The Healing Hippo of Hinode Park

By Michiko Aoyama

Narrated by Naruto Komatsu and others

I picked up this book for an audio read after having enjoyed the author’s What you are looking for is in the library, a sweet book where a mysterious librarian seems to know exactly what book to recommend to patrons who cross her desk. It was a feel-good book and had a library as the epicenter. Of course, I liked it. But this novel was a bit of a letdown.

The title itself contains the word “healing’ and gives you a hint of what to expect. It is a novel that follows the popular “cosy” or “healing” literature trend that has increased in popularity in Japanese and Korean literature in recent years. 

In this case, the connecting point for the loosely linked stories is a hippo play structure at a park near a newly occupied condominium. The hippo, known as Kabahiko is known to have healing properties, an urban myth perpetuated by the elderly lady who runs Sunrise Cleaners, an old store in the neighborhood.

A handful of residents of various ages – school aged to middle aged, happen to come by the park and turn to Kabahiko for conversation and solace. As they figure out the reason behind their physical, mental and emotional struggles by sharing their concerns with Kabahiko, their lives take on a new sheen. The young boy afraid of running makes a new friend and learns to enjoy the sport, a young mother returns to a job she loves and so on. Every character is facing a conundrum, some physical, some moral and others are trying to solve what seems like an intractable situation. Once the healing grace of Kabahiko shines on them, they resume their lives with more confidence and optimism.

The individual characters in the various chapters occasionally cross paths while at the cleaners or in the condo but their stories do not dovetail into a common narrative. The final story is of the more-or-less estranged son of the lady who runs Sunrise Cleaners who had known the powers of Kabahiko as a young boy who once again turns to him for guidance.

My opinion: If you like the format of a series of stand-alone but lightly linked feel-good stories that provide assurance that life’s problems have simple solutions, go for it.

The passengers on the Hankyu line

By Hiro Arikawa

Translated by Allison Markin Powell

Audiobook narrated by Natsumi Kuroda

I picked up this book because I had enjoyed The Traveling Cat Chronicles by the same author some time ago and this book falls in the same “healing’ genre of fiction. Unlike the previous book where a protagonist and his cat travel, this book follows a series of characters who board a particular train . 

The stories are interlinked are passengers get on and off the Hankyu rail line that runs between the towns of Takarazuka and Nishinomiya. It begins with a young woman who sits next to a young man who considers a rival because he has seen her aggressively reaching for the same books that he himself had wanted to read. Although not keen to make conversation, they end up talking and he follows her as she exits the train and this leads them into a new relationship.

There are other pairs; a grandmother and her granddaughter, a young woman with her abusive boyfriend; two college students; a beautiful single woman attending a wedding and a group of young high school students and a few unruly elderly women, who board and alight at various stations on the route. 

Bits and pieces of conversations or overheard comments between these passengers lead to minor change of plans and major epiphanies and life changes for some of them. The reader gets to once again meet the same characters after a few months have passed when the situation has changed drastically. As is the case with most books in the healing genre of fiction, the resolution is always towards the happy ending. The grandmother has fulfilled a lifelong wish for a dog, the librarygoers are no longer rivals but a couple ready to commit to each other, the abusive relationship has been terminated.

While the story was interesting, it wasn’t as deep or satisfying as The Traveling Cat Chronicles and in the audio format, the narration was not the best. Yet, it makes us think about those random conversations and insights that we can sometimes glean from them as we make our way through what seems a regular day but that leaves a significant mark on us and may even take us on a new path.

My opinion: A run of the mill story with good insight into Japanese culture that makes us wonder about the role of serendipity in our quotidian life.

Photo by malwina nogaj on Unsplash