In The Miso Soup Book

In The Miso Soup by the Japanese author Ryu Murakami is a psychological crime thriller set in Tokyo. Our protagonist is Kenji, an unofficial Japanese tour guide specializing in red light district/sex industry tours. Frank, a creepy and unusual looking American tourist hires Kenji's services for three nights on the streets of Tokyo's foremost red light area, Kabuki-cho. On meeting, Frank makes Kenji feel oddly uncomfortable and throughout their initial encounter the young Japanese tour guide quickly grows to fear the gaijin and his surreally strange behaviour. Dead bodies start turning up in and around Kabuki-cho and Kenji starts to think that Frank might have had something to do with the murders. He must investigate whilst protecting both himself and his girlfriend Jun from the crazy American whom it would seem knows more about Kenji than a stranger should do...

On a descriptive level the author does an excellent job of invoking the energetic neon buzz that inner city night time Tokyo is famous for. The author knows the metropolis well, both its visible, tourist friendly side and also its seedy underbelly. Murakami dissects the problems he perceives to be plaguing Japanese society...loneliness...compensated dating...'juvenile delinquency'...and the complex relationship between Kenji and Frank is an intelligent commentary on the broader Japanese/American relationship which has existed since the end of World War Two. If you are interested in Japanese culture and society then In The Miso Soup will be right up your street...especially if you don't want to sit and read a huge academic tome, but instead want to gain a little insight into this closed and private society whilst enjoying an awesome story.

If by the end of a book you like a story to be wrapped up and tied neatly in a pretty ribbon with all questions answered and no loose ends, then you may be left a little disappointed by In The Miso Soup. Personally I was left frustrated more than anything else. Don't get me wrong, the ending is brilliant and has a beautiful poignancy, but I had so many questions left unanswered that I immediately jumped onto the web and search engined away in pursuit of interpretations and hidden meanings...anything I could find to satiate my thirst for answers! Unfortunately I found none and almost two weeks after finishing the book I am still trying to interpret the ending.

This is a thrilling, adrenaline filled, rainbow colour drenched joyride through the world's most iconic ultramodern concrete jungle. I devoured this in one sitting and was still left hungry for more. If you like everything Japanese then you will love this book. If you like crime thrillers then you will love this book. Just don't expect to find the answers to all your questions...and if you do...then let me know...it's killing me!!!

Ryu Murakami, Ralph McCarthy (Trans)