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The Cake Tree in the Ruins
In 1945, Akiyuki Nosaka watched the Allied firebombing of Kobe kill his adoptive parents, and then witnessed his sister starving to death. The shocking and blisteringly memorable stories of The Cake Tree in the Ruins are based on his own experiences as a child in Japan during the Second World War.
They are stories of a lonely whale searching the oceans for a mate, who sacrifices himself for love; of a mother desperately trying to save her son with her tears; of a huge, magnificent tree which grows amid the ruins of a burnt-out town, its branches made from the sweetest cake imaginable.
Profound, heartbreaking and aglow with a piercing beauty, they express the chaos and terror of conflict, yet also how love can illuminate even the darkest moment.
They are stories of a lonely whale searching the oceans for a mate, who sacrifices himself for love; of a mother desperately trying to save her son with her tears; of a huge, magnificent tree which grows amid the ruins of a burnt-out town, its branches made from the sweetest cake imaginable.
Profound, heartbreaking and aglow with a piercing beauty, they express the chaos and terror of conflict, yet also how love can illuminate even the darkest moment.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1975
49 people are currently reading
1839 people want to read
About the author
Akiyuki Nosaka
117 books99 followersAkiyuki Nosaka (野坂 昭如 Nosaka Akiyuki) is a Japanese novelist, singer, lyricist, and former member of the House of Councillors. As a broadcasting writer he uses the name Yukio Aki (阿木 由紀夫 Aki Yukio) and his alias as a chanson singer is Claude Nosaka (クロード 野坂 Kurōdo Nosaka).
Nosaka was born in Kamakura, Kanagawa, the son of Sukeyuki Nosaka, who was a sub-governor of Niigata. Together with his sisters he grew up as an adopted child of Harimaya in Nada, Kobe, Hyōgo. One of his sisters died as the result of sickness, and his adoptive father died during the 1945 bombing of Kobe in World War II. Another sister died of malnutrition in Fukui. Nosaka would later base his short story Grave of the Fireflies on these experiences. He is well known for children's stories about war. His Grave of the Fireflies and American Hijiki won the Naoki Prize in 1967.
His novel, The Pornographers, was translated into English by Michael Gallagher and published in 1968. It was also filmed as The Pornographers by Shohei Imamura. In December 1978, he was credited for giving former rugby player-turned pro wrestler Susumu Hara his ring name, Ashura Hara.
He was elected to the Japanese Diet in 1983. Nosaka suffered a stroke in 2003 and although still affected by it, he keeps writing a column for the daily Mainichi Shimbun.
(from Wikipedia)
Nosaka was born in Kamakura, Kanagawa, the son of Sukeyuki Nosaka, who was a sub-governor of Niigata. Together with his sisters he grew up as an adopted child of Harimaya in Nada, Kobe, Hyōgo. One of his sisters died as the result of sickness, and his adoptive father died during the 1945 bombing of Kobe in World War II. Another sister died of malnutrition in Fukui. Nosaka would later base his short story Grave of the Fireflies on these experiences. He is well known for children's stories about war. His Grave of the Fireflies and American Hijiki won the Naoki Prize in 1967.
His novel, The Pornographers, was translated into English by Michael Gallagher and published in 1968. It was also filmed as The Pornographers by Shohei Imamura. In December 1978, he was credited for giving former rugby player-turned pro wrestler Susumu Hara his ring name, Ashura Hara.
He was elected to the Japanese Diet in 1983. Nosaka suffered a stroke in 2003 and although still affected by it, he keeps writing a column for the daily Mainichi Shimbun.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 132 reviews
June 3, 2019
Until I read the stories of Akiyuki Nosaka, I would not have thought World War II a suitable topic for fables. But it is eminently suitable.
The twelve stories in The Cake Tree in the Ruins have everything I like about fables, fairy tales, and children’s literature at its finest. There is the unadorned narrative style, the characters’ childlike logic, and the occasional breaks from third-person narration to address the reader directly.
Moreover, as in the best of children’s literature, Nosaka strikes a balance between honest storytelling and sensitivity to the innocence of his readers. This is vital to the genre, for if the storytelling were less than honest, children would detect the condescension and reject the story as inauthentic. And of course, if it failed to take account of the innocence of children, it would be traumatizing.
A perusal of traditional fairy tales the world over provides ample evidence that children want and need the horrible things in life to be depicted in stories. Until some way can be found to ensure that no child ever experiences anything horrible, children will need cathartic literature as much as adults do.
World War II was a war waged by adults, but the effects of the war were not only experienced by adults. This is unfair and children know it.
“. . . it was really tough on growing children, especially since it was the grown-ups who had gone to war in the first place while the children were simply innocent victims. For those children between the ages of five and ten in 1945, it really was a miserable existence . . . (84).
Animals were also “innocent victims” of the war.
“Humans could put up with the harsh conditions for the sake of their country, but the horses had no idea what was going on” (149).
Nosaka knew all too well how horrible the war was for children because he was a child during the war. He witnessed the fire bombing of Kobe. He lost his foster parents. He witnessed starvation, destruction, and death.
When he makes the following apology to his readers, it must be read with the knowledge that his baby sister died in his arms when he was only fourteen years old.
“Too many undernourished people and animals appear in these stories, I know, but it was wartime, after all” (94).
The matter-of-fact way that this is uttered is characteristic of the fable or fairy tale.
Each story bears the date August 15, 1945. The war is over, but that doesn’t stop most of the children and animals from dying at the end of the stories, just as the end of the war did not stop Nosaka’s sister from dying of malnutrition a week later.
One story stands out above the rest, the title story: “The Cake Tree in the Ruins.” It is a wish-fulfillment story. It stands out because it is surrounded by stories of starving children and animals. The innocent desire of the children, their lust for cake, never-ending cake, stands in stark contrast to the desires of the grown-ups who are waging war against each other. The sad truth of this story is that the adults simply cannot see what children see.
Nosaka’s stories are not valuable only because they give a child’s perspective on war or even because they remind us that war is not healthy for children and other living things. They are valuable because they are beautiful. Nosaka has taken the horrors of war, the horrors that he himself witnessed, and compressed them into these sad beautiful diamonds.
(Note: The Cake Tree in the Ruins was previously published as The Whale That Fell in Love with a Submarine. That earlier edition had only seven stories. The new edition has an additional five stories. Unfortunately, the new translations are sloppy and the errors are distracting. Considering the obvious care given to the new cover ~ a simple drawing which perfectly depicts the mood of the book ~ it is disappointing that more care wasn’t taken to properly edit the new translations.)
The twelve stories in The Cake Tree in the Ruins have everything I like about fables, fairy tales, and children’s literature at its finest. There is the unadorned narrative style, the characters’ childlike logic, and the occasional breaks from third-person narration to address the reader directly.
Moreover, as in the best of children’s literature, Nosaka strikes a balance between honest storytelling and sensitivity to the innocence of his readers. This is vital to the genre, for if the storytelling were less than honest, children would detect the condescension and reject the story as inauthentic. And of course, if it failed to take account of the innocence of children, it would be traumatizing.
A perusal of traditional fairy tales the world over provides ample evidence that children want and need the horrible things in life to be depicted in stories. Until some way can be found to ensure that no child ever experiences anything horrible, children will need cathartic literature as much as adults do.
World War II was a war waged by adults, but the effects of the war were not only experienced by adults. This is unfair and children know it.
“. . . it was really tough on growing children, especially since it was the grown-ups who had gone to war in the first place while the children were simply innocent victims. For those children between the ages of five and ten in 1945, it really was a miserable existence . . . (84).
