A review by pigletwashere
Tokyo Ueno Station by Yu Miri

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This is one way to write about grief. 

Purposefully making yourself homeless after the loss of your son and wife is the hardest decision a man can make, not wanting to be a burden on his daughter and set her back or cause her to die thinking he is a curse. 

It was so heartbreaking to read this, knowing at anytime you could become homeless from the small mistakes or actions. Seeing the lives of a homeless person, having to be “evicted” and moving from place to place, but the main character seeks out death and actively wants to die is another layer of grief that hurts to read. 

The ending confuses me, is he getting in the train to go see his daughter in hospital or is he going to kill himself? Either way, both endings are heartbreaking. There is either hope and a promise for a new life for the last remaining relative in his family or complete lack of hope and killing himself. 

Love the way things written and really tugs at your heart strings, god I love Japanese literary books.