The stories of the passengers on The Passengers on The Hankyu Line, by Hiro Arikawa, are linked together like the cars of a train. They are connected, and propelled, by the people who inhabit them.
At first, I wondered if an elderly woman with her granddaughter was the conduit through which wisdom flowed. After all, she suggested that Shoko, the resentful and bitter woman coming home from her fiancé’s wedding to a work colleague, stop at a certain town. This town, Obayashi, proved to be a delightful respite which calmed Shoko’s spirit as she gazed at the swallows and the way the townspeople cared for them.
The grandmother also suggested to Misa, after witnessing horrible verbal abuse thrown out by her boyfriend, that Misa find someone better. After the elderly woman and her granddaughter leave, Misa thinks, “Why am I dating such a jerk?”
But, as the novel progresses, we see that she is not the only one who has a positive effect on the lives of the passengers in this train. The passengers learn more about themselves by listening to, and observing, one another.
Although each passenger’s story is unique we see them grow and change, especially as the train begins its return trip back through each station it has taken us.
All manner of people from every walk of life - solo passengers, friends, couples, families, work colleagues - traverse the concourse at a brisk pace.
But as they cross paths, the contents of each traveler’s heart are a mystery known only to themselves.
Yet, despite the mystery, I agree with one of them who says, “Come to think of it, I owe a certain gratitude to strangers.” It is an appreciative attitude to take, especially when we find ourselves surrounded by others from whom we are quite different.
Thanks to Berkley Books for the opportunity to read and review The Passengers on the Hankyu Line by Hiro Arikawa, translated by Allison Markin Powell.
Hiro Arikawa is a renowned author from Tokyo. She is the international bestselling author of THE TRAVELLING CAT CHRONICLES and THE GOODBYE CAT. Her enduring classic title,PASSENGERS ON THE HANKYU LINE, has sold over a million copies in Japan and beyond.
Allison Markin Powell won the PEN Translation Prize for her translation of Hiromi Kawakami’s The Ten Loves of Nishino and is also the translator of Kawakami’s Strange Weather in Tokyo and The Nakano Thrift Shop as well as Shunmyo Masuno’s The Art of Simple Living and works by Osamu Dazai, Fuminori Nakamura, and Kanako Nishi, among others. She maintains the online database Japanese Literature in English.
