Introduction

Title: 『岩田さん』(いわたさん)
Edited by Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun (ほぼ日刊イトイ新聞)
Published by ほぼ日ブックス
219 pages

This book is a collection of interviews and talks between Shigesato Itoi and Satoru Iwata. There are also extracts from the series 「社長が訊く」 from the Nintendo website.

Review

I bought this book partly because I was curious to learn more about Satoru Iwata, partly because I admire Shigesato Itoi very much, and partly because of the unanimous praise this book has received since its publication in 2019.

Most chapters are interviews with Satoru Iwata, and they read very easily. There are parts on Iwata’s experience at HAL Laboratory, first as a developer and then as president, when the company was in financial chaos. I found these parts most fascinating.

Also inspiring is Satoru Iwata’s vision of management and leadership, the importance he gives to communication with employees, and how he sees talent and value in others and is always willing to learn from them.

いまのわたしは逆に、ひとりひとりがみんな違う強みを持っている、ということを前提にして、その、ひとりひとりの、人との違いを、きちんとわかりたいって思うんです。それがわかってつき合えたら、いまよりもっと可能性が開けるって、いつも思ってますね。(p.63)

Other parts are of course more focused on Iwata’s contribution and role at Nintendo. His vision and hopes for the game industry were enlightening too. Things that seem obvious today were not some years ago, and introducing gaming consoles in everyone’s house actually required work and creativity. While it seemed natural for me to reach for the Switch controller when I want to relax, television has been the default choice for years. It was funny to learn that Iwata wanted to call controllers リモコン, to encourage people to reach for them as easily as they would reach for the TV remote control.

そういう時代に、わたしたちが目指すものは、もっと日常的に触れてもらえるテレビゲーム機です。ゲームで毎日遊ぶ、というよりも、日常にゲーム機が溶け込んでいるような姿が理想です。(141)

The book also contains chapters at the end where Shigeru Miyamoto and Shigesato Itoi talk about Satoru Iwata, how they met, how they worked together…

Even if you are not particularly interested in the game industry in general or Nintendo in particular, this book is still a great read. It is not only about leadership and gaming, it is about creativity and pursuing one’s vision, team work and communication. Even I who never reads books by or about CEOs found this one engrossing.

I will end this review on an inspiring quote:

「人が嫌がるかもしれないことや、人が疲れて続けられないようなことを、延々と続けられる人」、それが「天才」だとわたしは思うんです。考えるのをやめないこととか、とにかく延々と突き詰めていくこと。(…) 自分が苦労だと思わずに続けられることで、価値があることを見つけることができた人は、それだけでとてもしあわせだと思います。(p.136)

(These words by Satoru Iwata echo a quote by Shigesato Itoi that I have on my blog’s homepage almost since its creation and that have been my motto for my Japanese learning journey: “The more effort you put into something, the happier it will make you”.)

Introduction

Title: 『本を読む人だけが手にするもの』
Author: Kazuhiro FUJIHARA (藤原和博)
Published by ちくま文庫
296 pages

Review

I will say it plainly: I didn’t like this book. Reading it was a waste of time, the author kept bragging about himself, I haven’t learned anything, and I felt insulted by the author.

“I am such a great person” type of book

The point of the book is to show the importance of reading, I guess… But to be honest, it rather looks like the whole point of the book is to show how great the author is because he reads so many books and achieved so many things and has so many great ideas to improve education.

I haven’t read a lot of self-improvement books in Japanese, but Japanese authors always seem to brag about how many books they read, how many blog posts they write, how many video they upload and so on. I find it annoying, but if the author is creating great content that helps me getting more productive, it’s fine. In this book, the author just boasts about his exploits, but does not do anything for me.

As a blogger myself, I am certainly impressed by authors who upload a blog post every single day, but as a reader, I felt that the author’s reading habits sounded a little too impressive to be true. For example, the author says that when someone talks about or recommends a book in a conversation, he will buy this book the very same day and:

そして、できたら翌日には読み終え、メールですぐに感想を送る。3行でも5行でもいいので、相手が驚くようなスピードで感想を送るのである。(p.174)

Well… good for you I suppose 🤷‍♀️

Overall, the author talks a lot about personal anecdotes, but it does not bring anything to the book. It just feels like the author wants to talk about himself rather than talk about what reading can bring you.

