Trying something new, just as more practice with reading Japanese (and to see what kinds of books I’m looking at on Amazon.jp, when I come across an intriguing cover). Translation is the devil, so this is all Very, Very Rough.
Koteki no Kanata, by Uehashi Nahoko (also author of the Seirei no Moribito series).
“Beyond the Werefox’s Flute, by Uehashi Nahoko:
His flame-colored coat shining as he ran through the evening fields, a young fox met a mysterious girl.
Nobi, a familiar born of the Pale Lineage.
Sayo, inheritor of the Kikimimi power [the ability to hear thoughts].
And Koharumaru, a boy imprisoned in the Morikage mansion.
In two neighboring countries, they will be swept into a spiral of past destinies and old magic.
This is a tale of two strong hearts, alone.”
And go look at this page — the Japanese Board on Books for Young People. It’s got synopses of a handful of Japanese children’s novels — pretty cool, I think, considering how little information about other countries’ native literature is made available in the U.S., in my experience.
