Promenade of the Gods

by Kōji Suzuki

It begins with a woman's search to find her husband, who disappears after watching a TV show. She enlists the aid of her husband's best friend, and together they discover that the famous female personality of the TV show disappeared after the same evening's broadcast as well. The duo's search leads to a battle within a religious cult. Each answer brings only more questions, until the story's stunning final solution is revealed.

Promenade of the Gods is a parallel piece to Koji Suzuki's successful Ring series and even contains some sl nods to his famous work. Its theme of planet-wide subjugation via technology echoes that in Ring , and like Ring , the way in which the pieces of the mystery in Promenade come together only materialize in the book's final moments, culminating in a most unsettling conclusion.

Genres: Fiction, Japanese Literature, Mystery, Horror, Science Fiction, Japan

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Suzuki Kōji (鈴木光司) is a Japanese writer, who was born in Hamamatsu and currently lives in Tokyo. Suzuki is the author of the Ring novels, which has been adapted into a manga series. He has written several books on the subject of fatherhood. He is currently on the selection committee for the Japan Fantasy Novel Award.

Reviews

[hotsake (André Troesch) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The issues with this book and Koji Suzuki is with the reader, as the book is well written. At least in America, he is labeled as a horror writer and the Japanese Stephen King. Suzuki like King writes in a variety of genres. Promenade of the Gods starts off as a Horror novel before slowly shifting towards becoming a mystery but ultimately turned out to be a general fiction piece. This can disappoint many readers who were expecting a horror or thriller novel, myself included. I was really invested and enjoyed the first half of the book but my excitement and interest started to cool after the midpoint of the book and I found myself only continuing to find out if any of the puzzles would be resolved. Even though I enjoyed reading the book overall I couldn’t help feeling underwhelmed as I read the last chapter.

[Crane · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was dire.

The book sets up a fairly basic mystery; Shirow Murakami's old friend Matsuoka goes missing. Together with Matsuoka's wife, Miyuki, Shirow tries to track down his friend. For most of the book, the POV switches back and forth between Shirow and Miyuki.

Unfortunately, Miyuki's viewpoint is frankly superfluous; her sections are concerned entirely with worrying about how she'll manage financially without her husband's support, vacillating about whether or not she should sleep with Shirow, and hating herself for her involvement in the sex industry. In book of its own, it could be a perfectly fine story, but it's almost entirely divorced from the core mystery of what happened to Matsuoka, and it ends up feeling like a tedious diversion from the main plot.

Shirow's viewpoint gradually unwinds a connection between Matsuoka and a mysterious cult, with occasional sections which are taken from a book written about the leader of the cult. This is a competent mystery narrative, which held my interest for some time.

Then we reach the denouement. The final section switches viewpoints rapidly between several characters (at least half a dozen) most of whom we've never met before, or met only very briefly. Some of these characters are used purely to drop a sudden glob of technical detail about television program broadcasting processes which needs to be explained so that the reader can understand how the final gambit actually works. There is a dramatic scene as the plan comes to fruition, and we then cut to an epilogue several years later.

In the epilogue, it's explained that the entire thing was essentially a co-incidence followed by a long-winded setup that the reader could not possibly have figured out in advance, all to an end purpose which is exceptionally underwhelming.

Don't read this, it's a waste of your time.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I first started this book, I thought it might be a nod to Murakami (Haruki), as that is the surname of the main character and there's a husband who disappears at the start of the story. My son disagreed with me and I became less sure of my 'theory' as I read along, but it's still a decent mystery in any case. I enjoyed the characterization of the main female character; and the send-up of the media and how it can be manipulated. Unfortunately, the text contains some sloppy translation and lazy editing.

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a stupid, pointless book. What an irritating waste of time. Now I'm pissed off.

