The Cherry Blossom Bookshop only appears during the fleeting cherry blossom season, and to access it you have to be reading the exact same passage in the same book as the owner, Sakura, at the exact same time. You might think this would make it near impossible for anyone to ever get through, but throughout the book we meet four characters whose time at the shop gives them a chance to gain new insight and move on from past hurt. In the final visitor’s story we also learn a bit more about the origin of the shop and its inhabitants.
Sakura and her calico cat Kobako tend the shop and offer a safe space for their visitors. Many of the stories we see unfold involve grief and regrets. In the first, we meet a woman whose mother has recently died, whose career seems to be on the brink of crumbling, and whose brother hasn’t been around to share the burden. The shop allows her a chance to re-evaluate the actions of her mother and reflect on what it meant for her. Next, we meet Shingo, an older man who is suffering from dementia. He misses his departed wife terribly - can the shop allow him a chance to see her once more, and to reconnect with the family he has? Twins Shiho and Kaho find themselves needing to revisit a significant moment from their young adult lives, a moment which has haunted them both and which they wish they could have spoken about freely. Finally, we meet Kozue, whose mother has disappeared and whose father has become stuck, not wanting to admit that she is gone.
This book gives the impression of being a cosy read, but do not be fooled into thinking it will be all feel-good. As mentioned above, each character is going through a difficult time in one way or another, and the sadness does come out. Ultimately, they find comfort or release in the bookshop so it does not feel like a melancholy book, but it is certainly not cheerful escapism. The final sections become quite philosophical and meta which I quite enjoyed. I also enjoyed the translator’s note at the end which explained a bit about the Japanese language and its intricacies that the average English-language reader wouldn’t know, allowing us to better understand some of the specifics of the book.
This was my first foray into the cosy Japanese magical realism novels that have been proliferating in bookshops over recent years. It was a thoughtful read and quite enjoyable, but the books in it felt incidental more than integral - they are vehicles for the story. For some of the characters they feel more embedded in their stories, but this wasn’t a love letter to books in the way some bookshop based books are. Enjoyable, interesting, and with a beautiful cover, this makes a nice read for Spring.
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