A quest of a hikikomori to find a final solution and give his life meaning goes south. Unsympathetic and isolated, crested ibises start to form an obsession to the protagonist
I’ll make everyone in this country regret tossing me aside

A fast read on a deeply unsympathetic, but also sad, main character. Haruo falls into internet rabbit holes and loses his way in modern day Japan, focussing all his efforts on the Nipponia Nippon, the rare and endangered ibises from the title.

many of his age, he was impatient with the world without understanding it and Haruo is a deeply troubled young man. He could be typecast as an incel, being a school dropout living alone in Tokyo on the stipend of his family while obsessing about Japanese ibises. They represent the nation but are also extinct, existing on Japanese soil by the sole grace of a Chinese branch of the species being loaned to Japan by China. Haruo forms an ill thought out plan to liberate the ibises, either by letting them escape or kill them. This disturbing plot is helped along by a facilitating mother and an absent father and nascent internet rabbit holes.
As the main character notes, the ibises which can’t survive on their own are a metaphor for the life of Haruo:
the crested ibises, I’m trapped in a cage, and if I stay cooped up this, my life will steadily lose all meaning and all worth.

Hikikomori - isolated people who never venture outside - is a typical Japanese phenomenon, but in the end Haruo does venture outside. Moving from randomly beating up strangers to practice any eventualities in the ibis rescue mission, but most of all to feel powerful, he inches towards a final solution for the ibises. Along the way fantastical plots emerge (His thoughts soon took their usual, delusional turn) and the diary recordings of his days, specific seats remembered on Shinkansen and specific days remembered make this story feel as much about being different and not being accepted by society, as a journey to the ibises. He comes further than expected and closer to real connections and redemption than imagined, but still this is not a happy tale.

An interesting read that comments on Japanese society, where the writer draws you very intimately into the disturbed perceptions of the main character.japanese-literature owned36 s Alwynne735 972

Acclaimed author Kazushige Abe’s story of self-delusion and alienation is presented in disconcertingly matter-of-fact tones. 17-year-old Haruo Toya has been exiled to Tokyo to live alone in a small apartment, after a series of incidents in his home town made him an outcast and object of suspicion. But his isolation provides a space for his fantasies to blossom into a dangerous, full-blown obsession. A chance link between the name of the rare Japanese crested ibis (Nipponia Nippon) and Haruo’s own suggests to him their destinies are entwined. And the circumstances surrounding an official project to breed these birds in captivity and rescue them from extinction spark a bizarre chain of associations for Haruo which tap into his conflicted thoughts and feelings about Japanese identity and nationalism. So Haruo hatches a plan about the birds that he believes will allow him to achieve his destiny and reveal his hidden greatness.

Abe’s novella was first published in 2001, since then stories about hikikomori and disaffected youth have become a familiar feature in Japanese fiction yet Abe’s unusual angle and his dispassionate style gave this an unexpected force. Abe’s taut, beautifully-paced narrative contains echoes of work by Mishima and ?e, with a noir-ish quality I found utterly compelling. Deeply unsettling and satisfyingly complex. Translated by Kerim Yasar.

Thanks to Edelweiss and publisher Pushkin Press for an ARCcontemporary-fiction edelweiss-plus-arc fiction ...more35 s Sofia1,239 248

Abe playing games.................

I finished the book late at night, and then I stayed turning my head on the pillow, trying to understand the games Abe played in this one.

He plays with his words, giving us so much information about Haruo and the Crested Ibis, but then you realise that he is giving much but also witholding much. He also plays games with the reliability of the narrator he presents us with. Is this a fantasy? Is this really happening? Ok, let's go along with that, but then something happens, and we're back to square one. But most of all I think that Abe plays with how we can exchange the cause of the Crested Ibis (Nipponia Nippon) with any other cause and how we link ourselves to that cause and how we sort of start dictating how the people we are championing should behave. We take away their agency and start laying down rules because hey we support them.

A good book!

2024 eagerly-read21 s4 comments Nicole Murphy196 1,234

The ending, wtf?!

It started off a little slow and repetitive but then it picked up and it started to allow you to see into the ‘toxic masculinity’ mind of the 17 year old main character. His lack of emotion towards everything was unsettling and the second half of the story had me gripped16 s spillingthematcha687 932 Read

It’s giving chaos, wi?c sama nie wiem jak mam j? oceni?..14 s The Frahorus877 92

Prima opera che leggo di questo autore giapponese: una esperienza catastrofica a dir poco! In breve la storia: un diciottenne giapponese si trasferisce a Tokyo e vive nell'appartamento preso in affitto da solo e in solitudine, dopo aver litigato con il proprietario della pasticceria, amico del padre, in cui aveva lavorato per poco tempo. Ben presto avrà uno scopo: andare in una riserva naturale e liberare o uccidere un tipo di uccelli, i Nipponia Nippon, degli ibis crestati, azione che lo renderà famoso per sempre (a suo dire). Praticamente tutto il tempo non fa che restare collegato al suo portatile in cerca di notizie di questi uccelli e dei modi in cui potrà elaborare il piano per compiere la sua "vendetta" o rivincita sociale (arriva addirittura ad acquistare on line un teaser elettrico e un coltello).

