The Nakano Thrift Shop

The Nakano Thrift Shop by Hiromi Kawakami is a warm, funny, and characteristically subtle novel set in a small Tokyo second-hand shop, where the owner Mr Nakano, his disorganised sister Hitomi, and their young assistant Takeo navigate work, love, and the peculiar intimacy of spending days together sorting through other people’s discarded belongings. Kawakami’s gift is to find in the everyday — a piece of secondhand pottery, a casual meal, a misunderstood gesture — the emotional weight and complexity that usually requires grand narrative. The love story between Takeo and a young woman who comes to work in the shop develops with the same unhurried patience that characterises all of Kawakami’s best work. Published by Portobello Books, this is an excellent companion to Strange Weather in Tokyo — warmer in tone and equally precise.