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12 — BOOKS
Further Reading
Books for getting to know Asahikawa's stories more deeply — novels written in Asahikawa, a record of words born here, and even a mountain novel about the very same cold wave. For before your trip, and after it.
Literature born in Asahikawa
Freezing Point (Hyoten)
A long novel set in the Arboretum that grapples with "original sin" in the human heart. Winner of the 10-million-yen fiction prize. The air of Asahikawa's streets and woods flows right through it.
Shiokari Pass (Shiokari Toge)
A novel based on a railway accident at Shiokari Pass, north of Asahikawa. It depicts Meiji-era railways, faith, and the way one young man chose to live.
The Wind Is Howling (Michi Ariki)
Her years as a teacher, Japan's defeat, long convalescence, faith and marriage — an autobiography of Miura Ayako's life before she became a writer. It sheds a lot of light on the background of "Freezing Point."
Shirobamba
An autobiographical novel in which Asahikawa-born Inoue Yasushi depicts his boyhood on the Izu Peninsula. A book for discovering the writer's roots.
The language and world of the Ainu
Ainu Shin'yoshu (Ainu Songs of the Gods)
A record of Kamuy-yukar left by a 19-year-old girl raised in Chikabumi. Romanized Ainu and Japanese translations appear side by side, and its preface is celebrated as a masterpiece.
Poetry, and a story of revival
Oguma Hideo Shishu (Collected Poems of Oguma Hideo)
A collection by Oguma Hideo, who worked as a reporter for the Asahikawa Shimbun before making his name as a poet in Tokyo. His humor and rebellious spirit shine through.
"Asahiyama Dobutsuen" Kakumei (The Asahiyama Zoo Revolution: A Revival Project That Made a Dream Come True)
The former zoo director's own account of the road from the brink of closure to number one in Japan. The story of the 14 sketches appears too.
A book about the same winter
Death March on Mount Hakkoda (Hakkodasan Shi no Hoko)
A mountain novel about the snow-march disaster that took place in January 1902, in the same cold wave that brought Asahikawa its −41°C (Memories of Minus 41°C).
* Publishers and editions listed are representative. Availability may change if titles go out of print or new editions are released.