手翻譯這本書。《水之聲》則是描述來自東京的響，來到廣島尾道的奶奶綾子家借住一年，頑固的祖孫兩人從陌生到逐漸打開心房，同時響也慢慢找到自我、並揭開了三代的家族秘密。芙珞除了要梳理自己的人生危機、著手翻譯書籍，還得找到這位如謎一般的作者。
整體來說，我很喜歡這本書的書中書的設計，不管是芙珞在翻譯過程中重新找到自己，還是響與綾子祖孫兩人的親情描寫，都是讓我忍不住繼續讀下去的原因。雖然有些角色的刻畫沒有那麼細膩，但我在乎的部分似乎都能看到作者的心思。另外，書裡收錄了不少有趣的插圖與尾道街景，讓讀者能夠跟著芙珞到尾道去走一遭。這讓我不禁想起好幾年前在尾道和嚴島的旅遊經歷，我也因此更喜歡這本書。
整體來說，我很喜歡這本書的書中書的設計，不管是芙珞在翻譯過程中重新找到自己，還是響與綾子祖孫兩人的親情描寫，都是讓我忍不住繼續讀下去的原因。雖然有些角色的刻畫沒有那麼細膩，但我在乎的部分似乎都能看到作者的心思。另外，書裡收錄了不少有趣的插圖與尾道街景，讓讀者能夠跟著芙珞到尾道去走一遭。這讓我不禁想起好幾年前在尾道和嚴島的旅遊經歷，我也因此更喜歡這本書。
May 4, 2024
'Four Seasons In Japan' is a rich, complex yet accessible and engaging book. The language is simple but vivid. I found myself slowing my reading to savour the images and emotions in the same way that I linger over perfectly drawn anime frames.
It was immersive in a different way than I'm used to. Instead of dunking me abruptly into a strange world and throwing stimuli at me until my senses were awash with the place, this book invited me to take a seat for a while and focus on all the small details and slow but inexorable changes that define a person or a place. It was calm without being passive.
The story structure was elegant and engaging. It had a shape that added cohesion without feeling plot-driven. Flo's experience as an American working as a translator in Tokyo provided a Western-style narrative thread on which Nick Bradley hung perfectly captured moments of memory from the memoir Flo is translating. The story starts with Flo, who was feeling a little jaded, discovering an obscure memoir that speaks to her so powerfully that she feels a need to translate it even though she has not yet found the author. The memoir takes place over the course of a year and is split into four seasons. We get to read a season before returning to Flo for a while and then getting the next season.
Starting with Flo made the story accessible to me. She provided a foreigner's view of living in Japan. As I listened to the challenges she faced both in translating the memoir and finding a place for herself in Japan, I was helped both to see the differences between American and Japanese culture and to build empathy with the Japanese people which reminded me of how much we have in common.
The memoir sections provided a change in pace and style. The memoir tells of a year in which Kyo, a young man who, to his great shame, has just failed his exams in Tokyo, goes to live with his fierce grandmother, Ayako, in the small coastal town of Onomichi, while he attends a cram school. We watch as the two of them try to find a way to live with one another while each of them struggles with shame and grief that neither of them wants to talk about. What follows is a slow disclosure and discovery by Ayako and Kyo of who each of them is and what they may come to mean to each other. Relatively little happens in the story but it is filled with strong (largely unexpressed) emotions that produce both anxiety and happiness.
In between the sections of the memoir, Flo reflects on some on the challenges of finding the words that accurately express in English the meaning of the Japanese text. As I came to understand more about translation, I started to see it as something needed not just between people who speak different languages but between all of us who want to understand each other's experiences.
I was totally immersed in the emerging relationship between Kyo and his grandmother. Yet even as I became invested in what would happen to them, I was aware that my imagination was engaged less with considering what would happen next than it was with taking in the vivid but fleeting moments that created and sustained the relationship.
Returning to Flo's narrative, which at first had provided me with a sense of accessible normality, felt jarring after the time spent with Kyo and Ayako, in the same way that a familiar city can feel suddenly crowded and alien after a long time spent in the country.
'Four Seasons In Japan' was one of the books I've enjoyed most in 2024. The story and the people were memorable, the writing was a pleasure, I learned some things about Japan and I was given a lot to think about.
I recommend the audiobook version of 'Four Seasons In Japan'. It was a joy to listen to. Hanako Footman's narration was pitch-perfect. Her tone captured both the gentleness of the storytelling and the grief that permeated much of the content. Her narration also helped me take in the Japanese names, words and phrases more easily.
It was immersive in a different way than I'm used to. Instead of dunking me abruptly into a strange world and throwing stimuli at me until my senses were awash with the place, this book invited me to take a seat for a while and focus on all the small details and slow but inexorable changes that define a person or a place. It was calm without being passive.