Nothing new in this book

I agree with a lot of things that the author says about reading. His main points are that reading books can help you forge your own opinion and think by yourself. It also enriches your experience, because we cannot experience everything in our life, and reading brings you the experience of the author.

Well, to me, these points seem obvious. The author presents them like his big discoveries about reading, but I was hoping that we would start from here and develop on these topics. However, there is not much more in the book apart from personal episodes. I haven’t learned anything new.

The author also seems to think that books are the only way to learn about a topic and forge one’s own opinion about it. With so many media accessible today, how can one say that books are the only way to position oneself on a topic? It’s nonsense. The author says that “people who don’t read books” have a reduced vision of topical issues (p.61), and I can’t agree with that 🙅‍♀️

Insulting

I also found the author to be quite insulting at several occasions. I don’t know why, but the author has decided to oppose books and video games, reading and spending time on your phone. This is so reductive and simplistic. I mean, I read books, and I play video games, and I think that having several hobbies is a good thing. But the author is classifying and ranking hobbies, stating that some are better and some are useless.

In particular, the author seems to profoundly despise people who play games on their phone. I wish that the author had downloaded some mobile games and try them before saying that. Even on mobile, a lot of games are just incredibly entertaining, clever and beautiful.

The author also classifies people into “people who read books” (the good ones obviously) and “people who play games” (the bad lot). He likes to criticise people who play games or spend time on their phone in the subway. I mean, people are tired of their day at work and they chill out with a stupid mobile game, what’s wrong with that? They might be highly successful in their work, they might even be avid readers at other times. Or they might not, and that’s fine, why would you go around judging people?

Oh, but I forgot… the author is capable of reading books on his way home after drinking. Talking about literary fiction:

どんなに遅くなって眠くても、接待で飲み過ぎて酔っぱらっていても、帰りの電車のなかでは作品を読みふけった。(p.110)

So yes, if you are playing on your phone in the subway instead of reading literature, I guess you are just not worth it in the author’s mind. I felt directly insulted, because I don’t often read in the subway. Mainly because I don’t skim through my books like the author, I like to get immersed in the story. This is not something I can do in the subway with the constant announcements and people talking around me. So yes, subway=phone to me.

Conclusion

I love reading, and I hate how the author talks about reading books as just a way to get better, to get more productive, to become a successful person and to build a better society. He never talks about reading for pleasure, he never talks about genre fiction. Reading to get better and improve yourself is fine, but reading is also a hobby, and if you read only with another purpose in mind than the book itself, you might be missing something. Overall, I find that the author has a very reductive view of what a book is, what a novel is, what a video game is and what a mobile phone is. There are interesting parts in this book, but the author’s tendency to oppose the (intelligent) people who read books and the (stupid) people who don’t made this book a complete no to me.

I will leave you on a last quote from this author:

ゲームをやっている間はほとんどアタマを使っていない。p.35 🤦‍♀️

Introduction

Title: 『誰も知らない死刑の舞台裏』 (だれもしらない しけいのぶたいうら)
Author: Shoji Kondo (近藤昭二)
Published by 二見レインボー文庫 (Futami Rainbow Bunko)
292 pages.

Shoji Kondo is a journalist, author and scriptwriter. He is the representative of the NPO法人７３１部隊・細菌戦資料センター, an NPO that works on revealing the atrocities committed in Unit 731, as well as establishing Japan’s responsibility and build a better relationship with China. (source)

Review

I have been wanting to learn more about death penalty in Japan since I learnt that death row inmates are informed of their execution date the very morning of their execution. I was very shocked when I read this for the first time, I had to double and triple check online, because it just did not seem possible to me. When I found out that the family of the person executed was notified of the execution only after it had been carried out, I was even more shocked if possible.

I know that public opinion in Japan is massively for the death penalty, but at the same time, it seems difficult to find information about the system, like the daily life of inmates or the process that leads to the order of execution. Apart from the Minister of Justice announcing in a press conference that the execution of a prisoner has been carried out, it seems that there is not much that the public actually knows.

I chose 『誰も知らない死刑の舞台裏』 because one review on Amazon convinced me to buy it, and I don’t regret my choice because this book was exactly what I was looking for.

The preface is an overview of what the book will be about and was very interesting to read. The author underlines that there is a lot of secrecy around capital punishment in Japan. The author contrasts this situation with the United States where there are open debates over death penalty, and where you can find public information about upcoming executions. In Japan, no one seem to talk about death penalty, and it is impossible for the public to know who is going to be executed and when.

