The Stationmaster (Novel)

Book excerpt: · Book a best seller in Japan (unofficial sales number: 2,190,000 copies) · Book won Naoki award for popular fiction in 1997 · 1999 film starred 1970s yakuza film icon Ken Takakura, who won a best actor award at the 1999 Montreal Film Festival for his performance · Title film was Japan’s submission to the 72nd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film · Included story “Love Letter” also made into two feature films in 1998 (Love Letter) and 2001 (Failan) · Several others of author’s works made into films, including 2007’s Tsukigami (The Haunted Samurai) ·Book marketed in Japan as the book that “made millions of Japanese cry” L to R (Western Style). To face the future, sometimes you need a little help from the past… An aging railway man facing the closure of his station and the sorrows of his past meets a mysterious young girl who brings an unexpected warmth to the old man’s cold and empty days. A man who has seen the rough side of life finds comfort in the memory of a wife he never knew. A husband and wife struggle to recapture the love they once shared by visiting the movie theater where they met as children. And more… In these eight short stories by award-winning author Jiro Asada, flawed characters haunted by loss find love, reconciliation and redemption in the most unexpected places.