[Rech-B · Rating 1 out of 5]

Decepcionante... Demasiado decepcionante y no porque me parezca una mala novela (Aunque hasta donde llegue que no es mucho, se me hizo demasiado redundante).
La traducción al inglés de esta novela es TERRIBLE y es con diferencia la peor que he visto.
Vertical inc ya no me da confianza por lo mismo, muchos de sus trabajos tienen siempre este error ya sea en mayor o menor medida pero aquí ya es colmo.
En primer lugar está el nombre del protagonista... ¿Shirow? ¿Es enserio? No, no, no. Esa W al final me hace arder los ojos. A pesar de llevar relativamente poco tiempo estudiando japonés, ya soy capaz de detectar perfectamente que así no se transcribe al Romaji eso... El nombre correcto es Shiro. Y eso sólo es el principio. Muchas partes no tienen sentido precisamente por lo mismo. Cuando me di cuenta de que los errores de traducción eran graves decidí buscar directamente la edición original en japonés pero el problema es que es complicado conseguirla, no está en ninguna parte.
Más que una reseña esto es una advertencia a todo aquél que busque conseguir esta edición. No pierdan ni tiempo ni dinero leyendo esta cosa. Llega a ser incluso inentendible.
Es bastante triste ya que la historia ocurre paralelamente a los hechos de la novela Ring y siendo alguien a quién le encantó dicha novela y sus secuelas empecé a leer esto con muchas espectativas. Creo que eso solo lo hizo peor. En fin. Otra novela del autor que me decepciona. Ya van 2 consecutivas. Pero en este caso la culpa es principalmente del pésimo trabajo de la persona que tradujo esto.

[itchy · Rating 2 out of 5]

eponymous sentence:
p83: No, that wasn't right; it was, rather, a promenade of the gods.

count:
p235: In contrast to Ishii, the ddirector Shirow had met only two day ago, Fukushima was plainly dressed in a long-sleeve shirt and navy blue slacks.

p235: "Mr. Murakami, you're assuming a conflict between the main faction comprising the group's founder and seniors members and an opposing faction of young members led by Kitajima, correct?..."

For most of the book, I was led by the nose through a merry chase.

[AJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. Not as much as Ring or Spiral, probably about the same as Loop. The mystery was fairly compelling and I kept wanting to go back and read more. I more or less read this book in three chunks. Unfortunately, it dragged in some parts and the reveal was not satisfying. I think I kept hoping that it was a book that it wasn't. Just based on the first series of his that I read, I was hoping for something creepy and weird and this book was not that. Without that expectation, I think I would have enjoyed it more. The ending was nice and it redeemed the solution to the mystery, I think.

Overall, if you like mystery novels I would recommend it.

[Quiet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Suspense/Mystery novel from one of Japan's most iconic ghost-story writers, Suzuki's 'Promenade of the Gods' is an elongated exploration of Japanese society and its stresses told over the story of a missing person and the search for him by his wife and old friend.

Hard not to spoil mystery stories with reviews, so I'll leave it that it's a mostly strongly developed story that doesn't have any grotesque gaps regarding information/reader being able to solve it. You won't be able to, though--- but mostly because of the radical turns this novel consistently takes.

Core topics of interest here are commentaries on religion in Japan and the role it either does, did, or could play in the country. At times this gets pretty detailed with long commentary on the history of religion in Japan as well as the exclusive sensibilities that divide Japanese theology with the rest of the world.

In terms of reading the novel though, I was frequently bored/zoning out. I love the subject matter, and am engaged by the Mystery genre, but there's something about this book that lacks pacing. It isn't the translation or the content, but rather the speed of awareness that the characters exhibit, or rather lack there of. Things go slow, not because the characters are dunces or the mystery so detailed, but just the way its written; sluggish.

I like it; it's not a lousy book or anything like that. But it's not what I'd recommend from Suzuki if somebody asked, nor is this a book I'd advise for a gripping mystery. And while it does have some informative content such as mentioned above, it's still rather light, and too spaced to be great enough a pull.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I generally like this author, but I didn't enjoy this story like I thought I would. My biggest gripe is the translation; I found it to be a little cumbersome and unnatural at places. ("Shirow" was almost unbearable for me to read, I cannot stand that style of romanization. But that's just me.)

I also thought the book was repetitive. Events would happen and then be mentioned again upwards of six times. I'm aware it's a mystery, but the reader doesn't need to see every instance of the main character thinking about what he's read, adding clues together, and describing both of the aforementioned instances to various and sundry third party actors. Honestly. He finds a clue, does some deductive reasoning, and then proceeds to tell it to his friend's wife, his friend at a TV studio, a guy at a publishing company, a tv personality, other people at the tv studio, it never stops. He goes over the same thought processes so much, one would expect some of these segments to have a "Previously On Promenade of the Gods..." subheader. Was this written and released serially? That's the only reason I can think of for why the author would have beaten the reader over the head with all of the clues and deductive reasoning section after section. It's been a while since I read "Ring", but I don't recall that book being quite so tedious.