The story structure was elegant and engaging. It had a shape that added cohesion without feeling plot-driven. Flo's experience as an American working as a translator in Tokyo provided a Western-style narrative thread on which Nick Bradley hung perfectly captured moments of memory from the memoir Flo is translating. The story starts with Flo, who was feeling a little jaded, discovering an obscure memoir that speaks to her so powerfully that she feels a need to translate it even though she has not yet found the author. The memoir takes place over the course of a year and is split into four seasons. We get to read a season before returning to Flo for a while and then getting the next season.
Starting with Flo made the story accessible to me. She provided a foreigner's view of living in Japan. As I listened to the challenges she faced both in translating the memoir and finding a place for herself in Japan, I was helped both to see the differences between American and Japanese culture and to build empathy with the Japanese people which reminded me of how much we have in common.
The memoir sections provided a change in pace and style. The memoir tells of a year in which Kyo, a young man who, to his great shame, has just failed his exams in Tokyo, goes to live with his fierce grandmother, Ayako, in the small coastal town of Onomichi, while he attends a cram school. We watch as the two of them try to find a way to live with one another while each of them struggles with shame and grief that neither of them wants to talk about. What follows is a slow disclosure and discovery by Ayako and Kyo of who each of them is and what they may come to mean to each other. Relatively little happens in the story but it is filled with strong (largely unexpressed) emotions that produce both anxiety and happiness.
In between the sections of the memoir, Flo reflects on some on the challenges of finding the words that accurately express in English the meaning of the Japanese text. As I came to understand more about translation, I started to see it as something needed not just between people who speak different languages but between all of us who want to understand each other's experiences.
I was totally immersed in the emerging relationship between Kyo and his grandmother. Yet even as I became invested in what would happen to them, I was aware that my imagination was engaged less with considering what would happen next than it was with taking in the vivid but fleeting moments that created and sustained the relationship.
Returning to Flo's narrative, which at first had provided me with a sense of accessible normality, felt jarring after the time spent with Kyo and Ayako, in the same way that a familiar city can feel suddenly crowded and alien after a long time spent in the country.
'Four Seasons In Japan' was one of the books I've enjoyed most in 2024. The story and the people were memorable, the writing was a pleasure, I learned some things about Japan and I was given a lot to think about.
I recommend the audiobook version of 'Four Seasons In Japan'. It was a joy to listen to. Hanako Footman's narration was pitch-perfect. Her tone captured both the gentleness of the storytelling and the grief that permeated much of the content. Her narration also helped me take in the Japanese names, words and phrases more easily.
April 25, 2024
Hay momentos en la vida en que estamos perdidos y no sabemos como gestionar nuestras emociones. Flo, la protagonista de esta historia, se encuentra en esa situación. Las cosas con su pareja no van bien y su vida parece haber perdido el sentido volviéndose monótona. Pero cuando un día se encuentra en el tren con un libro titulado “El ruido del agua”, su vida dará un giro inesperado. Flo comienza a fascinarse con ese libro, hasta tal punto de querer traducirlo del japonés al inglés sea como sea. Es así como Flo comenzará un viaje en busca del autor para pedirle permiso para traducir su novela. Además, esta aventura supondrá para Flo un cambio radical en su vida, consiguiendo abrirse poco a poco a los demás y tomando consciencia del camino que quiere seguir. Todo ello gracias a “El ruido del agua”.
En el libro, veremos como las dos historias se desarrollan paralelamente y como indirectamente una influye en la otra. En “El ruido del agua” acompañaremos a Ayako, una anciana que vive en un pueblo de Japón, y a su nieto Kyo, que se va a vivir con ella durante un año. Y aunque la historia de Flo me ha encantado, así como su evolución, es la historia de Ayako y Kyo la que me ha fascinado de principio a fin. Ver la evolución de estos dos personajes ha sido toda una experiencia. Ayako es una mujer fría que por sucesos de la vida ha decido encerrarse en sí misma, y Kyo es un adolescente que tiene muchas preguntas sobre su pasado y que intenta acercarse a su abuela, aunque ella no se lo pone nada fácil.
Ver la relación que hay entre abuela y nieto, y como esta afecta de manera indirecta a la vida de Flo es el punto fuerte de la novela. Los personajes están muy bien perfilados y la historia te envuelve de manera que no querrás soltar el libro hasta el final. Además, el autor consigue describir el paisaje rural de Japón de una manera tan magistral que se convierte en un personaje más de la historia.
