Status: read in Czech

When 17-year-old Jana gets to her dream Tokyo, she would like to stay here forever. She soon learns the immeasurable consequences of such a wish. She finds herself locked in a magical circle in the bustling Shibuya district. While the younger version of Jana wanders through the city, experiencing strange situations and looking for a way home, 24-year-old Jana is studying Japanology in Prague, seeking a scholarship to Tokyo and, together with an older classmate, racking her brains over the translation of a Japanese story.

The fate of its author, the until recently forgotten writer Kawashita, will have a greater influence on the course of events than both Janas would ever have expected… The readily and vividly colloquial novel written by a young debuting Japanologist is about finding a way to a different culture, about the ambiguity of the real world and about the awkwardness of a dream come true.

Rating: A very readable and hilarious piece of fiction, which I read in one breath in a few days. Although the colloquial language of the book didn't quite fit me, the story itself is very interesting, as well as the breakdown into two story lines, not very related at the beginning of the story, which come together nicely at the end. I also highlight the segmentation of the narrative, where the author often inserts the story into the story, even into constructions of higher orders (excerpts of translated stories, etc.). Well, and of course I like the whole theme of the novel, in which the author describes Japanese realms basically as I remember them from my own experience, as if I were back in Shibuya and Japan. Thanks!