Animals were also “innocent victims” of the war.
“Humans could put up with the harsh conditions for the sake of their country, but the horses had no idea what was going on” (149).
Nosaka knew all too well how horrible the war was for children because he was a child during the war. He witnessed the fire bombing of Kobe. He lost his foster parents. He witnessed starvation, destruction, and death.
When he makes the following apology to his readers, it must be read with the knowledge that his baby sister died in his arms when he was only fourteen years old.
“Too many undernourished people and animals appear in these stories, I know, but it was wartime, after all” (94).
The matter-of-fact way that this is uttered is characteristic of the fable or fairy tale.
Each story bears the date August 15, 1945. The war is over, but that doesn’t stop most of the children and animals from dying at the end of the stories, just as the end of the war did not stop Nosaka’s sister from dying of malnutrition a week later.
One story stands out above the rest, the title story: “The Cake Tree in the Ruins.” It is a wish-fulfillment story. It stands out because it is surrounded by stories of starving children and animals. The innocent desire of the children, their lust for cake, never-ending cake, stands in stark contrast to the desires of the grown-ups who are waging war against each other. The sad truth of this story is that the adults simply cannot see what children see.
Nosaka’s stories are not valuable only because they give a child’s perspective on war or even because they remind us that war is not healthy for children and other living things. They are valuable because they are beautiful. Nosaka has taken the horrors of war, the horrors that he himself witnessed, and compressed them into these sad beautiful diamonds.
(Note: The Cake Tree in the Ruins was previously published as The Whale That Fell in Love with a Submarine. That earlier edition had only seven stories. The new edition has an additional five stories. Unfortunately, the new translations are sloppy and the errors are distracting. Considering the obvious care given to the new cover ~ a simple drawing which perfectly depicts the mood of the book ~ it is disappointing that more care wasn’t taken to properly edit the new translations.)
August 17, 2018
I haven't watched Studio Ghibli's Grave of the Fireflies yet, which was adapted from Akiyuki Nosaka's story. But I've heard so many good things about it. So when I saw this collection of stories by Nosaka in NetGalley I had to request it. These are simple stories with a deceptively whimsical tone. Infused with magic realism and the extraordinary, they read like fables, and land as lightly as butterflies. But each bears the weight and trauma of the Allied war on Japan, which the author lived through as a young boy.
All throughout these stories, there is death. There's no escaping the cruelty and absurdity of war. Parrots are little sisters, lonely whales fall in love with submarines, aging wolves find themselves mothering abandoned little girls. Despite the heaviness of the subject matter, I felt cleansed when I read this because of the tender, beautiful connections that living things make with each other when they are under siege. War is ugly, but life doesn't have to be...
All throughout these stories, there is death. There's no escaping the cruelty and absurdity of war. Parrots are little sisters, lonely whales fall in love with submarines, aging wolves find themselves mothering abandoned little girls. Despite the heaviness of the subject matter, I felt cleansed when I read this because of the tender, beautiful connections that living things make with each other when they are under siege. War is ugly, but life doesn't have to be...
October 3, 2020
Told in a childlike tone, some of these stories begin all puppy-dogs and sunshine, and then turn dark. Most of them feature a relationship between two beings, often one human and one animal (“The Parrot and the Boy,” “The Old She-Wolf and The Little Girl, “The Elephant and Its Keeper,” etc.,). All of them take place on August 15, 1945, the day Japan surrendered to the Allies. Most take place in Japan at that time.
My favorites were “The Whale That Fell in Love with a Submarine,” and “The Cake Tree in the Ruins.” The sweet tone made the horrors of war more tolerable and more sorrowful. I found it interesting to read several experiences from this specific perspective.
My favorites were “The Whale That Fell in Love with a Submarine,” and “The Cake Tree in the Ruins.” The sweet tone made the horrors of war more tolerable and more sorrowful. I found it interesting to read several experiences from this specific perspective.
October 2, 2018
This is a series of short stories centered on the day the Emperor of Japan officially surrendered to the Allies in WWII: August 15, 1945. It was a good week after the atom and hydrogen bombs laid waste to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but this history-making event is not mentioned in this book.
The author died a few years ago so this collection has been lovingly put together and added to by the press. A version was published some years ago but this has more stories. The main form of attack on Japanese cities by the Americans was firebombing and this is mostly what Nosaka recounts, having been in a fire-bombed city himself at the end of the war.
These stories are incredible. They are magic and fantastic and entirely heartrending. I wouldn't be surprised if this were for YA or even younger children: every story is, in fact, a bit of a fairy tale and I think that children can tolerate the abominations of history better than adults can, just as they find delight in stories in which grandma is eaten, little children are left alone in a child-eating monster's house, and littl'uns are lost in the woods. I, myself, get sweat in my palms just typing 'lost in the woods.’ These stories are extremely beautiful and gentle and imaginative, the product of a mind that can transform horror into beauty. Only great minds can do this. We must honor their greatness. They nourish us.
As is clear, I'm no longer a child and I had to take serious breaks between one story and another. Absolutely no one is winning here: not the Japanese, not the Americans, not adults, not children, not animals, no one. The only people who win when devastating wars are waged are a couple of dozen men who have managed to dupe armies and populations into collective rage. One despairs that humanity should not have learned yet to resist these greed, recklessness and absolute stupidity.
Some years ago I became insanely interested in the fact that no one in America reads the memoirs and poetry that were written by Hiroshima survivors who were also (brilliant) writers. They are collected in translation in a book called Hiroshima Three Witnesses which, I believe, is out of print. Americans know about the only nuclear bombing in history, made by their own government, through John Hershey's Hiroshima. The novels and poetry contained in Three Witnesses (and other literature) show the massive shock people felt the morning on which the unimaginable happened and the massive shock the country felt afterward. The general Japanese population had a really hard time withholding contempt towards nuclear bombing survivors and I must say that I don't find it entirely surprising that this book doesn't even mention Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It may still be a national shame, though I confess not to having kept up.
In Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, what I found most shocking was the depiction of the firebombing of Dresden. It seems to me that, in love as we are with all things WWII, we are still extremely reluctant to look in the eye the horror, abomination and shame of victims and perpetrators (shame is a big deal in Japanese accounts of the war and it is a big deal in this book).
One can only hope that by reading this book some switch may be turned in one, two, 500 minds that will allow us to find a way to resist the insanity of war.
The author died a few years ago so this collection has been lovingly put together and added to by the press. A version was published some years ago but this has more stories. The main form of attack on Japanese cities by the Americans was firebombing and this is mostly what Nosaka recounts, having been in a fire-bombed city himself at the end of the war.
These stories are incredible. They are magic and fantastic and entirely heartrending. I wouldn't be surprised if this were for YA or even younger children: every story is, in fact, a bit of a fairy tale and I think that children can tolerate the abominations of history better than adults can, just as they find delight in stories in which grandma is eaten, little children are left alone in a child-eating monster's house, and littl'uns are lost in the woods. I, myself, get sweat in my palms just typing 'lost in the woods.’ These stories are extremely beautiful and gentle and imaginative, the product of a mind that can transform horror into beauty. Only great minds can do this. We must honor their greatness. They nourish us.
As is clear, I'm no longer a child and I had to take serious breaks between one story and another. Absolutely no one is winning here: not the Japanese, not the Americans, not adults, not children, not animals, no one. The only people who win when devastating wars are waged are a couple of dozen men who have managed to dupe armies and populations into collective rage. One despairs that humanity should not have learned yet to resist these greed, recklessness and absolute stupidity.
