Book of the Month: Hooked

I was in W H Smiths at Paddington Station back in March and the fish on the cover of this book caught my eye. The book was half price that week so I thought I would give it a go.

Asako Yuzuki's novel, Butter, was a breakthrough hit in its English translation last year. This is the English language follow up, although it was published in Japan two years before Butter. 

The book's Japanese title is The Nile Perch Women's Club, as the titular fish plays a pivotal role as a metaphor for predatory activity that destroys ecosystems. The Nile perch is also the focus for the main character, Eriko, who works in a major fish-importing company that is trying to introduce Nile perch into the fussy Japanese market. 'Hooked' is less relevant as a title and doesn't really fit. 

Beyond the fish metaphor, the book is really about loneliness and the struggle some people have to make friends. Eriko becomes obsessed with a blogger and engineers a friendship with her, which quickly becomes a stalking style relationship. 

Except, told from Eriko's point of view, it's not stalking, it's all a misunderstanding, that could easily be explained if only she could get her new, but distancing, friend to talk to her. The sympathetic presentation of the situation from the point of view of the obsessed stalker keeps the story fresh and helps the author avoid clichés.

The Nile perch was accidentally introduced into a new ecosystem where it was the apex predator and a hungry one at that. As it wiped out the other species of fish it encountered, it gradually destroyed the ecosystem it was thriving in. Similarly, Eriko's behaviour destroys the new ecosystem she finds herself in, and creates problems in her career and family, areas she had been thriving in. 

My only negative comment on the book is the directness of the direct speech. Conversations are more like two characters monologuing at each other, in some detail. That may reflect Japanese culture, or it may be down to the translation. Early on, there was a jarring choice of word that may have been an accurate translation of the Japanese, but just felt wrong. (Annoyingly, I can't remember the word that jarred with me!) Overall, it's a small quibble though.

Hooked is my first foray into Japanese contemporary novels. I liked it and will probably try to read Butter at some point too. 

Snack of the month - pickled plum crisps from Japan

These crisps were in my Christmas stocking although I think Santa Claus may have had some help from my sister, Sarah (hi Sarah!)

According to the packaging Sweet & Sour Pickled Plum is a popular flavour in Japan. I can see why. The crisps were a unanimous hit among the three people (including me) who tried them. Cathy liked them a lot. Bryan gave them the thumbs up too. 

I wasn't sure what to expect with these. I was a bit trepidatious after the last crisps to feature as my snack of the month were totally disgusting. Pickled Plum tasted like a slightly sweet salt and vinegar flavour. The sweetness gave the vinegar flavour a tangy edge that was very moreish. The crisps were nice too, crunchy but not cut too thick and not too oily, either. 

So overall, a very nice snack which maintains the success rate of decent snack-of-the-month snacks for 2024.

Word pair of the week: Betsu Bala

This word pair is actually anglicised Japanese, that can also be spelt/said Betsu Bara. Interestingly, Japanese doesn't have an 'R' or an 'L' so either can be used when it's anglicised, which is plobabry why steleotypes of Japanese people speaking Engrish mix them up.

Anyway Betsu Bala means 'additional stomach'. Apparently only women have them and it explains why women might not be able to finish their main course, but will have enough room for dessert. You'd use it as in the following:

"My friend Terri who has just come back from Japan couldn't finish her roast potatoes at the carvery the other night, but fortunately, while in Japan, she developed a Betsu Bala, which meant she had enough room to order the treacle sponge with the bottomless jug of custard. The pig."

Culture vulture on the loose

A week on from rocking along to Bowling for Soup, Cathy, me and the Russes enjoyed the Welsh National Opera performing Madame Butterfly. Again we were in the bargain seats and again we valued the fact that the Millennium Centre has subtitles for opera as my Italian hasn’t improved since La Boheme.

And how’s this for multicultural? An opera set in Japan where a main character is American, sung in Italian, with Welsh subtitles.

As previously, the set was very good and the performance was presumably good. People who had the look of more regular opera goers applauded enthusiastically at the end. But I did find the main male lead (who played the villainous American B.F. Pinkerton) very weak as a singer. He seemed to lack volume and charisma.

I found the undercurrent of a ‘disposable’ attitude towards the developing world was very culture-relevant. Pinkerton laughing about how he rented a property on a 999 year lease which he could cancel every month showed where the balance of power lay – and his attitude towards his bride mirrored that. She was his to use until he married a "proper American bride".

The real tragedy, as I saw it, was that Butterfly so desperately wanted to be an American, trusting her American husband to redeem her after she became a pariah for her cultural apostasy. Her betrayal by the man who never regarded her as an equal despite her sacrifices has huge parallels with contemporary corporate colonialism and is one of the most savage indictments of Western attitudes since Nick Nolte’s rant about how Africans don’t matter to the Western powers that be in Hotel Rwanda:

Colonel Oliver: [explaining why the world will not intervene] You're black.
You're not even a nigger. You're an African.

You know it's time to go on a diet when...

.. you’re discussing your possible costume for the upcoming ‘multinational-themed’ Christmas do and you have a conversation like this:

“Actually, I’ve got some Japanese clothes that I could wear.”

“You could come as a sumo wrestler, Jon.”

Thanks for that.

B-daman (no, you da man!)

Yesterday I bought a B-daman launcher in Woolworths on Cowbridge Road East, mainly because it was reduced. I've been looking at B-damans for a while as they have that nice manga styling that you get in the Japanese toys, plus they're quite funky little ball launchers.

Helen had told me how tricky they'd found building one for their lad Adam, but I can only conclude that they obviously aren't very adept at putting together kits. It took me about 15 minutes to get it ready for action. One cool thing about them is that they give you some extra stickers to customise him.

My little guy is called Proto One.


As you can see he's mainly red and white, with a nifty little shield. The grey bits you can just about see underneath are the b-daball launcher, and all the rest is just for show. This wouldn't be my first choice for a colour scheme. I'm going to keep and eye out in case there's one in blue and amber.

I went into Toys R Us in Gloucester today and they had loads more of them reduced, including some in import Japanese packaging. I'd be tempted, but the instructions were a bit tough to follow in English... No point making it harder for myself.