قصة الكتاب :
Bungeishunjū, 2011. 400 pp. ¥2,000. ISBN 978-4-16-374260-1.
Hoshino Hiromi
Born in Tokyo in 1966. Author and photographer. Won the Ōya
Sōichi Prize for Nonfiction in 2001 for Korogaru Honkon ni koke wa
haenai [A Rolling Hong Kong Gathers No Moss]. In 2012 Konnyakuya
hyōryūki won awards including the Yomiuri Prize for Literature
(in the essays and travel journals category). Author of Sentō
no megami [Goddess of the Bathhouse], Orokamono, Chūgoku o yuku
[A Fool’s Travels in China], and other works. Has also published
photography books including Kanan taikan [Feeling Huanan].

This is a nonfiction account of a journey that Hoshino Hiromi made in search of
her roots through six generations in Tokyo, Chiba, and Wakayama Prefectures.
The author wanders around Japan (and back through time) without any particular
destination in mind, compiling the reminiscences and anecdotes shared by her
relatives. The result is a family saga set against the backdrop of modern Japanese
history. Hoshino’s parents ran a small factory in Tokyo, but her ancestors were
fishermen. Her grandfather, originally from Sotobō on the Pacific Coast of Chiba
Prefecture, moved to Tokyo and started the factory business. The family was known
by the curious professional name of “Konnyakuya” (the “konnyaku sellers,” where
konnyaku refers to a food made from a tuber known as “devil’s tongue”)—a puzzling
name with no obvious connection to the sea. The author’s research brings
her to the memoirs of her beloved grandfather, where she discovers that her forebears
on the “Konnyakuya” side of the family originally emigrated to Sotobō from
the distant land of Kii (modern Wakayama Prefecture). The book brings vividly
to life the cheerful plebeian ways of this fishing family, full of energy and laughter.
The writing is imbued with a rich sense of the excitement and joy of discovery as
the author’s untiring fieldwork leads her on to new discoveries—an enthusiasm
that has captured the imagination of many readers. (NM)