The passengers on the Hankyu Line by Hiro Arikawa

The passengers on the Hankyu Line by Hiro Arikawa is the second book I read by the author and I enjoyed it very much. While I prefer the first book, this was interesting too. The concept is fascinating and I don’t remember reading something similar. Most of the book takes place on a commuter train.

There are many characters, for example a young man meets the young woman, who always happens to borrow a library book just before he can take it out himself; a woman in a white bridal dress boards who is sad; and old lady discusses adopting a dog with her granddaughter. There are 5 stories and the narrative moves from one story to another, aided by the train stations.

I can’t say that I am well acquainted with Japanese culture and that made the book very interesting from that aspect as well. I highly recommend this book. It might be available at your local library, so do check if you can get it if you are curious.

The passengers on the Hankyu Line by Hiro Arikawa

Details about the picture: –
My rating: 5/5 Stars
Would I recommend it: yes
Published by: Doubleday
Year it was published: 2025
Format: Hardback
Genre(s): Fiction
Pages: 288

About the author: Hiro Arikawa won the tenth annual Dengeki Novel Prize for new writers for Shio no Machi: Wish on My Precious in 2003, and the book was published the following year. It was praised for its love story between a heroine and hero divided by age and social status, and for its depiction of military structures. Although she is a light novelist, her books from her second work onwards have been published as hardbacks alongside more literary works with Arikawa receiving special treatment in this respect from her publisher, MediaWorks. Shio no Machi was also later published in hardback. Her 2006 light novel Toshokan Sensō (The Library War) was named as Hon no Zasshi’s number one for entertainment for the first half of 2006, and came fifth in the Honya Taishō for that year, competing against ordinary novels.
She often writes about the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) and her first three novels concerning its three branches are known as the Jieitai Sanbusaku (The SDF Trilogy); she also wrote about the fictional Library Forces in the Toshokan Sensō series. Raintree no Kuni, which first appeared as a book within a book in Toshokan Nairan was later published by Arikawa as a spin-off with another publisher. It was adapted into a film titled World of Delight released In November 2015. Her novel Shokubutsu Zukan (ja) will be adapted into a film titled Shokubutsu Zukan: Unmei no Koi, Hiroimashita and scheduled for release on June 4, 2016.
Website & Social Media Links: –