L'autore ha deciso di mettere come protagonista della sua storia un fenomeno molto diffuso in Giappone chiamati hikikomori, usato per riferirsi a coloro che hanno scelto di ritirarsi fisicamente dalla vita sociale in-persona, spesso cercando livelli estremi di isolamento e confinamento. Un giorno i suoi genitori vanno a trovarlo perché hanno saputo che non lavorava più e non solo non li fa entrare, poi ci ripensa e fa entrare solo la madre e la tratta come una schiava dicendole, ad un certo punto per togliersela di torno: ho deciso di riprendere gli studi (falso, visto che il suo scopo era soltanto quello di farsi dare la paghetta mensile per mantenere l'affitto e per le sue necessità).
Alla fine parte per questa missione (senza alcun senso a mio modesto parere) e conoscerà una ragazza che gli farà cambiare prospettiva e forse lo farà rinsavire? Sarebbe troppo bello, vero?

Ho letto recensione entusiaste su questo romanzo, ma sinceramente ho più volte avuto la tentazione di abbandonarlo per eccessiva noia, ma se volete farvi una cultura sugli ibis crestati Nipponia Nippon allora qualcosa la apprenderete. Certo leggere questa storia di un ragazzo che passa mesi e mesi rinchiuso dentro il suo appartamento senza incontrare anima viva forse non è molto indicato se si è da poco usciti dal secondo lockdown per il Covid-19, ma sinceramente lo avrei preso a calci nel sedere ad ogni pagina. e-o giapponese romanzo8 s Bella Azam459 53

IM BAMBOOZLED, CONFUSED, IDK WHAT THE HECK IS THAT ENDING

A fatal obsession with the rare breed of Japanese crested ibises called Nipponia Nippon become the ultimate object of fascination of the young, impressionable 17 years old Haruo. Stemmed from the similarities of the kanji in both of their names, Haruo found solace or instant connection with the birds but his thoughts get progressively darker as his goal is to kill, breed or release the birds.

Being in the mind of a hikikomori (a shut-in) especially one with a vile obsession is disturbing to read. We learned about his detailed plans to capture the birds and ultimately wanting to kill the animals. The dissonant, disaffected, and straightforward tone of this narrative may deter you from feeling anything for Haruo but it's clever tonally as we are not meant to sympathize with him despite his difficulties in life with bullying and isolation, Haruo was a terrible kid and convoluted minds he has are pretty fked up.

Thank you to Edelweiss & Pushkin Press for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review8 s Christopher678 260

A bit of a disappointment. This is a short novel about a young man named Haruo with some unhealthy and obsessive tendencies. In the West, we'd probably call him an incel; in Japan, there's the term "hikikomori". After some vague bad business with a young woman in his hometown, he's sent off to Tokyo to live alone, where he becomes absolutely obsessed with the Japanese crested ibis (scientific name: Nipponia nippon), a species on the edge of extinction.

Simplicity is something I appreciate about Japanese literature. I don't know what it is--if it's a translation thing, or a cultural thing, or what--but most of the Japanese fiction I've read has a wonderful straightforwardness about it. Simple sentence after simple sentence, making a pure sort of story. Even when it gets really weird, with Haruki Murakami or Sayaka Murata or Kobo Abe, each sentence seems pared down to its basic and most important parts in service of the story.

But there's a difference between simple and plain; this book feels rather plain. When you hear me say "this is a story about an incel obsessed with birds", you can already guess this whole story. There are no surprises here. I don't think this was based on a true story or person, but it feels a lot a long form NYT article detailing how a disturbed individual ended up doing something rash. So while there's nothing very wrong with this book, there's also nothing about it that makes it stand out.21st-century fiction japanese7 s Tom Mooney724 235

A bird-obsessed incel! Weird!

This was ok. I found the pacing quite frustrating but it gets good once he really starts to lose it. The ending, as others have commented, is madness, but I kind of d it.7 s Nadirah749 15

Rating: 3.5

"Nipponia Nippon" is a novella that explores the dark thoughts of a teenager named Haruo. A slew of incidents during his teenage years involving an unrequited crush on a schoolmate and multiple bullying incidents drove Haruo to become a hikikomori who's obsessed with revenge. His convoluted idea of revenge comes in the form of either freeing or killing two captive birds from an extinct species being bred on Sado Island.