Some years ago I became insanely interested in the fact that no one in America reads the memoirs and poetry that were written by Hiroshima survivors who were also (brilliant) writers. They are collected in translation in a book called Hiroshima Three Witnesses which, I believe, is out of print. Americans know about the only nuclear bombing in history, made by their own government, through John Hershey's Hiroshima. The novels and poetry contained in Three Witnesses (and other literature) show the massive shock people felt the morning on which the unimaginable happened and the massive shock the country felt afterward. The general Japanese population had a really hard time withholding contempt towards nuclear bombing survivors and I must say that I don't find it entirely surprising that this book doesn't even mention Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It may still be a national shame, though I confess not to having kept up.
In Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, what I found most shocking was the depiction of the firebombing of Dresden. It seems to me that, in love as we are with all things WWII, we are still extremely reluctant to look in the eye the horror, abomination and shame of victims and perpetrators (shame is a big deal in Japanese accounts of the war and it is a big deal in this book).
One can only hope that by reading this book some switch may be turned in one, two, 500 minds that will allow us to find a way to resist the insanity of war.
March 10, 2019
I have never read anything quite like The Cake Tree in the Ruins by Akiyuki Nosaka and the sheer power of these stories – all of them set on the day of Japans unconditional surrender (August 15, 1945) brought me to my knees.
Deceptively simple, these stories read like children’s fables, dominated by innocent animals and children. But gradually, the horror of war permeates the pages and they become positively heart-wrenching and haunting.
An oversized and lonely blue whale falls in love with a Japanese submarine. A keeper of an elephant strives to save it from a directive that all zoo animals be killed, nearly starving himself in the process. A young kamikaze pilot brings a cockroach on his last mission in his Red Dragon plane and feels compassion for it. An old she-wolf tries to save a little girl with the measles who was left behind to die.
Here is a passage from the eponymous story, The Cake Tree in the Ruins: On 15th August the war the grown-ups had started finally ended. The whole of Japan had been burnt to the ground and everyone was hungry, but amidst the ruins stood just one cake tree. It was always surrounded by children gorging themselves on its delicious leaves and branches, but the grown-ups passed right by without even noting it was there.” Simple. Mesmerizing. Powerful.
This sparse book has a few themes: love and kindness which continue to thrive in the worst of situations…the incredible power of imagination…the separate peace that characters make with themselves in the worst of circumstances. I thought this book, written by an author who lost his parents and sister as a result of the Allied bombing of Kobe, is nothing short of remarkable. 5 strong stars.
September 30, 2022
THE CAKE TREE IN THE RUINS (2019, first published 1975) is a collection of 12 heartbreaking, grim short stories which take place in Japan on August 15, 1945. On that day Emperor Hirohito addressed his nation to announce the surrender of Japan to the Allies.
These are not war stories, rather they are stories about the victims of the war. Animals feature sometimes as characters (or even protagonists). However, they are not fables as there is no moral lesson attached to the story. Animals are simply victims, just as the young, vulnerable children hiding in caves or cellars, and destitute kids who lost their mother and, assuredly, their father too. The cities have been razed to the ground and there is food shortage. Even young children have to work in factories to help with the war effort. In one story the children work long hours to build with paper and glue pathetic huge balloons that will carry incendiary bombs into enemy territory.
Akiyuki Nosaka is famous for the short story called “The Grave of the Fireflies". He lived through the firebombing of Kobe and suffered the deaths of his adoptive parents. His sister starved to death. The pain of his personal experiences is transformed into dark, horrifying stories which show the desperate condition of his country at the end of the war.
"The Grave of the Fireflies" is not included in this volume. If you have the chance, please watch the Studio Ghibli animation. As for this book, I cannot recommend it highly enough.
These are not war stories, rather they are stories about the victims of the war. Animals feature sometimes as characters (or even protagonists). However, they are not fables as there is no moral lesson attached to the story. Animals are simply victims, just as the young, vulnerable children hiding in caves or cellars, and destitute kids who lost their mother and, assuredly, their father too. The cities have been razed to the ground and there is food shortage. Even young children have to work in factories to help with the war effort. In one story the children work long hours to build with paper and glue pathetic huge balloons that will carry incendiary bombs into enemy territory.
Akiyuki Nosaka is famous for the short story called “The Grave of the Fireflies". He lived through the firebombing of Kobe and suffered the deaths of his adoptive parents. His sister starved to death. The pain of his personal experiences is transformed into dark, horrifying stories which show the desperate condition of his country at the end of the war.
"The Grave of the Fireflies" is not included in this volume. If you have the chance, please watch the Studio Ghibli animation. As for this book, I cannot recommend it highly enough.
March 4, 2019
A huge shoutout to Purshkin Press and to translator Ginny Takemori. This exquisite small volume introduces the work of Akiyuki Nosaka, virtually unknown to English readers. He was born in 1930, and so was able to remember life before and during World War II as a teenager in Japan.
True to Japanese custom, there is a name for his generation: yakeato, generation of the ashes -- children who have lived their entire lives without knowing sweetness of taste or experience. Although the stories cover different time periods, each is preceded by the date of August 15, 1945. The date of Japanese surrender, even though the handwriting was on the wall as early as 1942, during the battle of Midway. Many of the stories feature children, evidently based on Nosaka's own experiences. Also, several feature the fate of animals unable to care for themselves who suffer the effects of war. The Elephant and Its Keeper, as well as The Whale That Fell in Love With a Submarine struck a chord, but it is the inherent survival abilities of children suddenly orphaned that hits hardest since the current world situation means that this continues today.
Haunting, beautiful -- one line that will live in my mind long after this book has been passed to other hands - "On 15th August in the cloudless blue sky evening sky a single giant balloon left Japan and rode the jet stream headed for America. It carried no bomb... and unable to land is probably still floating around somewhere filled with the breath of school children."
True to Japanese custom, there is a name for his generation: yakeato, generation of the ashes -- children who have lived their entire lives without knowing sweetness of taste or experience. Although the stories cover different time periods, each is preceded by the date of August 15, 1945. The date of Japanese surrender, even though the handwriting was on the wall as early as 1942, during the battle of Midway. Many of the stories feature children, evidently based on Nosaka's own experiences. Also, several feature the fate of animals unable to care for themselves who suffer the effects of war. The Elephant and Its Keeper, as well as The Whale That Fell in Love With a Submarine struck a chord, but it is the inherent survival abilities of children suddenly orphaned that hits hardest since the current world situation means that this continues today.
Haunting, beautiful -- one line that will live in my mind long after this book has been passed to other hands - "On 15th August in the cloudless blue sky evening sky a single giant balloon left Japan and rode the jet stream headed for America. It carried no bomb... and unable to land is probably still floating around somewhere filled with the breath of school children."
August 15, 2025
"آکی یوکی نوساکا" نویسنده ژاپنیست که اکثرا اون رو با اثر "مدفن کرمهای شبتاب" میشناسیم.
نویسنده که خانوادهش رو در اثر بمبارانها و قحطی بعد از اون از دست داده، در این کتاب 12 داستان کوتاه رو با محوریت اصلی جنگ و بمبارانهای ژاپن روایت میکنه.
داستانها همهشون خیلی ناراحتکننده، ساده و همچنین خیالانگیزن.
با خوندن این کتاب متوجه میشیم که جنگ بر همهچیز از کودکان گرفته تا حیوانات اثر میذاره.
