（夜行 – 森見 登美彦）
The title of this book could be read Yakou or Yagyou depending on whether it functions as part of the word for night train or part of the word for “The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons” . For my translation of the title into English, I didn’t have a punchy way to make the night train reference and the reference to Japanese folklore simultaneously, so I chose to use a recurring motif in the book: endless night.
This book doesn’t really fall into the horror genre, but the eerie tone can occasionally send you into a cold sweat. It is more like a ghost story, or more accurately, a collection of ghost stories.
Five friends gather at a traditional inn near Kyoto on the 10th anniversary of the disappearance of their friend Hasegawa, which occurred on the night of the annual Kurama Fire Festival. Imagine a night of half-naked men carrying giant torches and portable shrines through a small town that only sees that kind of crowd once a year.
Continue reading “Japanese Book Review: Endless Night – Morimi Tomihiko”