I unfortunately thought most of the characters were unlikeable, and so at a certain point, I wasn't really invested in what happened to them. I found the conclusion to be profoundly disappointing, which is a shame, because I really enjoyed the premise. The first few chapters got me hooked in, but it started to drag, and it took me forever to finish.

[Oscar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe closer to a 3.25. Eh, even a 3.5 in certain parts.

Pros: No one spins a slow-burning mystery yarn with potentially supernatural undertones like Koji Suzuki. No one. And I think that's why so many reviewers have been disappointed with this book. He weaves so much intrigue into the slow drip of detail and imbues the story with a vaguely paranormal air. You can't help but expect something otherworldly. This isn't Ring, though. It's a mystery and something of a social commentary, and I think it worked well. Unraveling the mystery was a joy, and I ate it up. There were times when I didn't want to put the book down, thinking "Ah, just one more chapter!" Kitajima's stunt at the end was clever and amusing, and although I was no great fan of her, Miyuki's happy ending was nice to read. It was good to hear that ol' Shirow had also made his lifelong dream come true.

Cons: My single biggest con with this book is that a major subplot is basically the two main characters looking for excuses and opportunities to commit and justify adultery. It's gross. The sex scenes in this, though not super explicit, are awkward and unnecessary. Because of them, I can only recommend this one for mature adult readers. And don't get me started on the prose! I've criticized Suzuki novels for their stilted prose before, and am more than willing to accept that it's a translation issue, rather than a deficit in Suzuki's style. But man, this book was painful to read in places. There were a good few typos, and certain phrasings were so unclear and awkward that I must have groaned audibly while reading. It's an easy read, for the most part, but the muddled prose complicates things unnecessarily.

This isn't the best Suzuki novel I've ever read, and I doubt I'll revisit it, but on the whole it was enjoyable and I'm glad I checked it out. Don't go into this expecting a Ring novel. Instead, I'd compare it more to the slice-of-life-style stories we got in Death and the Flower. It's a ripping mystery if you know what you're getting into. If you're expecting Sadakos and whatnot... you'll probably leave disappointed, though.

I've read almost all of Suzuki's translated works at this point. I'll move onto Edge or The Shining Sea next, while I wait on tenterhooks for Tide to get the English-language treatment.

Tide will get translated into English, right?

Right???

[Amy ☁️ (tinycl0ud) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the author who wrote the 'Ring' trilogy so I wanted to see what a standalone novel of his was like. The main character's name is likely to be Shirou but the translation made it 'Shirow' so that was a little strange to look at. Probably because it's an old book? It also said that daycare is apparently used only for days when the mother is working, so if the mother takes the day off, by right she shouldn't drop her kid off at daycare. That's kind of a crazy rule to me.

Shirow is a single, unmarried, carefree man who has always had a yen for his best friend's wife, Miyuki, and the feeling is mutual but never developed for obvious reasons. One day, the best friend disappears, leaving Miyuki destitute since she has an infant daughter to care for and no educational qualifications to speak of. As they investigate the disappearance, they grow closer even as they both agonise over their attraction to each other. It soon becomes apparent that the best friend was actually part of a new religion (or to put it bluntly, a cult), something he's kept hidden from literally everybody in his life. The entertainment industry gets involved as the search deepens and it seems that the cult has plants everywhere.

This wasn't so much an exciting crime thriller as I thought it'd be, but I did like the parts that focussed on Miyuki and her lack of choices as a single mother. As the book progresses, we see her get pushed into desperation, difficult choices, and finally, despair. The ending is surprisingly wholesome and not as sinister as the reader is led to believe, but it also points out how cults can gain prominence largely because of underlying systemic failures.

[Noel Thingvall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Been a long time since I've read any Suzuki, so this was a nice if frustrating return to his style. This is a strange book, seeming to be another mystery, potentially supernatural as it gets into the rising new age religions in Japan. It leads to a big twist which is very striking, but then resolves in a way both unexpected and abrupt, with a very rushed epilogue. So as a mystery, eh, there's not much there. Instead, what kept compelling me was the central relationship of a friend and wife of a man who disappears, and the way they come together through their shared investigation, as well as mutual middle age questioning of where they're at in life, where they're going, choices they've made, and how those questions ultimately tie into what drives people to religion. It again pays off abruptly, and I wish the mystery and character piece could have been more strongly merged, as well as more broadly set against the thematic backdrop of loss and faith, but that character journey was still enough to compel me, even if it's not a book I'd broadly recommend.