“Cuatro estaciones en Japón” es una novela tierna y cautivadora que nos habla del perdón, tanto a los demás como a uno mismo, y de la importancia de apoyarnos en las personas que nos quieren para poder superar las adversidades que la vida decide poner en nuestro camino.
En el libro, veremos como las dos historias se desarrollan paralelamente y como indirectamente una influye en la otra. En “El ruido del agua” acompañaremos a Ayako, una anciana que vive en un pueblo de Japón, y a su nieto Kyo, que se va a vivir con ella durante un año. Y aunque la historia de Flo me ha encantado, así como su evolución, es la historia de Ayako y Kyo la que me ha fascinado de principio a fin. Ver la evolución de estos dos personajes ha sido toda una experiencia. Ayako es una mujer fría que por sucesos de la vida ha decido encerrarse en sí misma, y Kyo es un adolescente que tiene muchas preguntas sobre su pasado y que intenta acercarse a su abuela, aunque ella no se lo pone nada fácil.
Ver la relación que hay entre abuela y nieto, y como esta afecta de manera indirecta a la vida de Flo es el punto fuerte de la novela. Los personajes están muy bien perfilados y la historia te envuelve de manera que no querrás soltar el libro hasta el final. Además, el autor consigue describir el paisaje rural de Japón de una manera tan magistral que se convierte en un personaje más de la historia.
“Cuatro estaciones en Japón” es una novela tierna y cautivadora que nos habla del perdón, tanto a los demás como a uno mismo, y de la importancia de apoyarnos en las personas que nos quieren para poder superar las adversidades que la vida decide poner en nuestro camino.
May 1, 2024
Honestly, I am baffled this book has this high of a rating. Maybe it's just me but the story dragged mercilessly and the characters made me want to slap them a handful of times. This book just didn't flow for me and the japanese words just thrown in the middle of a sentence (not translated where they could be easily translated and not loose the meaning) took me out of the story multiple times.
Overall it's a 2.5 for me
Overall it's a 2.5 for me
October 20, 2024
Ésta novela es la historia de Flo que se adentra en otra historia entre una abuela, Ayako, y su nieto Kyo, la cual destaca como un vínculo íntimo y conmovedor que refleja el contraste entre generaciones y las tensiones que surgen del cambio social en Japón; la abuela, representante de la tradición, y el nieto, inmerso en la vida moderna y acelerada de Tokio, simbolizan la lucha entre lo antiguo y lo nuevo.
La relación entre ambos personajes es un reflejo de cómo las generaciones pueden aprender mutuamente reafirmando el valor de los lazos familiares.
La novela cierra con un epílogo donde Nick Bradley de manera sutil y simbólica nos transmite que al igual que sucede con las estaciones, la vida no siempre ofrece conclusiones definitivas sino momentos de transición y transformación.
El gato negro que aparece recurrentemente sirve como un símbolo de conexión entre la historia y la realidad dejando una sensación de continuidad más que de final.
La relación entre ambos personajes es un reflejo de cómo las generaciones pueden aprender mutuamente reafirmando el valor de los lazos familiares.
La novela cierra con un epílogo donde Nick Bradley de manera sutil y simbólica nos transmite que al igual que sucede con las estaciones, la vida no siempre ofrece conclusiones definitivas sino momentos de transición y transformación.
El gato negro que aparece recurrentemente sirve como un símbolo de conexión entre la historia y la realidad dejando una sensación de continuidad más que de final.
August 1, 2025
"yama ari tani ari"
Hay montañas y hay valles
Es el libro que tenia que llegar en el momento que ha llegado. Ha encajado a la perfección. La importancia de sentirte parte de algo, de un lugar; sobre perseguir tus sueños y el riesgo que conlleva; sobre conocer gente increible y sobre esos momentos en los que toca tomar un rumbo diferente. Y donde vemos que, realmente, no importa para nada el destino, sino el camino.
gracias por el regalo
Hay montañas y hay valles
Es el libro que tenia que llegar en el momento que ha llegado. Ha encajado a la perfección. La importancia de sentirte parte de algo, de un lugar; sobre perseguir tus sueños y el riesgo que conlleva; sobre conocer gente increible y sobre esos momentos en los que toca tomar un rumbo diferente. Y donde vemos que, realmente, no importa para nada el destino, sino el camino.
gracias por el regalo
January 30, 2024
"There was something wrong with her. Why couldn't she connect with other humans? Yuki herself had said it - she was exhausting. She'd been a sad loser in Portland, and moving to Tokyo hadn't changed anything. She was still a useless person who couldn't relate to anyone real and living - only imaginary charachters who existed on a page."
July 20, 2023
My problem but I didn’t like any of the characters. Loved the Japan background.
December 28, 2023
Loved it, this book had a very gentle sweet pace. Little gems of reminders spread through
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