Kanako Nishi and Allison Markin Powell on Sakura with Marie Mutsuki Mockett
A major bestseller in Japan now available in English
On tour from Tokyo, writer and artist Kanako Nishi and translator Allison Markin Powell present Kanako’s breakout novel Sakura. They will be in conversation with Marie Mutsuki Mockett.
This event is presented with support from the Japan Foundation.
Please RSVP on Black Bird’s website here(opens in a new tab).
About Sakura
Available in English at last, the international bestseller from one of Japan’s most acclaimed authors, a touching tale of a broken family contending with the pain of the past to live in the present, helped by the unforgettable dog who becomes their lifeline.
Sakura is the story of a family who is happy, until it isn’t. Skipping back and forth in time, it begins when the narrator, Kaoru, receives a letter from his estranged father announcing he will be home in Osaka for New Year’s. The letter spurs Kaoru to go back to his childhood home, and though he is apprehensive at returning, his spirits are unexpectedly lifted when he is greeted by Sakura, the family dog.
Growing up, the Hasegawas were the perfect family. Kaoru’s loving parents doted on their children. Kaoru’s baby sister, Miki, was cute and charismatic, and his older brother, Hajime—a natural leader, athlete, and charmer—was the superstar. The middle child, Kaoru, was good at school, but not a star student, friendly with girls but never popular. He was content to exist in Hajime’s shadow, and occasionally bask in his light. Then Hajime was involved in a tragic accident that fractured the Hasegawas, with nothing to keep them together but memories and melancholy.
Returning home, Kaoru and his family must find the strength to reckon with the past and pick up the pieces of their shattered lives. Luckily, there is Sakura, who somehow has managed to stay happy. What’s her secret? As the Hasegawas learn to let go, it is Sakura who holds the key to helping them move forward.
A major bestseller in Japan now available in English, Sakura is a tender, bittersweet, funny, and beautifully told tale about the magic and mysteries of familial love, from one of Japan’s most acclaimed writers.
Kanako Nishi is a Japanese writer and artist. She is the author of the novels Sakura, which was a major bestseller in Japan; Tsutenkaku (Osaka Tower), which won the Sakunosuke Oda Prize; Fukuwarai (Lucky Laugh), which received the first Hayao Kawai Prize; and Saraba!, which won the prestigious Naoki prize in 2015. She was named Vogue Japan’s Woman of the Year in 2015 and among Granta’s Best of Young Japanese Novelists 2016. Several of her books have been adapted for film. Born in Tehran in 1977, Nishi grew up in Cairo and Osaka and lives in Tokyo.
Allison Markin Powell is a literary translator, editor, and publishing consultant. She received the 2020 PEN America Translation Prize for The Ten Loves of Nishino by Hiromi Kawakami and a Pushcart Prize for “My Ass” by Kanako Nishi. Her other translations and co-translations include works by Osamu Dazai, Shiori Ito, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, and Kaoru Takamura.
Marie Mutsuki Mockett was born to an American father and Japanese mother. American Harvest: God, Country and Farming in the Heartland (Graywolf) won both the 2021 Northern California Book Award and the Nebraska Book Award, and is a tribute to the complicated and nuanced history of the United States and its people. Her memoir, “Where the Dead Pause, and the Japanese Say Goodbye,” was a finalist for the 2016 PEN Open Book Award. Her newest book, a novel, “The Tree Doctor” (Graywolf), was on numerous most anticipated lists, including Kirkus, The Washington Post and Oprah Daily. She lives in San Francisco and Tokyo, and has been on the faculty of the Bennington Writing Seminars and the Bread Loaf Writers Conference. She is a Fulbright Fellow to Japan for 2022-2023. Her new book, Tokyo Future Past, is forthcoming (Graywolf).