Nipponia Nippon

A fast-paced darkly ironic novella from one of Japan’s contemporary luminaries—and the husband of Mieko Kawakami—making his English language debut. A teenager gripped by obsession seeks to free endangered birds in this darkly funny study of solitude and toxic masculinity set in modern-day Tokyo. Perfect for fans of Earthlings by Sayaka Murata and Kawakami’s Breasts and Eggs. Isolated in his Tokyo apartment 17-year-old Haruo spends all his time online researching the plight of the endangered Japanese crested ibis Nipponia Nippon.. Living on an allowance from his parents he drops ever further into a fantasy world in which he alone shares a special connection with the last of these noble birds held at a conservation centre on the island of Sado.. His conclusion is simple: it is his destiny to free the birds from a society that does not appreciate them by whatever means necessary. With his emotional state becoming ever more erratic he begins sourcing weapons and preparing for a reckoning in this darkly ironic study of toxic masculinity.