چیزی که راجع به داستانها دوست داشتم، همراهی خیال و واقعیت بود. نویسنده در عین حالی که وقایع تاریخی و آمار حقیقی رو جنگ رو گزارش میکنه، عنصر خیال و رؤيا رو هم در کنارشون میگنجونه.
تم داستانها با "مدفن کرمهای شبتاب" مشترکه پس اگر این غم رو دوست دارین، این کتاب برای شماست :( ♡
نویسنده که خانوادهش رو در اثر بمبارانها و قحطی بعد از اون از دست داده، در این کتاب 12 داستان کوتاه رو با محوریت اصلی جنگ و بمبارانهای ژاپن روایت میکنه.
داستانها همهشون خیلی ناراحتکننده، ساده و همچنین خیالانگیزن.
با خوندن این کتاب متوجه میشیم که جنگ بر همهچیز از کودکان گرفته تا حیوانات اثر میذاره.
چیزی که راجع به داستانها دوست داشتم، همراهی خیال و واقعیت بود. نویسنده در عین حالی که وقایع تاریخی و آمار حقیقی رو جنگ رو گزارش میکنه، عنصر خیال و رؤيا رو هم در کنارشون میگنجونه.
تم داستانها با "مدفن کرمهای شبتاب" مشترکه پس اگر این غم رو دوست دارین، این کتاب برای شماست :( ♡
September 21, 2018
“Too many undernourished people and animals appear in these stories, I know, but it was wartime, after all.”Every story in Akiyuki Nosaka's collection is set on the day of Japan’s unconditional surrender, an act which formerly ended World War II on 15th August 1945. The fictional pieces in The Cake Tree in the Ruins are based on the author’s own childhood memories of living through the Allied firebombing of Kobe – a catastrophic raid in which his mother and father perished (his sister later starved to death) – and has been translated into English by Ginny Tapley Takemori.
These dark but inventive tales emphasize the hideous realities of war. From a heart-rending story in which a lonely Sardine Whale falls tragically in love with a submarine, to the narrative of a mother desperately trying to save her son’s life with her tears, we are reminded that war is cruel and ugly, and should never be glorified.
There are no happily ever afters in this short book, merely a series of simply-told stories suffused with immense suffering, profound sadness and startling beauty.
Released in Britain on the anniversary of Japan’s surrender, this grim garland is part of the Pushkin Collection, which specialises in publishing masterworks from around the world in aesthetically appealing covers.
Many thanks to Pushkin Press for providing a review copy of this title.
September 12, 2018
Studio Ghibli’s movie “Grave of the Fireflies” about a brother and sister who try to survive during WWII in Japan is one of my favourite movies. But the fact that it was based on a short story by acclaimed Japanese novelist Akiyuki Nosaka got lost somewhere in the massive shadow of the Ghibli brand. I didn’t know it until I received “The Cake Tree in the Ruins”, a compact volume of his short stories from Pushkin Press for a review. And I can’t thank them enough for sending me this book. I read it in two sittings, and it left me wishing for more.
Surprising, considering that all the stories deal with the depressing subject of war and its tragic effects. At least on the surface of it. All the 12 short stories in this book either take place or are building up to end on the same day – 15th August, 1945.
“On 15th August, 1945, Emperor Hirohito gave a recorded radio address across Japan, in which he announced the surrender of Japan to the Allies. As such, it is considered the day the war ended…”
At once poignant, hopeful, and ironic, the stories in this collection tug at your hearts. Many of them highlight the absolute uselessness of war, and portrays the people who are really affected. It’s not governments and kingdoms but ordinary people. There are a few running themes that thread the stories together like the fight for survival, loss of family, and the effect of war on children.
There are very touching, heart wrenching moments. In “The Mother That Turned into a Kite,” little Katchan’s mother tries to save him from rapidly encroaching flames by rubbing her own sweat over his face “as if it were lotion.” In “The Old She-Wolf and The Little Girl” the titular she-wolf finds a little girl who has been abandoned by her family, and cares for her because she “didn’t smell of the things the wolf hated the most, leather and gunpowder…”
Animals and children dominate the book with the majority of the stories featuring either one or both of them. There is a certain kindness that continues to exist in Nosaka’s universe even though torn apart by war. A boy cares for his parrot till the day he dies, a pilot gets attached to his pet cockroach, a zookeeper nearly starves himself to feed his beloved elephant, and a man is determined to honour his horse’s trust in him. Love shines incandescent even during these extremely dark times.
For me, the glittering jewels of the collection are “The Whale That Fell in Love with a Submarine” and “The Cake Tree in the Ruins.” The former brought tears to my eyes when I came to the part where the poor whale was desperately trying to save his beloved even after he was hit by a bomb. I cannot describe it more without giving away the ending but I can say that this story will stay in my mind for some time.
In “The Cake Tree in the Ruins” there is a beautiful tree that continues to blossom even when the village is burning and flames lick the sky relentlessly.
“Some trees surrounding a shrine a short distance from the ruins had survived, but all their leaves had been scorched by the heat from the flames. Yet the leaves on this mysterious tree in the ruins of the big old house seemed to be sprouting one after another with fresh green growth.”
Soon, a group of children finds that the leaves of the tree are edible, sweet even, and that the bark is soft. They surmise that it’s a cake tree.
“All of the children had forgotten what cake was – or rather they had never even known. They had only heard about it from the old women…” They had no idea that cake “was so scrumptious!”
And with that one sentence where he at once informs us of this incredibly sad fact and, at the same time, elevates us with the children’s sheer joy in tasting cake for the first time, Nosaka’s supreme talent is brought to the fore. Brilliant strokes like this are rife in the book. He is probably one of the few authors I have read who totally, completely brings alive the genre of magical realism. There is hopeful magic in his stories that are also bleakly real. There are moments of illusory joy amidst tragic reality. Every story is a fairy tale. Every story is also something that happened just a few decades ago.
Nosaka’s words cling to you like steam to glass. Or should I say those of Ginny Tapley Takemori? If someone had handed over this book to me without telling me that it’s a translation, I never would have noticed. Smooth, evocative, and finely translated, Takemori’s words never waver but firmly places us in the setting and sentiment that Nosaka would have wanted us to feel.
This book might deal with a dark subject and you do feel the weight of senseless death. Yet, there are parts that I might venture to say are sweet and luminous. The stories are as deep and multi-layered, as beautiful and unique as the baumkuchen in the story of the cake tree. They are meant to be similarly savoured. Now, how can I not wish for more of them?
Surprising, considering that all the stories deal with the depressing subject of war and its tragic effects. At least on the surface of it. All the 12 short stories in this book either take place or are building up to end on the same day – 15th August, 1945.
“On 15th August, 1945, Emperor Hirohito gave a recorded radio address across Japan, in which he announced the surrender of Japan to the Allies. As such, it is considered the day the war ended…”
At once poignant, hopeful, and ironic, the stories in this collection tug at your hearts. Many of them highlight the absolute uselessness of war, and portrays the people who are really affected. It’s not governments and kingdoms but ordinary people. There are a few running themes that thread the stories together like the fight for survival, loss of family, and the effect of war on children.
There are very touching, heart wrenching moments. In “The Mother That Turned into a Kite,” little Katchan’s mother tries to save him from rapidly encroaching flames by rubbing her own sweat over his face “as if it were lotion.” In “The Old She-Wolf and The Little Girl” the titular she-wolf finds a little girl who has been abandoned by her family, and cares for her because she “didn’t smell of the things the wolf hated the most, leather and gunpowder…”
Animals and children dominate the book with the majority of the stories featuring either one or both of them. There is a certain kindness that continues to exist in Nosaka’s universe even though torn apart by war. A boy cares for his parrot till the day he dies, a pilot gets attached to his pet cockroach, a zookeeper nearly starves himself to feed his beloved elephant, and a man is determined to honour his horse’s trust in him. Love shines incandescent even during these extremely dark times.
For me, the glittering jewels of the collection are “The Whale That Fell in Love with a Submarine” and “The Cake Tree in the Ruins.” The former brought tears to my eyes when I came to the part where the poor whale was desperately trying to save his beloved even after he was hit by a bomb. I cannot describe it more without giving away the ending but I can say that this story will stay in my mind for some time.
In “The Cake Tree in the Ruins” there is a beautiful tree that continues to blossom even when the village is burning and flames lick the sky relentlessly.
“Some trees surrounding a shrine a short distance from the ruins had survived, but all their leaves had been scorched by the heat from the flames. Yet the leaves on this mysterious tree in the ruins of the big old house seemed to be sprouting one after another with fresh green growth.”
Soon, a group of children finds that the leaves of the tree are edible, sweet even, and that the bark is soft. They surmise that it’s a cake tree.
“All of the children had forgotten what cake was – or rather they had never even known. They had only heard about it from the old women…” They had no idea that cake “was so scrumptious!”
And with that one sentence where he at once informs us of this incredibly sad fact and, at the same time, elevates us with the children’s sheer joy in tasting cake for the first time, Nosaka’s supreme talent is brought to the fore. Brilliant strokes like this are rife in the book. He is probably one of the few authors I have read who totally, completely brings alive the genre of magical realism. There is hopeful magic in his stories that are also bleakly real. There are moments of illusory joy amidst tragic reality. Every story is a fairy tale. Every story is also something that happened just a few decades ago.
Nosaka’s words cling to you like steam to glass. Or should I say those of Ginny Tapley Takemori? If someone had handed over this book to me without telling me that it’s a translation, I never would have noticed. Smooth, evocative, and finely translated, Takemori’s words never waver but firmly places us in the setting and sentiment that Nosaka would have wanted us to feel.
This book might deal with a dark subject and you do feel the weight of senseless death. Yet, there are parts that I might venture to say are sweet and luminous. The stories are as deep and multi-layered, as beautiful and unique as the baumkuchen in the story of the cake tree. They are meant to be similarly savoured. Now, how can I not wish for more of them?
November 11, 2018
The Cake Tree In The Ruins, by Akiyuki Nosaka (translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori), is a collection of twelve short stories set in Japan towards the end of the Second World War. In 1945 the author watched the Allied fire bombing of Kobe kill his adoptive parents. He subsequently witnessed his sister starving to death. These stories are based on his experiences. They are dark and at times savage but this seems apt given the subject matter. Most end on the 15th of August 1945 when Japan surrendered leaving a population numb, subsisting amongst the ruins of the many towns and villages razed.
The collection opens with the tale of a lonely whale that mistakes a submarine for a potential mate. Excited by the thought that he may finally be able to raise a family, he accompanies it as it heads into danger. As with many of the stories this one does not have a happy ending.
The Parrot And The Boy is one of several stories that depicts a human survivor finding solace in an innocent creature. The eight year old protagonist has managed to keep the bird his late father gave him alive despite complaints from neighbours at his use of scarce food. When the town is fire bombed the boy and his parrot find themselves alone in a shelter. The shock of what has happened renders the boy mute, much to the consternation of his talking pet.
Mothers are lost to young children who, unable to grasp what has happened, wait for their return. In My Home Bunker it is a father who comforts a young boy. Before leaving for the front the man had provided his family with a shelter. Here his son goes to remember the work this took and to play out his games of helping defend his country. Unaware of the succour the child derives from this trench under their house, which she had never felt necessary, the mother assumes it is her thoughts and fears that are shared.
The Red Dragonfly and the Cockroach depicts a kamikaze pilot as he faces what will be his final flight. Towards the end of the war Japan was turning anything it could think of into a weapon in an attempt to thwart the evil Allies.
With all the men away fighting, children were required to help with the war effort. A Balloon In August describes how even paper and glue were used to create a device that could carry incendiaries into enemy heartlands.
The lack of food became a serious issue and forced people to take risks, creating bad feeling amongst survivors. The Elephant and its Keeper reminds the reader that humans were not the only creatures affected. As well as the provisions required to keep them alive, there was concern about what would happen if bombs destroyed zoo enclosures and dangerous animals escaped. A decree to kill these innocent yet potential predators became challenging to implement.
The Soldier and the Horse is another story that explores the bond between an animal and the young man tasked with keeping it safe that it may be worked beyond its capabilities for the war effort. Bombs do not just kill people.
The stories are haunting and heart-wrenching but bring to the fore the true horror of war and the effect of propaganda in perpetuating its cruelties. Official bodies talk of heroes and honour while people and other creatures starve or die in brutal circumstances.
As we commemorate the fallen this is a timely reminder of the realities of conflict – one that people in other lands are still living with. There is no glory in enabling such suffering, death and destruction.
The collection opens with the tale of a lonely whale that mistakes a submarine for a potential mate. Excited by the thought that he may finally be able to raise a family, he accompanies it as it heads into danger. As with many of the stories this one does not have a happy ending.
The Parrot And The Boy is one of several stories that depicts a human survivor finding solace in an innocent creature. The eight year old protagonist has managed to keep the bird his late father gave him alive despite complaints from neighbours at his use of scarce food. When the town is fire bombed the boy and his parrot find themselves alone in a shelter. The shock of what has happened renders the boy mute, much to the consternation of his talking pet.
Mothers are lost to young children who, unable to grasp what has happened, wait for their return. In My Home Bunker it is a father who comforts a young boy. Before leaving for the front the man had provided his family with a shelter. Here his son goes to remember the work this took and to play out his games of helping defend his country. Unaware of the succour the child derives from this trench under their house, which she had never felt necessary, the mother assumes it is her thoughts and fears that are shared.
The Red Dragonfly and the Cockroach depicts a kamikaze pilot as he faces what will be his final flight. Towards the end of the war Japan was turning anything it could think of into a weapon in an attempt to thwart the evil Allies.
With all the men away fighting, children were required to help with the war effort. A Balloon In August describes how even paper and glue were used to create a device that could carry incendiaries into enemy heartlands.
The lack of food became a serious issue and forced people to take risks, creating bad feeling amongst survivors. The Elephant and its Keeper reminds the reader that humans were not the only creatures affected. As well as the provisions required to keep them alive, there was concern about what would happen if bombs destroyed zoo enclosures and dangerous animals escaped. A decree to kill these innocent yet potential predators became challenging to implement.
The Soldier and the Horse is another story that explores the bond between an animal and the young man tasked with keeping it safe that it may be worked beyond its capabilities for the war effort. Bombs do not just kill people.
The stories are haunting and heart-wrenching but bring to the fore the true horror of war and the effect of propaganda in perpetuating its cruelties. Official bodies talk of heroes and honour while people and other creatures starve or die in brutal circumstances.
As we commemorate the fallen this is a timely reminder of the realities of conflict – one that people in other lands are still living with. There is no glory in enabling such suffering, death and destruction.
January 24, 2025
درخت کیک از آکیوکی نوساکا نویسنده ژاپنی
ترجمه فریناز بیابانی- نشر دانش آفرین
مجموعهای از ۱۲ داستان کوتاه از جنگ جهانی دوم که همه داستانها در تاریخ ۱۵ آگوست ۱۹۴۵ در هنگامهی پذیرش شکست ژاپن روایت و توشته شدهاند.
این م��موعه داستانهای ضدجنگ از نوساکا چند کلید واژه مهم دارند: مادر، کودکان، حیوانات، سربازان و پدرانی که همه در جنگ هستند.
اگر به نویسنده که خانوادهش را جریان همین جنگها از دست داده است حق بدهیم در تمامی داستانها نگاه قضاوتگرانه دارد.
یک نکته جالب دیگر این است که در این کتاب هم نویسنده آمریکاییها را مقصر نمیداند همانند جامعه ژاپن که به علت تحمیل جنگ به آمریکا مدام از آمریکاییها معذرتخواهی میکنند.
هنگام خواندن داستانها به نکاتی برمیخوردم که تمامی اخلاقیات و قرادادهای نشات گرفته از فرهنگ اساطیری جوامع آزام میداد.
پ.ن: چقدر بعد از دوران سربازی نوشتن یادداشت برای کتابی سخت شده برایم بطوری که نمیتوانم کلمات را کنار هم بذارم و جملهای درخور بنویسم. مثلا این یادداشت را با یادداشتهای کتابهای سبیل، ژاک قضا قدری و اربابش و … مقایسه میکنم اگر ��شود گفت آنها درجه یک هستند این درجه ده هم نیست.
ترجمه فریناز بیابانی- نشر دانش آفرین
مجموعهای از ۱۲ داستان کوتاه از جنگ جهانی دوم که همه داستانها در تاریخ ۱۵ آگوست ۱۹۴۵ در هنگامهی پذیرش شکست ژاپن روایت و توشته شدهاند.
این م��موعه داستانهای ضدجنگ از نوساکا چند کلید واژه مهم دارند: مادر، کودکان، حیوانات، سربازان و پدرانی که همه در جنگ هستند.
اگر به نویسنده که خانوادهش را جریان همین جنگها از دست داده است حق بدهیم در تمامی داستانها نگاه قضاوتگرانه دارد.
یک نکته جالب دیگر این است که در این کتاب هم نویسنده آمریکاییها را مقصر نمیداند همانند جامعه ژاپن که به علت تحمیل جنگ به آمریکا مدام از آمریکاییها معذرتخواهی میکنند.
هنگام خواندن داستانها به نکاتی برمیخوردم که تمامی اخلاقیات و قرادادهای نشات گرفته از فرهنگ اساطیری جوامع آزام میداد.
پ.ن: چقدر بعد از دوران سربازی نوشتن یادداشت برای کتابی سخت شده برایم بطوری که نمیتوانم کلمات را کنار هم بذارم و جملهای درخور بنویسم. مثلا این یادداشت را با یادداشتهای کتابهای سبیل، ژاک قضا قدری و اربابش و … مقایسه میکنم اگر ��شود گفت آنها درجه یک هستند این درجه ده هم نیست.
September 11, 2021
The Cake Tree in the Ruins is very sentimental and well-written book which consists of stories of Akiyuku Nosaka regarding American-Japan war.
Akiyuki Nosaka does not only depicts the war from the eyes of people and children, but also tells it from the eyes of every living thing in nature.
I will never forget the first story which is about a whale looks for love..
10/8
Umarım Akiyuki Nosaka Türkçe'ye çevrilir. Tek diyebileceğim bu.
Akiyuki Nosaka does not only depicts the war from the eyes of people and children, but also tells it from the eyes of every living thing in nature.
I will never forget the first story which is about a whale looks for love..
10/8
Umarım Akiyuki Nosaka Türkçe'ye çevrilir. Tek diyebileceğim bu.
July 18, 2018
I received a digital advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Akiyuki Nosaka is best known as the author of “Grave of the Fireflies,” an award-winning short story that was adapted to film by Studio Ghibli, becoming one of the most critically acclaimed animated films of all time. The stories in this collection are diverse, but like “Grave of the Fireflies,” they also concern the tragedies of World War II, particularly as seen through the eyes of children and animals. This short story collection is an expansion on the 2015 English-language publication of The Whale that Fell in Love with a Submarine. It includes five additional stories not included in the original English publication, making a total of twelve.
Nosaka presents war as a calamity that inevitably strikes innocents who cannot fully understand it or be complicit in its violence. The personification of animals, child-oriented tone, and elements of magical realism throughout the book give the stories a fairy-tale feeling that contrasts with their dark subject matter.
Read the rest on my blog! (contains spoilers)
Akiyuki Nosaka is best known as the author of “Grave of the Fireflies,” an award-winning short story that was adapted to film by Studio Ghibli, becoming one of the most critically acclaimed animated films of all time. The stories in this collection are diverse, but like “Grave of the Fireflies,” they also concern the tragedies of World War II, particularly as seen through the eyes of children and animals. This short story collection is an expansion on the 2015 English-language publication of The Whale that Fell in Love with a Submarine. It includes five additional stories not included in the original English publication, making a total of twelve.
Nosaka presents war as a calamity that inevitably strikes innocents who cannot fully understand it or be complicit in its violence. The personification of animals, child-oriented tone, and elements of magical realism throughout the book give the stories a fairy-tale feeling that contrasts with their dark subject matter.
Read the rest on my blog! (contains spoilers)
September 30, 2018
Simple tales with a big impact: re-imagining the genuine horrors of a terrible war's end. Death cannot be avoided in a world of fire and starvation, but innocence, love and loyalty hold true to the end.
February 22, 2022
Have you watch the Grave of Fireflies? One of the most famous ghibli movie, and yes this is the author's another works.
5 ⭐
Introducing you to my top read this month, this is a short collection of 12 stories that set in 15 August 1945 (WW II). A very well written book, beautiful, gentle, imaginative & heartbreaking.
Each stories are simple, engaging, filling with magical realism, selfless love, sacrifice, hope, loyalty & innocence. Most of the stories are dominated by children & animals, featuring either one of them or both. A lonely whale searched for his mate, sacrificed himself for love, a mother's sacrifice for her son, a parrot as a little sister, a wolf that babysitting the abandoned child. I never thought a story about world war II that involves children & animal could fit into a fables. But this author proves me wrong. It balances well between a honest story telling, with a sensitivity of children's innocence. Despite how depressing it is, its full of kindness, & love even during the horrible times, just like how the little boy love the Parrot, how the Keeper bringing the food for the elephant.
I really love all the stories, but my personal favorites would be, The Parrot and the Boy, The Mother that Turned into a Kite, The Cake Tree in The Ruins, and The Elephant and Its Keeper. I never know I could grief over a book, until I read this 😭
This is a book where the war is over, the day of Japan surrender. However, the war is over does not mean the people could have a better life. so much suffering, hunger, dying, losing family member, animals been killed. It showing us how the war effect people from different perspectives, with a hideous reality.
The author, Akiyuki Nosaka himself is the survivor victim of the firebombing during WWII, which kill his adoptive parents, and then witnessed his sister death due to malnutrition. Which is why Grave of Fireflies born, it is where he try to come to terms with his sister death. His writing is phenomenal, as it due to his own personal experiences. It become his inspiration to write. This is why his book is a great reflection of war. Highly recommend this, as its also an eye opener book 💜💜
5 ⭐
Introducing you to my top read this month, this is a short collection of 12 stories that set in 15 August 1945 (WW II). A very well written book, beautiful, gentle, imaginative & heartbreaking.
Each stories are simple, engaging, filling with magical realism, selfless love, sacrifice, hope, loyalty & innocence. Most of the stories are dominated by children & animals, featuring either one of them or both. A lonely whale searched for his mate, sacrificed himself for love, a mother's sacrifice for her son, a parrot as a little sister, a wolf that babysitting the abandoned child. I never thought a story about world war II that involves children & animal could fit into a fables. But this author proves me wrong. It balances well between a honest story telling, with a sensitivity of children's innocence. Despite how depressing it is, its full of kindness, & love even during the horrible times, just like how the little boy love the Parrot, how the Keeper bringing the food for the elephant.
I really love all the stories, but my personal favorites would be, The Parrot and the Boy, The Mother that Turned into a Kite, The Cake Tree in The Ruins, and The Elephant and Its Keeper. I never know I could grief over a book, until I read this 😭
This is a book where the war is over, the day of Japan surrender. However, the war is over does not mean the people could have a better life. so much suffering, hunger, dying, losing family member, animals been killed. It showing us how the war effect people from different perspectives, with a hideous reality.
The author, Akiyuki Nosaka himself is the survivor victim of the firebombing during WWII, which kill his adoptive parents, and then witnessed his sister death due to malnutrition. Which is why Grave of Fireflies born, it is where he try to come to terms with his sister death. His writing is phenomenal, as it due to his own personal experiences. It become his inspiration to write. This is why his book is a great reflection of war. Highly recommend this, as its also an eye opener book 💜💜
February 22, 2020
Beautifully edited little book by The Pushkin Press, containing 12 stories by the Japanese author Akiyuki Nosaka. In this deeply moving anti-war book 12 short stories are told, all ending on The 15th of August 1945, the day Japanese surrendered. This goes from a whale falling in love with a submarine to an American pilot hiding in the firebombed remains of a Japanese city, but every story plays in a Japan that is virtually reduced to a landscape of... nothingness when the B-29's fire-bombed almost all Japanese cities. The resulting firestorms killed almost everybody and destroyed everything, almost as efficiently as the atom bomb. But despite the cruelty and harshness of the moment this book also remains poetic and beautiful, even if every story ends badly. The story of the young kamikaze pilot with his Red Dragonfly trainer who ends up on a lonely Island in the company of a cockroach touched me most: the despair and the shame jumps up from the pages but the futility of the actions of this young man (and of countless others probably) makes one shiver. A beautiful book.
February 8, 2019
This is the saddest book I’ve ever willingly read. It was also incredibly beautiful. Growing up WWII was a major talking point in my family since both my father, uncle and maternal grandfather had been in it. Here is the story from the perspective of the people of Japan. The stories are almost all tragic of a people devastated by a war and the suffering of losing loved ones and experiencing starvation. It is hard to realize that this wasn’t that long ago.
My favorite story I think is the first one about the whale in love with the submarine. The most stories cover the theme of love and sacrifice in the midst of such destruction not only between people but also people and animals.
I usually avoid terrifically sad stories, but these were worth it.
My favorite story I think is the first one about the whale in love with the submarine. The most stories cover the theme of love and sacrifice in the midst of such destruction not only between people but also people and animals.
I usually avoid terrifically sad stories, but these were worth it.
May 20, 2020
A poignant recollection of a time fallen into the dark gaps of history. Stories although heartbreaking, had delivered soft and tender moments of solace amidst the destructive appetite of war and chaos. The book is rich with feats of a melancholic celebration and a triumphant display of the human spirit at the brink.
February 16, 2020
Such a sad, magical, profound book
March 4, 2021
War-time stories.
Touching, sad, fantastical.
There's something for everyone.
Touching, sad, fantastical.
There's something for everyone.
July 5, 2023
Noveller som leses som eventyr/fabler satt til dagen Japan annonserte sitt nederlag 2.verdenskrig. Er veldig godt skrevet, men til dels så forferdelig tematikk at jeg måtte vente til lysere tider igjen for å lese ferdig. Er ikke noe man vil lese før man legger seg eller for å glede seg. Han har skrevet grave of the fireflies om man kjenner til den!
Anbefales læll
Anbefales læll
November 14, 2018
Reviewed by Suzanne Kamata for Books on Asia
As an American reader, conditioned to expect happily-ever-after endings, or at least those in which justice is served, I found this to be an odd and disturbing book. From the titles of stories such as “The Whale That Fell in Love with a Submarine,” “The Mother That Turned into a Kite,” and “A Balloon in August,” one might expect whimsy or fantasy. While they do contain a bit of whimsy, these tales, rendered in highly readable English by translator Ginny Tapley Takemori, are not easily categorized.
Although the story about the whale, “a complete flop with the ladies,” and his quest for a mate starts out sweetly, we discover that the submarine he falls in love with is actually preparing for a suicide attack on the American fleet. In “The Mother That Turned into a Kite,” a woman tries to protect her son from flames caused by incendiary bombs by smearing him with her bodily fluids – first, sweat, then tears, and breastmilk. Finally, devoid of moisture, she becomes flat and floats away. “A Balloon in August” features a group of unnamed, undistinguished Japanese children who are tasked with making hot air balloons out of paper made from mulberry trees, and glue made from konnyaku paste. The balloons are then used to convey incendiary bombs to America.
Many of the stories feature animals, which might lead one to believe that these are lighthearted children’s tales. While Nosaka did write with children in mind, American parents accustomed to Disney finales would probably be surprised at how these stories turn out. Spoiler alert: almost every main character, child and animal alike, dies in the end.
Perhaps this should not come as a surprise. As Nosaka writes in “The Elephant and Its Keeper,” “Too many undernourished people and animals appear in these stories, I know, but it was wartime, after all.” Each story is dated August 15, 1945, the date on which Emperor Hirohito gave a radio address announcing the surrender of Japan to the Allied forces. As noted at the beginning of the book, since 1982, August 15 has also been known as “The day for mourning of war dead and praying for peace.” War is sad and tragic, Nosaka seems to be reminding us. There is no way to sugarcoat the reality of it, and it would be wrong to do so.
Nevertheless, there are moments of grace, however fleeting. A starving she-wolf thinks of eating a little girl, but after discovering that she has been abandoned by her mother, gives her a ride on her back instead. A zookeeper ignores orders to kill an elephant, and escapes with it into the hills. A solider on a beach hallucinates a happy trip under the sea.
In her book On the Bullet Train with Emily Bronte, scholar and author Judith Pascoe writes of a conversation with Japanese author Minae Mizumura in which the latter opines about “American editors’ intolerance for anything that might be strange or off-putting to readers.” According to Mizumura, when reading works in translation, “Japanese readers are aware of the oddity of what they are reading, but undeterred by this awareness.” Pascoe writes, “I thought about Japanese readers down-shifting as they confronted the first pages of foreign literary works, while American readers insisted on a smooth frictionless reading experience, unhappy with any grinding between gears.” Reading in translation is akin, then, to traveling to a foreign country. Both can be unsettling, even jarring, but ultimately broaden our horizons if we remain open to the experience.
While The Cake Tree in the Ruins might seem confounding at first, it is a haunting and unforgettable collection, worthwhile for readers of many ages.
As an American reader, conditioned to expect happily-ever-after endings, or at least those in which justice is served, I found this to be an odd and disturbing book. From the titles of stories such as “The Whale That Fell in Love with a Submarine,” “The Mother That Turned into a Kite,” and “A Balloon in August,” one might expect whimsy or fantasy. While they do contain a bit of whimsy, these tales, rendered in highly readable English by translator Ginny Tapley Takemori, are not easily categorized.
Although the story about the whale, “a complete flop with the ladies,” and his quest for a mate starts out sweetly, we discover that the submarine he falls in love with is actually preparing for a suicide attack on the American fleet. In “The Mother That Turned into a Kite,” a woman tries to protect her son from flames caused by incendiary bombs by smearing him with her bodily fluids – first, sweat, then tears, and breastmilk. Finally, devoid of moisture, she becomes flat and floats away. “A Balloon in August” features a group of unnamed, undistinguished Japanese children who are tasked with making hot air balloons out of paper made from mulberry trees, and glue made from konnyaku paste. The balloons are then used to convey incendiary bombs to America.
Many of the stories feature animals, which might lead one to believe that these are lighthearted children’s tales. While Nosaka did write with children in mind, American parents accustomed to Disney finales would probably be surprised at how these stories turn out. Spoiler alert: almost every main character, child and animal alike, dies in the end.
Perhaps this should not come as a surprise. As Nosaka writes in “The Elephant and Its Keeper,” “Too many undernourished people and animals appear in these stories, I know, but it was wartime, after all.” Each story is dated August 15, 1945, the date on which Emperor Hirohito gave a radio address announcing the surrender of Japan to the Allied forces. As noted at the beginning of the book, since 1982, August 15 has also been known as “The day for mourning of war dead and praying for peace.” War is sad and tragic, Nosaka seems to be reminding us. There is no way to sugarcoat the reality of it, and it would be wrong to do so.
Nevertheless, there are moments of grace, however fleeting. A starving she-wolf thinks of eating a little girl, but after discovering that she has been abandoned by her mother, gives her a ride on her back instead. A zookeeper ignores orders to kill an elephant, and escapes with it into the hills. A solider on a beach hallucinates a happy trip under the sea.
In her book On the Bullet Train with Emily Bronte, scholar and author Judith Pascoe writes of a conversation with Japanese author Minae Mizumura in which the latter opines about “American editors’ intolerance for anything that might be strange or off-putting to readers.” According to Mizumura, when reading works in translation, “Japanese readers are aware of the oddity of what they are reading, but undeterred by this awareness.” Pascoe writes, “I thought about Japanese readers down-shifting as they confronted the first pages of foreign literary works, while American readers insisted on a smooth frictionless reading experience, unhappy with any grinding between gears.” Reading in translation is akin, then, to traveling to a foreign country. Both can be unsettling, even jarring, but ultimately broaden our horizons if we remain open to the experience.
While The Cake Tree in the Ruins might seem confounding at first, it is a haunting and unforgettable collection, worthwhile for readers of many ages.
August 17, 2018
This book belongs in the hands of every hawk and every dove. Might be the best exploration of the effects of war on a "system" I've ever read. There are no stories of military heroism--fighting-age men are nearly absent from any of the stories, other than as ghosts to their left-behind spouses and children--only stories of the ways war twists and distorts and destroys.
All of the stories are set on "The 15th of August 1945"--the day the Japanese surrendered--and most begin with "zeal for the glory of Japan" and end in "pathetic measures" as the war effort finally dissolves.
My favorite stories: a group of Japanese schoolchildren work round-the-clock to create a massive balloon that might be used to "rain down bombs on New York and Washington, just you wait and see!"; a whale finally finds its perfect mate in a submarine; the cake tree in the ruins of the title that feeds children starving for more than food.
All of the stories are set on "The 15th of August 1945"--the day the Japanese surrendered--and most begin with "zeal for the glory of Japan" and end in "pathetic measures" as the war effort finally dissolves.
My favorite stories: a group of Japanese schoolchildren work round-the-clock to create a massive balloon that might be used to "rain down bombs on New York and Washington, just you wait and see!"; a whale finally finds its perfect mate in a submarine; the cake tree in the ruins of the title that feeds children starving for more than food.
October 10, 2018
As all anthologies go, The Cake Tree in the Ruins is also a collection of stories which are different from one another and yet have a common thread. In this case, it is the horror that war leaves behind. Almost every story is extremely sad, and fair warning it will make you miserable. My second most favourite story of the bunch is the titular story about a generation of children who grew up solely on war rations and hence do not have the remotest idea about what decadent food is. But the one that moved my heart the most is The Whale that fell in love with the Submarine. Beautifully tragic is the emotion that would describe it well. All stories poignantly outline that wars and bombs and fighter jet leave behind something much more tragic than bodies and rubble and devastation. They leave behind a bunch of souls that are traumatised beyond a chance of healing.
May 11, 2025
Loved most stories in here that I couldn’t pick my most fav. All stories were set during the surrender day of Japan to the Allies on 15th August 1945 and told through the varied perspectives from an army to a civilian, kids to adults as well animals. Nothing too glory and was more to a haunting tale, of war impacts and conflicts or tragic encounters including despair, hunger and devastation. The writing was grim but engaging with heart-wrenching depth.
Memorable stories: The Whale That Fell In Love With A Submarine (a POV from a whale and it was saddd), The Mother That Turned Into A Kite (so heartbreaking!), The Old She-Wilf And The Little Girl (too sad for the ending), The Cake Tree In The Ruins (too surreal like a fantasy folktale) and My Home Bunker (a boy perspective who needs to hide in a bunker during an air-raid).
Memorable stories: The Whale That Fell In Love With A Submarine (a POV from a whale and it was saddd), The Mother That Turned Into A Kite (so heartbreaking!), The Old She-Wilf And The Little Girl (too sad for the ending), The Cake Tree In The Ruins (too surreal like a fantasy folktale) and My Home Bunker (a boy perspective who needs to hide in a bunker during an air-raid).
June 27, 2020
The Cake Tree in the Ruins is an incredible collection of short stories all set on August 15,1945, the day Japan surrendered to the Allies in World War II.
Some of the themes tackled are war and its effects, survival, loss, love and kindness in the most difficult situations. Several of the stories highlight on how useless wars are and its effects on common/ordinary people who are the actual victims.
Most of the stories are extremely sad and heartbreaking and The Whale Who Fell In Love With the Submarine is my favorite, a beautifully tragic story.
This is my first venture on Akiyuki Nosaka's works and he definitely has my heart. This collection is haunting and superb and one that will stay with me for a very long time.
Some of the themes tackled are war and its effects, survival, loss, love and kindness in the most difficult situations. Several of the stories highlight on how useless wars are and its effects on common/ordinary people who are the actual victims.
Most of the stories are extremely sad and heartbreaking and The Whale Who Fell In Love With the Submarine is my favorite, a beautifully tragic story.
This is my first venture on Akiyuki Nosaka's works and he definitely has my heart. This collection is haunting and superb and one that will stay with me for a very long time.
August 4, 2020
A collection of 12 short stories that all take place on the day that the Japanese surrendered to the Allies during WWII (August 15th, 1945). Each story has a fairy tale-vibe to it, with lots of anthropomorphized animals and children too young to fully understand the extent of the war going on around them. While the stories are quite whimsical (e.g., a whale falling in love with a submarine, children coming across a tree that tastes like cake), they are also very very sad. The innocence of the characters paired with the atrocities of war makes for a very poignant read.
October 3, 2020
You wouldn't think a setting like world war 2 in rural Japan would make for any good fables but this book delivers. It opens your eyes to the awful things that happened within not only Japan during these times but all around the world. There were a few stories here that I liked more than others. The dragonfly and the cockroach was really good. Akiyuki Nosaka definitely has a way with his writing that makes it so easy to read and understand and gain meaning from.
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