New Hokkaido

by James McNaughton

It is 1987, forty-five years after Japan conquered New Zealand, and the brutal shackles of the occupation have loosened a little: English can be spoken by natives in the home, and twenty-year-old Business English teacher Chris Ipswitch has a job at the Wellington Language Academy. But even Chris and his famous older brother—the Night Train, a retired Pan-Asian sumo champion—cannot stay out of the conflict between the Imperial Japanese Army and the Free New Zealand movement. When Chris takes it upon himself to investigate a terrible crime, he is drawn into the heart of the struggle for freedom, guided along the way by the mysterious Hitomi Kurosawa and the ghost of Kiwi rock ’n’ roll legend and martyr Johnny Lennon.

New Hokkaido is a fascinating counter-factual history and an adventure that thrills and disquiets at every turn.

About the author
James McNaughton grew up in Wellington and attended Victoria University, where he received an MA in Creative Writing. Two collections of poetry followed. He has lived in Australia, Israel, Japan, South Korea, the Maldives, India, and one other country, working mainly in education. He lives in Wellington with his wife and young son. This is his first novel.

224 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2015

About the author

20th-Century British Literature
Critical Theory
Modernism

Reviews

[Vince · Rating 3 out of 5]

Look. It's schlock. I don't know how you could know anything about the book and expect anything other than schlock ("aided by the ghost of John Lennon" is practically the last line of the blurb!). But it's enjoyable! As long as you're in the target audience, judging by the other reviews...

Is the writing fine? No. Is it nuanced? Not really
But Roger Douglas's speech is comedic genius that could almost have belonged in a Milk Island therapy pod, and I enjoy what McNaughton's saying about the performative nature of national culture (and given the premise and general lack of nuance, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it's masculine Kiwi culture which spends the longest time under that lens).

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting read... If I'd reviewed this immediately I finished it, I'd probably have given it four stars. It's a page-turner, it flows well, and the dystopian world in which the action is set feels real. But the more I think about it, the less it seems to hold together. There are all sorts of niggling points that didn't ring true. Chris can find NZ's ragged underground groups with no problems at all, yet in this society, such ease of access would mean they would be quickly wiped out. And those groups all seem to be populated by cardboard "rent-a-joker" characters. Hitomi's hook-up with Chris on the ferry feels too pat, too arranged (even Chris thinks so). Some points are only sketched in, leaving the reader to make his or her own connection (an admirable alternative to hammering a point home, but some middle-ground would have been more effective). We are left bewildered as to why Noble Dawn didn't realise Patrick and his wife were married. All little points, but they all add up. Most annoying of all, though, is the invocation of the ghost of John (sorry, Johnny) Lennon. The story of his arrival in New Zealand - though based on fact - makes no sense given New Zealand's occupation by Japan. And the presence of Lennon as an embodiment of Chris's subconscious and though processes feels very forces and is completely unnecessary.

All in all, there are a lot of good points about the book, and they point the way well for a debut novelist. However, there are enough negatives to keep this from being a truly satisfying read - ones which the author (or his editor) could and should have fixed.

[Lemurkat · Rating 2 out of 5]

An unusual and original concept, this short novel offers a New Zealand different from our own, answering the question of: what if Japan claimed us (New Zealand) during World War 2? The answer - a country in which Pakeha "Kiwis" are second-class citizens and the Japanese culture has permeated the country, suffocating its British heritage.

This is a bleakly humorous book designed to inspire slight feelings of discomfit. It is darkly satirical, the characters cast in a manner stereotypical with their racial heritage. From the gumbooted, swandri-wearing supporters of Free New Zealand to the proper and polite Japanese (who remain proper and polite until crossed, and then become coldly vicious). The characters that break these over-exaggerated typecasts: Hitomi, Chris's student and the "love interest" of the story, and Chris himself, to a point, as he is the sort of slightly bumbling, naive fellow who allows himself to get swept up in events beyond his capabilities. Added into the plot is a rather dramatic and violent mutiny.

Whilst an intriguing and compelling read, at times I did feel a little uncomfortable, especially regarding the relationship between Hitomi and Chris. Their first encounter on the ferry felt unsettlingly sudden and distinctly crude. Whilst I could identify with Chris's plight, I never really empathised with him much as a character. Overall, an interesting take on what New Zealand could have been, had our history taken a distinctly different turn.

[Nate Montagu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not pretending to be anything other than pulpy fun and it succeeds. The story's starting premise - that Japan successfully conquered New Zealand during WWII - is merged with 1987 New Zealand with good observation: i.e. plenty of delightful details for believability, esp. the NZ and Wellington settings, adages and attitudes. It's an easy, quick, and fun read.