Let me introduce myself.
Telling the story of my life, writing a short bio, or providing the type of description that a faceless entity prompts you to write when signing up for anything is not my cup of tea. I am a self-deprecating person who doesn’t take things seriously, but I am genuinely excited to write my first novel and hopeful that I can publish it in any format possible. Even now, I find words like “genuinely,” “excited,” and “hopeful” to be a bit ridiculous. However, I think I need to give you something so that my image can be constructed in your mind. To do so, I present a list of books that have impacted me.
Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo
I was born in the mid-70s. The movie Akira was released in 1988, so I was right on time to experience the moment something special was happening. I found this volume on the book rack of my parents’ coffee shop in Tokyo. I was shocked to find it because I had been reading Dragon Ball prior to the discovery. While Dragon Ball was great, it followed the status quo of manga in the 80s; Akira was different from anything I’d read before. Around the time the movie was being produced, there was a lot of promotion across the media, and I became obsessed.
Science Fiction Books by Various AuthorsThe Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury & The Door into Summer by Robert A. Heinlein
Naturally, I became an SF fan after Akira. There was a section dedicated to Hayakawa SF Bunko in the bookstores. The blue spines of the books filled the entire row of shelves. I don’t know how long I spent standing in front of them. Arthur C. Clarke was my favorite author during my SF binge: Childhood’s End, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and The City and the Stars. Other noteworthy authors and books with a big impact on me include the following:
- Neuromancer by William Gibson
- Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany
- Foundation by Isaac Asimov
- The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
I had not been a reader until that point. I became one, but I am not a voracious reader.
はてしない物語 (The Neverending Story) by Michael Ende
This is one of the most important books to me. If I were to write a novel, this is the one I would model it after. Around the time I read it, I stopped going to school and was alone at home. I became hikikomori for two years. My parents were working and bickering. I had always been the kid who was socially awkward and bullied relentlessly. I was a loner, a ‘F’ student who ran slow and couldn’t catch a ball. When I was at school, I just escaped into my imagination, always thinking about new worlds, people, and stories. It was easy for me to identify with Bastian. It is a beautifully written book. The Japanese translation was great, too.
The Last Unicorn & A Fine and Private Place by Peter S. Beagle
I read these two books by Peter S. Beagle around the time of my move to the United States. I brought them from Japan, and I have treasured them since then.
文庫本 (Bunko Books)Kokoro, by Soseki Natsume; Ichiaku no Suna, by Takuboku Ishikawa; Gingatetsudo no Yoru, by Kenji Miyazawa; Ningen no Tochi, by Saint-Exupery, translated into Japanese by Daigaku Horiguchi
Japanese classic books I like. By the way, I think the format of Bunko Books is the best. They are easy to carry around, and they are well made. Why doesn’t the United States have books in this format? Anyway, modern authors I enjoy are Haruki Murakami, Ryu Murakami, Yasutaka Tsutsui, Shinichi Hoshi, Shotaro Ikenami, Mieko Kawakami, Michiko Ishimure, Yoko Ogawa, and more.
指輪物語 (The Lord of the Rings) by J.R.R. Tolkien, translated into Japanese by Teiji Seta
I had a lonely childhood, and my solace of the time was the Famicom (NES) and any forms of video games. I was an enthusiastic gamer who sucked at it. I just loved gaming. There were many fantasy-themed games such as Wizardry, Ultima, The Tower of Druaga, Dragon Buster, and Dragon Quest. I had not gone to the world of imagination and storytelling until I played those games. I could be in control of the character in their world, and, I think, it motivated me to imagine the backstories of the people and places of the games. The 8-bit graphics and 8-bit music did their job to transport me to the other world. My interest led me to The Lord of the Rings when I was 15 or 16.
The Japanese translator was Teiji Seta, and the illustrator was Ryuichi Terashima. They did a tremendous job to recreate Middle-Earth in the little Bunko books. I am happy that I can read Japanese because of these books.
Cormac McCarthy, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Virginia Woolf
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy is definitely the canonical novel written in English. It was so difficult to read, and I spent months looking up new words I encountered in every sentence. But it was a rewarding experience. Don’t ask me why. I am not smart enough. I haven’t finished reading To the Lighthouse, by Virginia Woolf, yet. But I don’t care. I was blown away by the first paragraph, so I just read it repeatedly to savor the beauty of the English language. Garcia Marquez is…greatest. I read Love in the Time of Cholera on the bus while commuting to Downtown Los Angeles. I teared up at the ending in the crowded bus.
Joan Didion and William Zinsser
I love On Writing Well by William Zinsser for its writing. I think I calm down when I read his prose.