[Victory]

Первое, это то, что я решила прочесть все книги этого автора; а второе, собственно, не никогда не подумав, что мне стало бы интересно читать про секту. Не поймите неправильно, здесь эта новелла-роман выглядела в детективном жанре и это было увлекательно, я падкая на мелочи, особенно на человеческие грехи (слишком преувеличиваю), но читая там всякие, вроде бы, незначительные подробности, тем самым ловишь себя на кое каких размышлениях

[Eric · Rating 1 out of 5]

A hodge podge of ideas that culminate in a crushing disappointment.

[Linda Branham · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay - but not one of my favorites by this author

[Virginia McCue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good in beginning and middle. Felt like certain developments were just a filler that went nowhere.

[Jude · Rating 2 out of 5]

a book seemingly about nothing, but when you really look into it, it turns out you were right. it’s about nothing.

[Morgan Trias · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yeah, it was fine. Pretty inspiring at times. Has a lot to say about life, and features all the fun little details I enjoy in Koji Suzuki books.

[Fox Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite Koji Suzuki

[Rowland Pasaribu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Promenade of the Gods is a curious sort of non-thriller. It dangles a decent premise in front of the reader, suggests sinister and possibly dangerous goings-on, but then defies most expectations and deflates weakly, like an old balloon. Yet it does offer some insight into Japanese society and culture, and this otherness has a perverse appeal.

Out of the blue Shirow Murakami, who leads a fairly easy life running a cram school, gets a call from the wife of one of his friends whom he hasn't heard from in a while. Miyuki tells him that Matsuoka has disappeared. He left two months earlier, and now even the occasional telephone calls have stopped. Shirow is curious -- and he seems to have been the last person to have heard from Matsuoka, a month earlier, in a telephone call where Matsuoka had given him a number to write down. He decides to try to help look for him.

Mysteries abound. Looking into Matsuoka's past, Shirow finds several years unaccounted for. Then there's the TV star who also seems to have disappeared -- Ryoko Kano, whose show Matsuoka was watching when he up and left. And what about that supposed license plate number Matsuoka asked Shirow to note down ? The first clues lead to a cult or religion, 'Hallo of Heaven and Earth'.

As the search progresses, Shirow and Miyuki find themselves attracted to one another. Running out of money, Miyuki is also desperate for financial security, and looks for a job where she can earn enough to take care of her infant daughter; she winds up as a daytime sex-worker, something she's not proud of but, hey, she's always let men provide for her, so what the hell.

Finding information about the cult also proves difficult, but Shirow slowly pieces some together, and finds that after starting under Terutaka Kageyama a new young leader came on the scene, Keisuke Kitajima, who tried to steer things in a new direction. But he disappeared almost a decade ago in a sailing accident .....

Shirow comes tantalizingly close to Matsuoka, only to see him re-kidnapped in front of his eyes. Meanwhile, Ryoko Kano also resurfaces.

Who is playing who here ? What is going on at the cult ? And are both former leaders really dead ?

So many possibly exciting questions, so many dull resolutions.

Yes, there is a cultist-scheme unfolding, and, yes, the media is shown to me easily manipulated and an enabler of bad things, but the payoff here isn't anywhere near great enough. Suzuki doesn't aim very high, and given how long it takes him (and hence the reader) to get where he's going, it's rather disappointing. A short last section, almost a decade after the main events, serves as a sort of epilogue, and even here the lessons that are meant to have been learnt fall pretty flat. What became of Shirow is only mentioned in passing, while Miyuki is shown to have been empowered (in a pretty bizarre way) and the cult is shown for what it is (i.e. pretty much just another religion, and worth taking about as seriously (i.e. not at all) -- but, like any other religion, finding a flock of adherents who like the message and the show).

The Japanese attitudes presented in the book are interesting, from the formality at various encounters to how the police treat the kidnappings (they're very reluctant to get involved) to the way the media reacts. Suzuki obviously also means to show how people look to fulfill their ambitions and dreams, from lackadaisical Shirow, unsure whether or not to pursue Miyuki, to his star employee, who just dreams of flying, to Miyuki, willing to perform ignominious sex acts because she can't imagine anything better; part of the (peculiar) fun of the novel is how Suzuki presents these quests for fulfillment (doing so terribly sincerely, among other things).

