Novel
Sejuk-sejuk Tokyo
Not translated into English
Wijaya Mala · 1973
Synopsis
Tokyo in the cold: in Tokyo, Asan, a Malaysian left without rest by the failure of his marriage to Manis, ruined by jealousy, befriends people from several countries and for a time finds love again with Yoko, a hostess. Then he falls for a young Japanese woman, in a tender relationship but one marked by strangeness and clashes, in which the gap between two cultures and two traditions weighs more and more heavily.
Context
The novel appeared in 1973; the national language institute, the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, reissued it in 1990. A study published in 2015 in the journal Malay Literature places it among the Malay books that introduce Japan: it notes the depiction of customs, politeness, the kimono, geishas, formulas of thanks, and a city where moral values waver under foreign influences. According to this study, the book owes less to the author's study stay than to a moment in Japanese history.
Who it is for
A sentimental novel in Malay, set in Japan, which exists neither in French nor in English.
Prizes and reception
Studied alongside Arena Wati's Japanese novels and Muhammad Haji Salleh's poems, as a Malay view of Japan.
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