Name: Strange Weather in Tokyo
Rating: 3.529801324503311 (151 reviews)
ISBN: 9781846275081

Hiromi Kawakami

Tsukiko is in her late thirties and living alone when one night she happens to meet one of her former high school teachers, Sensei, in a bar. After this initial encounter, the pair continue to meet occasionally to share food and drink sake and come to develop a hesitant intimacy which tilts awkwardly into love.

Strange Weather in Tokyo

Having a situationship in your 70s is a little crazy. I liked how the book was perfectly able to capture the feeling of loneliness but I still cannot wrap my head around their push-pull relationship. I did not like how Tsukiko seems to place Sensei in a pedestal, centering her world around him and following him around. All in all, nothing happened to the book - just them walking and drinking and patting heads.

ikkychan

In Hiromi Kawakami’s 
 Strange Weather in Tokyo
, the capital city is painted not as a bustling metropolis but as a place of quiet alienation—a Tokyo where people coexist in close quarters yet rarely connect. Against this backdrop, Tsukiko and Sensei stand out as two solitary figures who find an unlikely companionship. Their relationship, which sits somewhere between friendship and romance, becomes a small but profound shelter from the loneliness of urban life. Tsukiko, in her late thirties, is unmarried, without close friends or prospects of a romantic future. Her days are shaped by simple routines: office work, solitary meals, nights at the local bar. There is a subtle but constant sense that she is “out of step” with societal expectations for women her age. Sensei, meanwhile, is a retired teacher living alone, surrounded by his books and memories. Whether widowed or divorced, his past life is hinted at through the recurring anecdote of his ex-wife. His age and reserved nature make him nearly invisible in a society centered on youth. What binds them is not grand passion but the intimacy of small rituals. They meet in liminal spaces—bars, late-night streets, park benches—places where the pressure of societal roles slips away. Their connection rests on three recurring patterns. First, silence as intimacy: their conversations are sparse, circling around food, weather, or baseball. What is left unsaid carries more weight than declarations of love. Second, rituals over romance: their meals and drinks take on sacred significance. Sitting at the same bar stools or ordering the same dishes transforms routine into ritual, building a private world only they inhabit. Third, ambiguity as safety: by refusing to define their relationship, they protect themselves from rejection or disappointment. Their bond survives precisely because it never fully names itself. Yet Kawakami does not romanticize this ambiguity. Instead, she reveals the subtle power dynamics embedded in their companionship. The teacher–student hierarchy never dissolves: Tsukiko still calls him “Sensei” in private, reinforcing his authority. He often teases or corrects her, setting the rhythm of their interactions, while she reacts, sometimes with irritation but rarely in open defiance. Even the island trip to visit his ex-wife’s grave—an intimate yet evasive gesture—is dictated on his terms. The imbalance becomes sharper in moments of emotional intensity. Tsukiko, usually deferential, is the one who bears the burden of vulnerability. She confesses love when drunk; she voices jealousy when Sensei’s attention strays; she absorbs the discomfort when outsiders question their relationship. Sensei, in contrast, withdraws into detachment. His eventual proposal is stiff, as if he is still negotiating from a teacher’s lectern rather than speaking as a man in love. Why is Tsukiko the one to carry the emotional weight? Kawakami points us toward three forces. Gender roles: Tsukiko, as a woman, is socially conditioned to be the emotional caretaker, softening conflict and moderating her needs. Age and authority: Sensei’s seniority grants him the luxury of passivity—he can afford to wait while Tsukiko feels pressed against time. Fear of loss: Tsukiko’s deep loneliness makes her cling to the relationship, even if it feels uneven. A telling moment comes after she mentions her date with another man, Kojima. Rather than engage, Sensei suggests absurdly, “Let us go to the pachinko parlor.” Tsukiko complies, knowing further confrontation would only push him away. Through such moments, Kawakami exposes how emotional labor often falls on the person with less power in a relationship—more often than not, the younger woman. Tsukiko’s quiet endurance becomes both moving and painful to witness. At its best, Strange Weather in Tokyo is a meditation on regret, impermanence, and the beauty of smallness. The seasons, rituals, and half-finished sentences between Tsukiko and Sensei highlight how love is built less on declarations than on the ordinary, fleeting details of everyday life. Even in their final union, the question “what if?” lingers, haunting the silence as much as their earlier meetings in bars and streets. And yet, as much as I admire Kawakami’s delicate prose and her exploration of loneliness, I remain conflicted. The novel circles again and again around the same power imbalance—between man and woman, elder and younger—that constrains Tsukiko’s agency. Love here is tender, but it is also compromised, demanding that one side quietly bear the weight. This may be true to many relationships, but it also limits the story’s ability to feel revolutionary or truly new. What lingers, then, is not only the melancholy of missed chances but also the frustration of watching intimacy shaped by inequality.

Maureen

"I used to think that we complemented each other - as the saying goes: even a cracked pot has a lid that fits. But, as it turned out, I suppose I didn't fit my wife very well." 

***

A quiet read. The translation makes use of simple words that leave a resounding impact. It's a slow burn romance, but it's precisely for this reason that we are able to witness the growth of their relationship--from awkward strangers to sincere lovers. 

I think they fit each other very well.

sani

this was my first kawakami book and i am too stunned by the emotions. it was a book with no plot, but ah, the feelings. i personally felt seen by tsukiko. and sensei. i don't know how to feel about him. he was not really the best man out there but then again, i liked him, so i don't know what that says about me. the hopeless romantic inside me died at the realistic ending though.

Colton Ray

This was fairly enjoyable, but the translation to English always seems to take away something.

