Tokion tuhkaa

by Kenzo Kitakata

Tanakalla on lyhyet hiukset, harmaa puku ja hillitty kravatti. Hän on nelikymppinen, tupakkaa ketjussa polttava, uransa ja elämänsä päämäärättömyyteen turtunut keski-iän kriisiä poteva mies. Ensinäkemältä hän on kuin kuka tahansa Tokion kadut päivä toisensa jälkeen täyttävistä miljoonista työläisistä. Mutta Tanaka-san on yakuza, gangsteri, josta aiemmin povattiin klaanin ikääntyvän pomon seuraajaa, mutta joka on sittemmin ajautunut vain perheen yhden pienen sivuhaaran johtoon. Pomon lopulta kuollessa tämän uusi seuraaja ei saa pidettyä syndikaatin ohjia käsissään, ja Tanakalle avautuu mahdollisuus ottaa elämälleen uusi suunta.

Genres: Japan, Fiction, Japanese Literature, Crime, Mystery, Noir, Asian Literature

205 pages

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

北方 謙三 was the 10th president of the Mystery Writers of Japan (1997-2001).

Reviews

[TK421 · Rating 4 out of 5]

There it was. Eyeing me. I'd never read Japanses hard-boiled before and I wasn't sure if I should start now. Reluctantly, I grabbed the book and started reading. Bullets. Death. Dames.

Fifty pages later I knew I had to do something about this book. When I brought it back to the library, the libraian looked at me with nervous eyes. This book had hardly ever been checked out since being acquired. "It was good," I said. She never asked me, but I told her anyway. She didn't smile at me; she didn't react in any manner.

I walked away from the counter. A smile was on my face.

Who knew middle-aged gangster lit was my cup of tea? There are more titles by this Kitakata guy. I'll see if they can match the pleasure gained by reading this one.

Until then, I know who the real yakuzo is.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

[Patrick Sherriff · Rating 5 out of 5]

The prose was spare. The mood hardboiled. The narrator, an antihero. At times more of a character study of a mid-life crisis, yakuza-style, than a plot exactly, you had to add the story yourself which was a chore, at first, but after a while, a pleasurable one. Our hero was a nasty piece of work, but still our hero, even though he did some unheroic things. Was there a perverted sense of justice? Or just perversion? For folk who like their crime yarns mean and moody and endings grey rather than black and white.

Download my starter library for free here - http://eepurl.com/bFkt0X - and receive my monthly newsletter with book recommendations galore for the Japanophile, crime-fiction-lover in all of us.

[AC · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this more than most of the GR reviews I've seen. The book is episodic, and the plot is minimal. But the thread is there and runs from beginning to end. The book follows a Yakuza boss named Tanaka. The first half follows him in the third person, the second in the first person. And he proves to be a fairly interesting character. The other characters are also well-drawn and interesting, especially the women. And the topic of the book is, after all, rather existential. It has elements of Dave Goody, George Higgins, Truffaut -- and I don't know what Japanese elements. Except drier. Anyway, it's a very short and quick read, and an interesting one.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh that poor little fish! Thank goodness Tanaka did not keep a fluffy animal.

[Johanna Ilen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This might be an excellent piece of yakuza literature, but I can’t say I enjoyed it. Interesting enough to read till the end, even though I can’t really say what it was that made me finish it.

[absolutely not · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great piece of introspective hardboiled Japanese fiction. Instead of a detective as so many writers of hardboiled fiction are apt to fall back on (likely and rightly in attempts to follow the success of Raymond Chandler et al), it tells a story centered in yakuza politics – played close enough to the chest not to give too much away, but enough that the personal experience of a middle-aged yakuza is very real to the reader. The first half is written in the third person with fairly little clues as to who the man we’re watching might be, but it doesn’t suffer any for it. It gives you the sort of feeling you get when you sit in a room and listen to the conversations other people are having – eyeing your own glass, pretending to mind your own business, but secretly clueing in on the business of others. A fly on the wall. For some I’m sure it will annoy, but because I’m secretly the sort of person who loves to do that, it felt comfortable to me.

The second half is written in the first person, the man from the beginning – called just “Tanaka” or “Brother” by his yakuza brethren. I can’t say that I enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed the first half, but that could be my affinity for the style of the beginning talking more than the actual quality of either part. There is a particularly wonderful passage in this half about the death of Tanaka’s goldfish – not for the faint of heart, but it illustrates that despite the usual failings and repetitive nature of many translations of Japanese literature, no metaphor is lost in Ashes.

I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys hardboiled fiction or is interested in looking into hardboiled fiction beyond the scope of perhaps Hammett and Chandler. It is decidedly not the detective vein so familiar to fans of the genre, but it is worth every page.

[Shelly - The Illustrated Librarian - · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic Yakuza story! The first half is spoken from the main character's point of view, in his own voice. The second half is related in the third person. Inside the man--Outside the man. Which is the real man? Which man is better? Is this not every man's issue in life?

Our mid-range Yakuza member is being groomed to take some control, start his own sub-gang with him as boss. However, he doesn't want it. He's basically a street thug, and he knows it, and he's happy with that. He must accept the change though, as change is part of life.

"Ashes" gives us a great glimpse into the Yakuza world, without being overbearing about it. Readers familiar with Yakuza practices (i.e., cutting off a joint of the pinky finger as an act of contrition or obedience) will note these authentic details--other readers will still enjoy the book without knowing the back history of every little act.

[Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished reading Kenzo Kitakata’s Ashes. It was a really intriguing read about a middle-aged Japanese yakuza. The book sounded so intriguing before I bought it. I have been on a Japanese novel kick ever since I read Out by Natsuo Kirino. But, the first couple of dozen pages seems really boring and slow. It was told in two parts, one from the outside, with the main character, Tanaka, being seen in third person. The second part of the book was told from Tanaka’s internal perspective. The staccato pace of the sentences and thoughts seemed disconnected at the beginning of the book; however, it developed into a solid rhythm as the book progressed. I’d highly recommend this book to read.

[Louis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid piece of Yakuza fiction, though I can't say I'm aware of there really being a genre for this kind of stuff. The first half or so is episodic and the second half is an actual organized story. It's worth a read if you think the Yakuza is at least sort of interesting.

[Margrethe Lauber]

One of my favorite book covers.

[Keso Shengelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great piece of introspective hardboiled Japanese fiction. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys hardboiled fiction or is interested in this genre

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

If this story was any grittier, you'd have to wear gloves while reading it to avoid shredding your hands.

Tanaka is a yakuza who wants to be gang leader, he loves violence and is a bit self destructive. His mistresses, pimps, thugs and drug runners are not very nice either, anybody who's not scum is a victim. He seems to wander in and out of situations without much rhyme or reason, this novel is not strong on plot, its more of a character study in scarlet.

If you like Takashi Miike's yakuza films(I do), you'll enjoy this.

[Gavin · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an interesting way to tell a gangster story. The first half is an external view, with no interiority at all. Then, in the second half, we see everything from the gangster's perspective.

The big problem is that there's no surprising revelation in the second part -- if you had to write an inner voice to the first part (without having the read the second), what you'd come out with is pretty much what the second half sounds like.

So, that's probably actually realistic -- many people are probably more-or-less as they seem -- but it doesn't make for a compelling novel.

[Niina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kitakatan tarjoilema dekkari oli japanilaisen kohtelias ja ehkä myös sen vuoksi tarina tuntui jäävän pintapuoliseksi. Harmi sinäänsä, koska kirjan kansi mainosti tämän kirjan olevan kirjailijan töiden parhaimmistoa. Kuvaus ”Spillanen ja Dostojevskin sekoitus - kuin Sopranos Japanin alamaailmassa” ei toteutunut tämän lukijan kohdalla vaikka odotukset olivat kovat ja kirjan kansi oli aivan loistava.

[Dariela · Rating 3 out of 5]

an easy read, with nothing much going on for itself.
the slow descent into tanaka becoming the boss, and his own ignorant realization towards it was good, though predictable. the prose was mediocre, but i don’t know if it’s because i read a translation or the writing was just like that.

[Mimi · Rating 2 out of 5]

guess I'm just not that into yakuza.

[Felix Zilich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Кендзо Китаката – один из первых королей японского хардбойла. Автор нескольких десятков романов, обладатель всех престижных национальных наград – от приза Рампо до приза Ёсикавы, бывший президент гильдии японских писателей-детективщиков. Несмотря на это, “Пепел” – его первый перевод на иностранный язык. И в этом нет ничего сенсационного. Романы про якудза – диковинка даже ��ля англоязычного книжного рынка.

По этой причине появление “Пепла” на русских прилавках – большая радость, хотя, честно признаться, назвать удачной эту книгу не просто. Перед нами до боли примитивная и схематичная история, похожая с первого взгляда на незаконченный сценарий к очередному опусу Такеши Китано. Другое дело, что судить эту книгу (роман, повесть, новеллу) по привычным европейским меркам тоже не стоит. Восточный лаконизм – палка о двух концах, замыленный шаблонами взгляд легко может пропустить десятки интересных деталей. Хотя все же будем предельно честны – искать там на самом деле особо нечего. Наблюдение и анализ того, кто кому дал прикурить и кто как затушил сигарету приедается уже к концу первой сотни страниц.

Весь роман делится на две части. Еще одно шаблонное попсовое сравнение – на “инь” и “янь”. И если первая половина повествования ведется от третьего лица, где главный протагонист, стареющий якудза Танака, выступает в качестве безликой и молчаливой марионетки, то во второй половине книги Танка становится рассказчиком, и мы наконец узнаем, какое перед нами жалкое и беспринципное мудилище. (2006.11.06)

[Constantine · Rating 1 out of 5]

First 1/3 of the book was some kind of confusion. I don't know why I continued to read. And other 2/3 was nothing dramatic. It's just like a paper. You read about some facts but you don't feel anything. There were 2 or 3 sentences when I almost believed in this book. But it was just 2 or 3 sentences.
It wasn't my first book by Mr. Kitakata, but it was the worst one. I wouldn't spend time on this.

[Omar El-Begawy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tarina keski-ikäisestä yakuzasta. Tupakkaa ja alkoholia kuluu kun juonitellaan omaa matkaa kukkulan kuninkaaksi. On mukana pari rakastajaakin, mutta he ovat vain välineitä oman vallan kasvattamiseen.

Jos oma keski-ikä tuntuu tukahduttavalta, tämä voi lieventää tunnetta. Kunhan ei ota oppia kirjan päähenkilöltä.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spare, clean Japanese yakuza gangster novel. Really excellent.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moody, a bit dark, but ultimately a good satisfying read.

[Glenn Zorpette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Visceral Japanese pulp. Three and a half stars.

[Maryam ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars