Children in the Wind

by Jōji Tsubota, Robert Epp (Translator)

This charming novel is regarded as the best work of Joji Tsubosa, Japan's finest writer on childhood. Set in a small town in the Japanese countryside in the Olympic summer of 1936, the story is seen through the eyes of two young brothers, Sampei and Zenta, whose father, a factory manager, is wrongfully jailed on suspicion of forgery. Old enough to realize that their family is threatened but unable to fully comprehend the issues that have led to their predicament, the brothers retreat into their own world of play and fantasy as events unfold around them.. Preoccupied with their troubles, the adults cannot understand what is happening in the boys' world any more than the boys can understand what is happening in the adult world – an impasse that is evoked with great sensitivity. Tsubota's masterful descriptions of the boys' ability to slip easily between the realms of reality and the imagination will reawaken elusive memories of childhood in all readers.

Genres: Japanese Literature, Japan

96 pages, Hardcover

First published December 20, 1936

Reviews

[norie moto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Think I like the afterword the best

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is said to be a classic of Japanese children's literature, but it doesn't feel like a child's book. It feels, instead, like a story about children, Senpai and his older brother Zenta, who are thrust into the harsh realities of life in pre-war Japan with no agency of their own.

Tsubota does an incredible job getting into the mind of a child, the carefree abandon, the confusion, the loneliness. It reminds me as I'm reading it of the small actions characters unconsciously perform in the films of Hayao Miyazaki to reveal their inner states.

Too short, too unknown (judging by the now-10 ratings on Goodreads), this might be the most underrated book I've encountered. The author doesn't even have an English Wikipedia page, but from the Japanese I see he has quite a few other books to his name. I can find only a Stories by Tsubota Joji graded reader with dual English and Japanese in addition to this in English, and there's not much in German or Chinese either. Definitely seems to be a hidden gem of Japanese literature. Put this down as one more reason to learn Japanese.

[Sae-chan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book brought me back to my childhood. I remembered how I thought, how I felt, how confused I was how to soothe my mom, how frustrated I was feeling impotent to change the situation, how frantic I was to search for information I wasn't supposed to know, how the adults talked like I wasn't being there..... Oooh well but little have changed actually, I just got used to them...

Mr. Epp, I think your translation is superb.