Fair warning: this book was pretty hard to get through mainly because you're thrown into the darkest thoughts of a hikikomori's mind, and it's not pretty at all. It's reading about a teenager who's planning their shooting incident in a US school (if you'll pardon the comparison), except this is taking place in Japan. Much of the details are the same, otherwise; the only thing that surprised me was the fact that guns can easily be bought in Japan despite the country’s seemingly stricter regulations (but I guess it’s less surprising considering the recent assassination attempt on Japan's president). Even though there was a sad backstory to everything that led up to the conclusion, I couldn’t really empathize with Haruo throughout the book. I felt bad for him at certain junctures, sure, but at the end of the day, can one really justify the acts that Haruo finally decided upon? (I leave it up to the readers to digest this point once you’ve read it.)

Overall, this was a good read and provides some genuinely interesting insights into Japan’s politics, though it did feel the author was pulling out statistics and facts just to shoehorn them into the narrative to form Haruo's motivations at times. The ending ultimately saved the narrative, or at least it did for me. Pick this up only if you’re in the right headspace and you’re up for a dark and unsettling read.fiction5 s Robert2,163 231

Nipponia Nippon is the Latin name for the for the Japanese Crested Ibis and trust me this is an important detail as it has a role to play in this wonderfully complex novella.

Haruo is a recluse due to the fact that he feels he’s an outsider of sorts.?While browsing the internet he comes across the Japanese Crested Ibis (or called heron in the book, so I will stick with that). This particular bird is endangered and has a Chinese equivalent and there were attempts to mate the species to Nipponia Nippon alive but this caused arguments about the bird’s heritage.

Not only does the heron represent Haruo but this is cemented further due to the fact that his kanji matches that of the heron. Further on in the book Haruo also discusses his heritage as he lives in a part of Japan which is not considered Japanese.

In order to ‘kill’ his spiritual animal/metaphor he decides to go to a bird park where there are herons and he has a grand plan for them. In the meantime the reader discovers more about Haruo’s life and some of his past decisions.

Nipponia Nippon is a novel which focuses on mental health in it’s many facets, from obsession, reclusive behaviour, depression and internet addiction and the heron manifests all of this. The book itself is clever and unpredictable in places.

I do know there are a lot of books about mental health but then the thrill is finding a novel which treats it in an interesting way and Nipponia Nippon pulls this off well: in 150 pages Kazushige Abe says a lot in a small space and surprise the reader continuously. Not many can do this so deftly.

7 s Charlotte37

3.5 rounded up.

Huh. Not sure how to feel about the ending..?

Let’s be honest, I mainly bought this for the cover.
Took me a while to get into it, but the second half had me hooked!3 s Gardy (Elisa G)356 109

Se questo è un romanzo minore di Kazushige, spero vivamente di mettere prima o poi le mani su suoi titoli di punta.

Non lo dico solo perché ricollegandosi alla letteratura giapponese del Novecento (che io amo moltissimo), di fatto è come se "cancellasse" l'opera di rottura dei due Murakami (Ryu e Haruki).
Lo dico perché il parallelo con uno dei titoli più celebri di Yukio Mishima, Il padiglione d’oro, è affascinante e inscrive il fenomeno degli hikikomori in un malessere secolare che non riguarda (solo) la tecnologia, ma l'essere giovani uomini giapponesi.

Entrambi i romanzi infatti ruotano attorno all’ossessione distruttiva di un giovane uomo nei confronti di un simbolo stesso dell’identità giapponese. Là c’era un tempio noto per la sua bellezza odiato ferocemente da un monaco tormentato dalla propria bruttezza, qui abbiamo un giovane che sviluppa un’ossessione insana per gli ibis crestati, una rarissima specie di uccelli che sin dal nome scientifico (nipponia nippon) denuncia il proprio legame con il Giappone.

Peccato sul finale gli sfugga un po' di mano, ma rimane comunque il titolo letterariamente più alto e intrinsecamente più giapponese di questo nuovo corso di edizioni e/o. Forse per questo anche quello dal pubblico più ristretto. giappone3 s Ben Rogers2,624 197

A Must Read

I absolutely loved this book

An activist book about saving birds.

Touches on some really severe bullying. I know the author is married to (my favorite Japanese author who is still an active writer), Mieko Kawakami, who wrote the amazing Heaven, and I feel there are some parallels in the bullying stories of both books.

This book also really touches on grief and infatuation.

As someone in IT, I also found that it was really well researched with regards to security and planning security detail - such as anonymity, lock-picking camera locations, and even social engineering. All of which were used as part of "the plan" - the final solution for the Nipponia Nippon problem.

I thoroughly enjoyed the adventure of this book and the way it was written.
It reminded me a little bit of A Wild Sheep Chase as well.

The whole situation with Sakura was really heartbreaking.

I also quite enjoyed the story of the girl on the train. Very intriguing. I could not put the book down.

Also, no spoilers, but ... that ending .
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