The first chapter is an overall history of death penalty in the world. It was not the chapter I was the most looking forward to, but it was still very interesting to read, especially parts on how methods of executions have evolved towards more “human” practices, like lethal injection in the United States or guillotine in France. However, I strongly recommend that you skip the first two parts of this chapter if you don’t feel like reading about various medieval methods of execution and have your mind filled with unpleasant descriptions.

The second chapter is about the evolution of death penalty in Japan, and I learned a lot through it. The author explains how death penalty has changed over the years, analysing for example how the method of execution changed or how the number and nature of crimes that are punishable by death diminished over the years. The author also takes us through famous trials and cases that have shaped criminal law in Japan.

Chapter 3 is about the daily life of prisoners, and this is what I was the most interested in. Here again, the author goes through cases that have influenced the regulations relative to the prisoners’ rights (what they have access to, contacts with the outside world, etc.). It also describes the last day of inmates and their way to the execution chamber. While the fate of those convicted changes dramatically depending on whether they are sentenced to death or to life imprisonment (where they can get a chance of parole after only 10 years), the decision process that leads to one or another is not objectively settled. The author goes through several examples where similar cases have resulted in different sentences or where the same case has received a different verdict in different trials. While there are guidelines for the judge to follow, in the end, the verdict can change depending on what the judge considers as important.

Finally, the last chapter goes through cases of possible wrong conviction, like the famous and hard to believe Izuka case.

I find this book very informative and written in a pedagogic way that makes it easier to read than it looks like. The author explains everything to a non-specialised readership, and overall, I have learned a lot and was engrossed in the book from beginning to end. As I write this review, the bunko edition of the book only has two ratings on Amazon, so I guess that either the topic or the author’s position are not that popular, but it is a book that I recommend if you want to read a Japanese author standing against death penalty.

Introduction

Title: 『ぼくはイエローでホワイトで、ちょっとブルー』
Subtitle: The Real British Secondary School Days
Author Mikako Brady (ブレイディみかこ)
Published by 新潮社

『ぼくはイエローでホワイトで、ちょっとブルー』is a nonfiction book published in 2019 (only available in soft cover but bigger format than pocket books). It is divided in 16 short chapters (around 15 pages each).

Review

I bought 『ぼくはイエローでホワイトで、ちょっとブルー』because it had amazing reviews on Amazon, it won prizes for nonfiction, and most of all, because I was interested in (what I thought would be) the main topic of the book.

The author is Japanese, she lives in Brighton with her husband (who is Irish) and talks about the first year of middle school of her son in her book. Her son, who is half Japanese half Irish, is going to a school where the majority of students are coming from white working class families.

When I chose this book, I thought it would be mainly about ethnic identity and racism. I was particularly interested in reading about identity from a Japanese point of view in a European country. I was certainly misled by the title that suggests the book will be about these issues. In fact, the English subtitle is much closer to what the book really is than the Japanese main title. 『ぼくはイエローでホワイトで、ちょっとブルー』is really about the real secondary school days in Brighton.

There are of course anecdotes, thoughts and views on ethnic identity, but it only concerns some chapters. In her book, Mikako Brady talks about a lot of other social topics and issues like gender, adoption, bullying, or homelessness. She also explains many things about the educational system in England, how the school of her son functions, social particularities of the neighborhood, and so on.

As a consequence, I was a little disappointed by the book at first, because it was not what I expected. I also did not feel that I was learning a lot of things in this book, French middle schools are not that different from what Mikako Brady describes, so I was not surprised nor did I learn much about particularities of European school system. In the end, I found that Mikako Brady did raise interesting questions and the book was full of promising thoughts about all kinds of social issues, but she did not develop much on each of them. In other words, on the majority of topics, I did not feel that the book allowed me to push my reflections further, get more material to sustain my opinion or, on the contrary, revise it, nor did it allowed me to learn new things or change my point of view. At some point, I started thinking of this book as a beginner’s guide for people who want to start thinking about social issues, which is totally fine and a great purpose for a book, but it was not what I was looking for.

But in spite of all these things, I was and remained engrossed in this book until the end. Each chapter mixes the author’s thoughts and views on a particular topic with anecdotes involving her son or his classmates. I found this structure to work very well, and the book was very pleasant to read. The chapters being short, it was also possible for me to read them in one reading session.

