Tokyo Tower Author: [Japan] Lily Frank Publisher: CITIC Press

This novel is like a light and sweet rice ball, which makes many office workers who left their hometowns to work in Tokyo choke up on the subway.

Unanimously recommended by bookstore staff throughout Japan, and winner of the 2006 "Honya Award".

The movie of the same name starring Odagiri Joe, Kiki Kirin and Kobayashi Kaoru won six awards.

This novel, with the main themes of "maternal love" and "small town youth going to the city to work hard", is Lily Frank's first novel. Since its publication in 2005, it has been a hot seller in Japan with rave reviews and sales have exceeded 2 million copies so far. This book can be said to be an autobiographical novel of the author's first half of life. It writes about the memory of living with his father, mother and family of three before he was three years old, and writes about his mother's cancer and death. It uses bits and pieces of life records to write about the mother's endless love and care for her son. The writing of the whole book makes people laugh and cry, and the writing style is humorous and touching. It not only writes about the mother's family love, but also the love between grandparents and grandchildren, as well as the memory of growing up with childhood playmates in that materially poor era, and also allows us to see our own shadows in the author. Lily Frank said: "In fact, I don't want people to cry or laugh. Some people will immediately call to recommend the novel to their friends after reading it: You must read this novel. Some people will close the book, call home, and say they will come back for dinner today."

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"Dad's life seemed very broad, but Mom's life seemed very narrow in the eyes of 18-year-old me, because Mom divided her life with me."

A very ordinary mother, when her son Masaya was three years old, she left her husband and took him away and raised him independently.

My mother who works in a snack bar to make a living and never loses her smile no matter how busy she is;

No matter how bad my studies were, I never scolded my mother.

When I buy something, I never think about myself, but only about my mom.

My mother always sets the alarm to wake up in the middle of the night and stir the rice bran so that I can eat delicious pickled vegetables in the morning;

My mother, who was clearly short of money, paid hundreds of thousands of yen on the spot to buy a car for me;

Even when he was dying of stomach cancer, he still tried desperately to leave something for my mother with his lips that could not move;

My mother is afraid of causing trouble to others after her death, so she saves 3,000 yen every month for her own funeral.

A mother like this always waits until we are separated before she remembers to cherish me.

When Masaya, who was fifteen years old and in his rebellious period, got on the train to boarding school, he saw brand new clothes and a wrinkled 10,000 yen tucked inside the luggage prepared by his mother. He started crying while eating his lunch box.

About the Author · · · · · ·