Suzuki does write decently enough, though at this length and with this little action it does occasionally feel plodding. There are a few odd translations ("With the sleeping baby strapped to her chest with a cord used for that purpose"), and, as so often in contemporary Japanese fiction, the sex scene descriptions are horrific ("Shirow's desire did not subside with one emission"), but on the whole it is readable enough. It's just not very exciting.

[huda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good storyline but poor execution.

[Gabbi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't my favorite Koji Suzuki book at all, but I did think the plot was interesting, even if not very well executed. Books that focus on cults are so fascinating, especially when they describe how manipulative the leaders and followers can be. People tend to think of cult members as only being stupid, weak followers - people who aren't victims at all because "who could be so dumb they wouldn't see all the red flags?" But Suzuki did a good job of showing that people have lots of different reasons for joining: wanting power, being blackmailed, being broke, being alone.

As far as the characters though, I found the two main characters to be the two least interesting ones in the book. I liked that Miyuki was very calculating about her future, finances, and place in society as a woman but it did get to be really annoying that she blamed all her problems on her father's death and her stepfather being a bad person (because he yelled at her but wasn't necessarily abusive if I'm understanding right). That does make sense though for someone who's hyperaware of her limitations due to being a woman, it stands to reason that she would then consider men to be the root of all her problems.

Shirow (also what the hell is that spelling) seems pretty flat as a character, not much depth. He talks about just floating through life without worrying about anything but there's not any reason behind it. It's chalked up to natural disposition, but it's also primarily attributed to him growing up with his parents still married. There's a lot of focus on parents and marriage as a whole in "Promenade of the Gods." Shirow very frequently debates who/if he should marry. Miyuki is, very justifiably, reflecting on her marriage and what went wrong. Both she and Shirow mention never falling in love and they see marriage as a financial solution and not anything romantic at all. Whether that was an intentional choice or not, I don't know. But I think it's interesting that no one outside the cult had an emotionally fulfilling life but everyone in the cult was "happy" and felt that they had purpose.

If you're a Suzuki fan then I would say this is still a book worth reading, but if not then I don't think anyone should spend too much time searching this out. I believe it's out of print, so I was only able to get a copy through my library.

Date Read: 10/27/24 - 10/29/24

[Tyler · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm going to have to end this early. I'm about 100 pages in and I am completely uninterested in picking it up again. PROMENADE reads a hell of a lot better than RING and DARK WATER, probably in some thanks to a different translator (but that isn't saying much... PROMENADE is still rife with goofs, ie. "macaroni Western" instead of "spaghetti Western"), but Suzuki's monotonous, "Mystery Novels for Dummies" style is still there. The book is a little over 320 pages and it's because Suzuki wastes so much page space on catching the reader up with what happened last chapter. What's worse is that the chapters are only about 2-5 pages long, so he just keeps beating you over the head with hints and clues and foreshadowing. This may be the key as to why I liked DARK WATER so much, but this title and RING so very little; Suzuki works better with short stories. There should be 10-15 page limit enforced on his work!

[Kat Lopez]

Promenade of the Gods is an utter disappointment! I have always been a fan of Koji Suzuki, but this one in particular just didn't tick all the right boxes for me. I could've read the last few chapters instead and I would still get the whole story. The build-up to the climax was so weak, so weak that I didn't think he managed to achieve or reach it after all. The characters were interesting, but a major let down of the story itself. I don't think I'm making sense here, just how the book lacks sense too! I'm just glad I finished it now, and I can't wait to start reading a new one... not Suzuki's - at least not for a while.



start

[Sabrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book definitely kept me interested. I was a little disappointed by the ending, but I suppose I was too used to expecting something horror-esque.

What really moved me was the story from the wife's perspective. I related to a lot of what she was going through. It's not really as scary, but then again this isn't a horror novel, it's a mystery. Worth reading if you enjoy Koji's books.

[J.C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

not very scary but enjoyable. also not as good as Paradise. no relation to the Ring books.

[Gary Lee]

Newly translated Suzuki!
Huzzah!

[Angie]

Suzuki's weakest

[Keely · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed Ring much more than this, but still a decent story in its own right. The ending was not what I had expected.

[Beth Barefoot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great concepts - but found the pace to be slow.