Also, most of the events are told in such a way that they look like little adventures that mother and son embark on together. Most of the events and anecdotes are not special or particular (maybe they are for Japanese readers, but possibly not if you went to a European school yourself), but the way they are told and linked to broader thoughts on social issues make them exciting. Mikako Brady transforms what could be just a typical middle school year into a wonderful adventure that opens a myriad of doors and through which the author and her son grew together.

This book was not quite what I expected, but I enjoyed reading it very much, to the point where I did not want it to stop. It is not as much about being a half-Japanese teenager in England than being a middle school student, or more precisely, being the mother of a middle school student. The “we’re in this together” vibe and the growing bond between mother and son are heart-warming and the book is worth reading for that alone. Recommended!

You can read free chapters of the book on the publisher’s website.

Reading challenge update:

Introduction

Title: 『無人島に生きる十六人』(むじんとうに いきる じゅうろく にん)
Author: Kunihiko Sugawa (須川邦彦) (1880-1949)
Published by 新潮文庫
258 pages

This book was published in 1948. The back cover says that this is the true story (実話) of captain Kurakichi Nakagawa and his 15 men who survived on a deserted island of the Pearl and Hermes Atoll after the grounding of their ship in 1899.

The author, Kunihiko Sugawa, says that he heard the story from Captain Nakagawa himself, in 1903. At the time, Sugawa was an apprentice at 東京高等商売学校 and Nakagawa was his instructor. Sugawa repetedly asked Nakagawa to tell him the story of the deserted island, which he eventually did.

This novel has entered public domain, so you can read it for free on Aozora.

Review

I really cannot say that I enjoyed reading 『無人島に生きる十六人』. I am sure that it is a good book, but it just was not for me. There are mainly two things that annoyed me and prevented me from enjoying the story.

First of all, I cannot believe that this story really happened as it is told. If it weren’t for the 実話 on the back cover, I would have thought that this is a work of pure fiction and certainly enjoyed it more.

When you open the book, you first read a preface written by Kurakichi Nakagawa himself, thanking Sugawa for writing this book. Again, without the 実話 on the back cover, I would have said that this preface looked like a literary trick used by authors to give the impression that the fiction they wrote really happened (this preface does not appear in the Aozora version).

The story begins with the author, Sugawa, using the first-person to explain in which circumstances he met Nakagawa and asked to hear about his story. Then the point of view changes, and the first-person is now used by Nakagawa himself to tell his story:

以下物語に、「私」とあるのは、中川教官のことである。

At the end, we switch back to Sugawa’s perspective:

中川船長の、長い物語はおわった。ぼく（須川）は、夢からさめたように、あたりをみまわした。

This obviously looks like a literary trick, the author saying that he heard the story directly from someone involved in it, and it is of course impossible for someone to tell such a long story in one go as is suggested here.

I was disappointed because I thought that I would read a true story, thinking this book might be non fiction. Of course, it is possible that this work of fiction might be inspired by real facts. I made some research to see if there really was a ship called Ryusui maru (龍睡丸) which grounded in Pearl and Hermes Atoll in 1899. I was not convinced by the results. It seems difficult to find information concerning the events that is not related to the book.

This annoyed me a lot, because I would be fine with reading a work of pure fiction, or an account of real events, but it is annoying to not know where we stand. My involvement and the way I read a book will be different if I know that it happened to real persons.

Secondly, I found that the book was very dry. There are a lot of descriptions and explanations of survival measures. I think that this might precisely be why many readers enjoy the book (it is exciting in a way to see how the men organise their life on the island), but to me it was a little overwhelming, especially in Japanese!

What put me off is not as much the large amount of descriptions as the almost complete disappearance of the characters. They have no personality, no emotions, nothing that characterises them. There are almost no dialogues. They hardly differ from one another. There are almost no passages that made me feel interested in the characters, we never get to know them. This made me lose all interest in the novel.

In the end, the characters are just indistinct Japanese sailors who do their job, show heroism, never flinch and work hard even though they are ill, hungry and thirsty. Not a single time is someone being shown as weak or failing. There is even this notion of living a pleasant and joyful life of the deserted island that is really not credible.

I still finished it, and I do think that it is a good novel, but it was clearly not for me. I was interested in the moral and psychological aspect of surviving on a deserted island (a character centered story), but this book focuses on the technical aspect of survival (organisation, constructions, installations…). If you like survival fiction book, it is definitely a title to keep in mind given that it is out of copyright and freely accessible online!

Reading challenge update: