Strange Weather in Tokyo (Unabridged‪)‬

Shortlisted for the 2014 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize.

Tsukiko is in her late 30s and living alone when one night she happens to meet one of her former high school teachers, 'Sensei', in a bar. He is at least 30 years her senior, retired and, she presumes, a widower. After this initial encounter, the pair continue to meet occasionally to share food and drink sake, and as the seasons pass - from spring cherry blossom to autumnal mushrooms - Tsukiko and Sensei come to develop a hesitant intimacy which tilts awkwardly and poignantly into love.

Perfectly constructed, funny and moving, Strange Weather in Tokyo is a tale of modern Japan and old-fashioned romance.