Description
Book SynopsisYoshiro thinks he might never die. A hundred years old and counting, he is one of Japan's many 'old-elderly'; men and women who remember a time before the air and the sea were poisoned, before terrible catastrophe promted Japan to shut itself off from the rest of the world. He may live for decades yet, but he knows his beloved great-grandson - born frail and prone to sickness - might not survive to adulthood. Day after day, it takes all of Yoshiro's sagacity to keep Mumei alive. As hopes for Japan's youngest generation fade, a secretive organisation embarks on an audacious plan to find a cure - might Yoshiro's great-grandson be the key to saving the last children of Tokyo?
Trade ReviewA mini-epic of eco-terror, family drama and speculative fiction... a book unlike any other * Guardian *
An open-hearted fable... Tawada's uber-isolationist neo-Japan is much less cute than Wes Anderson's. It's also much, much funnier * Financial Times *
The Last Children of Tokyo has a recessive, lunar beauty... Arresting, with a flickering brilliance -- Parul Sehgal * International New York Times *
Unsettling and enchanting, gentle and sharp-edged. Tawada writes beautifully about unbearable things -- Sara Baume, author of * A Line Made by Walking *
One of the most thorough and convincingly conceived worlds I have read. The Last Children of Tokyo shows a land tottering on the brink of disaster but it is also a joyful exploration of language, a constantly surprising and exciting romp -- Daisy Johnson, author of * Fen *
The Last Children of Tokyo carries us beyond the limits of what is it is to be human, in order to remind us of what we must hold dearest in our conflicted world, our humanity -- Sjón, author of * From the Mouth of the Whale *
A convincing world-narrative that weaves together the beliefs of ancient Shintoism and contemporary politics, where transmutation between animals has become the norm -- Fi Churchman * Art Review *
Poetic, strange and melancholy, Tawada's nuanced language demonstrates a tenderness and refinement that subtly counterbalances the novella's bleak subject matter... impressive -- Bryan Karetynk * TLS *
