The Sea of Japan by Keita Nagano

Publisher: SparkPress
Publication date: September 3th 2019
Pages: 344
(This reviews contains spoilers/parts of the plot)

Lindsey is an American woman from who a few years ago escaped from her not so fulfilling English teaching job in Boston to Japan, to start teaching English at a school in Hime. She is not that happy with her life there too, altough her best friend Judy also lives not to far away. It takes a turn for the bad when there is an incident with a bullied kid that gets her in trouble with the head of the school, and things take a turn for the worst when one day she goes to Toyoma bay, slips of an edgy rock, and falls into the sea.

She is saved to by a local fisherman named Ichiro, who found her, and is the older brother of her students. This is the turn around point for her new and more happy life. She and Ichiro start spending more and more time together.And besides teaching she also start to work at the sushi restaurant below her apartment As she and Ichiro grow closer, however, she also learns that not all is well in Hime, and she is drawn into a war to stop the town next door from overfishing their shared bay, which leads to a lot of tempered meetings with the local fishing board and that of the neighboring town. Together with Ichiro and Judy, they try everything they can to stop the fishing war destroy the town of Hime, which is depending on the fishing industry,But when their efforts backfire, Hime gets closer to falling apart―putting Lindsey’s friends, her budding relationship with Ichiro, and her career in jeopardy...

The Sea of Japan is a beautiful written book that immediately takes you to Japan, so it is a perfect read for everyone interested in Japanese life and culture. It wasn't anything I expected it to be in a positive way. As I didn't read the synopsis beforehand, I didn't expect the main character to be an American woman, I expected a Japanese main character. But anyhow, the characters of Lindsey and Ichiro and how their lives connected in the small close-knit community of the fishing town of Hime was very entertaining to read, altough it had some tragic moments for Ichiro. At some points the pace of the story lacks a little speed and get's stuck in a little too many difficult meetings at the fishing board, but besides that it is a very beautiful and entertaining read, very original and different, and I recommend reading it!!