Meg Ma. Guerrero 

** spoiler alert **
           Really wanted to like this book but I think I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would because of where her relationship went with Sensei. I guess it made me a little uncomfortable but that's on me, not the book. 

The end left me feeling nothing in particular, unfortunately. Was just happy to get a glimpse of Tokyo through the story.

i enjoyed how tsukiko’s thoughts and feelings were written out—made her very relatable.

ellie

Tsukiko is in her late 30s and living alone when one night she happens to meet one of her former high school teachers, 'Sensei', in a bar. He is at least thirty years her senior, retired and, she presumes, a widower. After this initial encounter, the pair continue to meet occasionally to share food and drink sake, and as the seasons pass - from spring cherry blossom to autumnal mushrooms - Tsukiko and Sensei come to develop a hesitant intimacy which tilts awkwardly and poignantly into love. Perfectly constructed, funny, and moving, Strange Weather in Tokyo is a tale of modern Japan and old-fashioned romance. This edition contains the bonus story, 'Parade', which imagines an ordinary day in the lives of this unusual couple.

Sophie Wang

3.75 stars rounded up. it was captivating in its mundaneness and i ended up warming to and understanding the unconventional love described.

y✦

✦ charming read
✦ main character's frustrations of being a 30 sumth yr old baby? super relatable
✦ very midnight diner
✦ 1-sitting read

beautifully written. personally not a fan of the age gap but huge respect for how loneliness is written with such consideration for its realness. this is the reality of many people which is what makes it so empathetic to a generation that has more often than not encountered what it is to feel truly alone and to long for intimacy.

Janelli

diya

as you grow older and the world gets bigger, you somehow end up getting smaller in your own world. the hustle and bustle makes it loud the moment you step out, but then inside, this deafening silence, and the realisation of loneliness sets it. it doesn't hamper your day to day living, you go on spending your day quite diligently, that's what most of us do. and then ever so slightly does this cold breeze blow over you and you turn around to see an empty space. two somewhat lonely strangers meet, meet again and again and then find the breeze a little less colder when they do. that's all there is to this tale, but every chapter paints this scene that plays over and over in your head, be it a warm hand to hold or just a living being sitting there besides you sharing a meal. maybe you don't need the chatter and the focus on you all the time, most of the time, all we need is one other person right there, whose breathing itself makes us sigh slightly warmer.

Abigail

Me solté a llorar en las últimas páginas.

erin

This was great. It made me cry. Yeah, it's a may/december romance between a 70-something and a thirty-something, but it's also just about loneliness, nostalgia, modernity, and being outside the flowing stream of society. The sex is one throwaway vague sentence, which suited me just fine. I'm here for the quiet vulnerability and the power of eating and drinking between humans. ¯

\_(ツ)_/¯ can't explain why I liked it so much, but there it is.

renni

Uma história sobre solidão né. A solidão da Tsukiko fala num volume alto.

Acho que a estranheza que senti pelo romance não me conectei tanto assim com a história. Talvez tenha ficado numa expectativa alta depois de ter lido Querida Kombini. Não que tenha sido ruim, só não foi pra mim.

Insana a quantidade de saquê que os dois queridos consumiram durante o livro, haja fígado.

B Sai Sushma

The author's writing is so pretty and soft.

charisa

this book made me hungry and sad, but not hungry enough for me to leave my bed, nor sad enough to make me cry. so it only gets 3/5.

Joana da Silva

Please, do not interpret my 2-stars as this book's worth, I simply think it wasn't the one for me. I did like it but also feel that I have yet to reach my Asian literature era. I saw a good review about this one and since it was a short novel, I thought it would be a good way to test the waters yet again, after hating my one trip to Murakami town. It's not a bad book and I'm guessing it will be highly appreciated by other readers. I enjoyed some aspects of it, it's an unusual romance and there were some bits that I really enjoyed such as the writing - it's very clean and somehow able to carry some heavy feelings within its simplicity. This might be my longest 2-star review ever with zero hate in it as I'm trying really hard to perceive that I liked this book, it's just not very memorable among all my other reads. EDIT POST-READING OTHER REVIEWS: there's one thing this book does extraordinarily well and that is portraying loneliness and its effects on our lives. I give a 5-star rating to that aspect.

I'll leave you with 2 quotes I really loved:

"I feel pity for these batteries that worked so hard for my benefit, and I can't throw them away. It seems a shame to get rid of them the moment they die, after these batteries have illuminated my lights, signaled my sounds, and run my motors." (a very creative way of justifying one's tendency to dabble in hoarding, will for sure use it in the future)

"Sensei, were you a wimp when you were little?"
"I'm still very much a wimp, even now." (Same, Sensei, same. Never felt more understood by an old Japanese man.)

this was a very gentle, very delicate novel. it is very quiet but very atmospheric regardless.

i am afraid that it did not leave as strong of an impression on me as i had hoped for, though i can appreciate its strengths. i believe this is partly due to the love story being between a woman nearing her 40s and her former teacher in his 60s-70s. the stages of their lives where they are at may have been a little too removed from my own for me to be able to truly immerse myself in the story (as in i kept thinking the main narrator was my age which made the story a bit uncomfortable to read).

this was a very gentle, very delicate novel. it is very quiet but very atmospheric regardless.

i am afraid that it did not leave as strong of an impression on me as i had hoped for, though i can appreciate its strengths. i believe this is partly due to the love story being between a woman nearing her 40s and her former teacher in his 60s-70s. the stages of their lives where they are at may have been a little too removed from my own for me to be able to truly immerse myself in the story (as in i kept thinking the main narrator was my age which made the story a bit uncomfortable to read).

Strange Weather in Tokyo

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