By Andrew Hamlin
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Courtesy of Harper Collins.
She’s sold several million copies of her books, and they’ve been translated into at least 15 languages around the globe. But Michiko Aoyama, touring the United States in support of the new English-language version of her novel, “Hot Chocolate on Thursday,” allowed that she’s never seen Seattle before.
“This is my first time in Seattle,” said Aoyama, who’s leading a discussion of her book at the Seattle Central Library on Feb. 25. “I have an image of nature and the city living in harmony. And I heard from the Seattle staff that there’s a lot of drizzle. I thought it was very romantic to imagine gentle rain refreshing the city. It would also be perfect for reading in my room. I love the smell after it stops raining, so I’m looking forward to seeing what it smells like.”
Michiko Aoyama. Courtesy of Michiko Aoyama and Harper Collins.
Aoyama was born in 1970 in Japan’s Aichi Prefecture, on Honshu Island. After graduating from university, she moved to Sydney, Australia, to work for a Japanese-language newspaper. Later, she ended up in Tokyo as a magazine editor. Asked how journalism influenced her fiction writing, she said, “I think I learned a lesson in how to write sentences that are easy to understand and convey to anyone.”
But her strongest influence for her own fiction was novelist Saeko Himuro, who wrote novels, essays, and plays. She is best known in the United States for her novel, “I Can Hear The Sea,” adapted into film by Studio Ghibli as “Ocean Waves.”
“I came across her novels when I was a teenager,” remembered Aoyama, “and I felt a sense of freedom in my mind, so I started writing novels myself. When I finished writing one story in my notebook, I decided to become a novelist.”
She’s had four novels published in English, including “Hot Chocolate on Thursday,” “Matcha on Monday,” “The Healing Hippo of Hinode Park,” and her breakout hit, “What You Are Looking For Is in the Library.” This last one, a loving and slightly surrealistic ode to library life, presents a librarian who mysteriously delivers exactly what each of her patrons wants and needs.
Asked how her work evolves from one book to the next, Aoyama replied, “I’m not really sure about that. However, the more I write, the more I feel like I have more things I want to write.”
She did, however, say that a common theme in her work is that what her characters go through “can happen to anyone. There are no ‘good people’ or ‘bad people,’ it’s all a state of mind. How others see you, and how you see others, each [person] has their own feelings and reasons.”
“What You Are Looking For Is in the Library” has made its way around the world.
“I never expected this. It still doesn’t really feel real,” Aoyama said. “I’m just amazed. I think the translators’ skill also played a part. I feel very blessed.”
“Hot Chocolate on Thursday,” though promoted as a new work in America, and in a new English translation, is actually her first published book. It was first published in Japan in 2017. Aoyama said that if she had not debuted with this novel, her writing style may have been different.
“In Japan, it has been enjoyed in various forms, including stage performances and readings by popular voice actors,” Aoyama said. “Incidentally, sequels such as ‘Matcha on Monday’ and ‘Talking In a Moonlit Forest’ have also been published, so please look forward to them!”
Michiko Aoyama discusses her novel “Hot Chocolate on Thursday,” in conversation with Moira Macdonald at the Seattle Central Library on Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. The Seattle Central Library is located at 1000 Fourth Avenue in downtown Seattle. For more information, visit https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/event/michiko-aoyama-seattle-public-library.
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