Firstly, this cover is absolutely beautiful.
A slow, dreamy modern Japanese novel, this ticked pretty much all of my boxes. I'd read Heaven by the same author and thought it was okay. The ending to that was pretty shocking.
This is a very character driven story, so I would definitely recommend if you like those sorts of books!

I wanted to enjoy this but sadly I was unable to finish it. For a book about a proofreader, it seemed to contain lots of errors and translation issues. Initially, I did wonder if this was intentional but after reading some more I became irritated.

A new Kawakami book in English is a cause for celebration. This might not appeal to some, but it is a great book to know Japan and how it treats its women who do not follow the traditional path that has been required from them.

“If I thought about things long enough, I would always lose track of my own feelings, which left me with no choice but to proceed as usual, without taking any action.”
Subtle, delicate, effective; Kawakami's realism is absolutely my cup of tea.

well. there were some really good parts, but i couldn't ignore the boring parts either.

it's insightful and sentimental, and i honestly found a lot of observations and experiences relatable. although it took me a while to warm up to the story, i also like how the main character's loneliness and misery is contrasted with the other women in the book; i see what Kawakami is doing with this.

i can't ignore the fact that reading this was a chore for me though. i can recognize that it was intentional to depict how mundane and uneventful the life of a middle-aged woman's life is, but it was so frustrating to follow a very passive narrator. also, i like the stale and melancholic atmosphere, but it was honestly ruined by the thirsting over a man pushing 60. i found it unnecessary and i don't get the appeal. maybe i'm too young to understand the romantic and sexual appeal of a grandfather, idk.

maybe i'll try Kawakami's other books, maybe i won't. i'm not totally closed off to the idea of reading another one of her works, but i'm not very ecstatic about it either. maybe her books aren't just for me.

I must admit that I am not a great reader of Japanese fiction. In fact, All the Lovers in the Night is only my first book by Mieko Kawakami, despite the sensational international success of Heaven and Breasts and Eggs. Before this novel, my most recent Japanese reads were two novels by Sayaka Murata: Earthlings and Convenience Store Woman.

At first glance, Fuyuko Irie, the protagonist and narrator of All the Lovers in the Night has many similarities to Murata’s characters. In her mid-thirties, she has been stuck for years in the same job (a proofreader in Fuyuko’s case), just like Keiko in Convenience Store Woman. She is a shy introvert, and has very few interesting things to say about herself:

I couldn’t think of a single thing about me that would be worth sharing. My name is Fuyuko Irie, a freelance proofreader, thirty-four years old. I’ll be turning thirty-five in the winter. I live alone. I’ve been living in the same apartment forever. I was born in Nagano. Out in the country. One of the valleys. I like to go out on a walk once a year on my birthday, Christmas Eve, in the middle of the night.
As in Murata’s novels, societal mores weigh heavily on the protagonist. Fuyuko feels lost and tired under the pressure of society to “conform”: be more affable and outgoing, find a partner, marry and have children.

Murata responds to this theme with black humour (in Convenience Store Woman) or dark, shocking anger (in Earthlings). All the Lovers in the Night is, in comparison, understated but surprisingly moving. In an attempt to break out of her mould, Fuyuko starts drinking until this starts to be a real problem. Once, in one of her inebriated outings, she meets Mitsutsuka and starts a strange friendship with him. Mitsutsuka is non-judgmental, accepting Fuyuko as she is, willing to ignore her weaknesses (not least her awkwardness and reliance on alcohol). He introduces himself as a physics teacher in a local school, and over several meetings at a coffee shop in Tokyo, the two discuss light and colour, a subject of fascination to them both. Fuyuko’s fondness for Mitsutsuka grows and, as we wonder whether it will grow into love, Fuyuko starts spreading her wings, like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon.

This may sound sentimental and there are, indeed, old-fashioned (R/r)omantic aspects to the story, which I don’t mind at all. All the Lovers in the Night is, however, more than an entertaining romance. It approaches the plight of the protagonist (and people like her) with an insight and understanding which make this novel particularly engaging. The first-rate, flowing translation is by Sam Bett and David Boyd.

This is the kind of book and story that you become fully invested in.
I really didn't have any expectations going into this but it completely absorbed me.
It is also the first book that I've read from Mieko Kawakami but it won't be the last.
It was actually rather relatable, as a thirty year old copywriter and copy editor who works at home myself and I really enjoyed that it wasn't like anything else that I've read before.
This is a story about human connection, isolation, loneliness and much more and one that I would definitely recommend.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

All the lovers in the night

Oh this was my whole cup of tea and more. Mieko Kawakami said want to read a book about a flawed mid 30 year old woman called Fuyuko who basically besides from her one friend she talks and keeps in contact with, lives a very solitary and lonely life working as a freelance Proofreader. I said yes and I ate that shizzle right up in one sitting.

Just a little preface this was my first Kawakami book and you betcha this will definitely not be my last. I had no expectations going into this one, which is always Nice a new reader to the kamakami work and like I said it didn’t disappoint.

All the lovers In the night is a very quiet, slow and tentative novel that while your reading doesn’t feel like and I would say while reading it slowly takes you on a quite sad and moving path with our main character Fuyuko. This book deals with a few content warnings such as depression, anxiety and alcoholism

This is one of those books again where I just want the reader to experience this one for themselves and if you are anything like me and prefer character driven books this one is for you.

Thank you to netgalley picador the EArc

3 ¼ stars

“All the lovers in the night .” The phrase had appeared out of nowhere. Through the faint light of the room, I looked over the words, which came together in the strangest way. On the one hand, they felt new to me, like something I’d never heard or seen before, though I also felt like maybe I had read them somewhere, in the title of a movie or a song;


Previously to reading All the Lovers in the Night, I’d read Breasts and Eggs, Heaven, and Ms. Ice Sandwich, by Mieko Kawakami. While I was not ‘fond’ of Breasts and Eggs, I did find her other books to be compelling. As the premise for All the Lovers in the Night did bring to mind Breasts and Eggs, I was worried that I would have a similarly ‘negative’ reading experience. Thankfully, I found All the Lovers in the Night to be insightful and moving. Even more so than Kawakami’s other works, All the Lovers in the Night adheres to a slice-of-life narrative. Yet, in spite of this, the story is by no means light-hearted or superficial. Kawakami approaches difficult topics with this deceptively simple storytelling. She renders the loneliness and anxiety of her central character with clarity and even empathy.

“I couldn’t think of a single thing about me that would be worth sharing. My name is Fuyuko Irie, a freelance proofreader, thirty-four years old. I’ll be turning thirty-five in the winter. I live alone. I’ve been living in the same apartment forever. I was born in Nagano. Out in the country. One of the valleys. I like to go out on a walk once a year on my birthday, Christmas Eve, in the middle of the night.”


Thirty-something Fuyuko Irie leads a solitary life working from home as a freelance copy editor. Her inward nature led her former colleagues to single her out, and she was made to feel increasingly uncomfortable at her workplace. Working from home Fuyuko is able to avoid interacting with others, and seems content with her quiet existence. Fuyuko receives much of her work from Hijiri, an editor who is the same age as her but is very extroverted and possesses a forceful personality. Hijiri, for reasons unknown to Fuyuko, regularly keeps in touch with her and seems to consider her a friend. Perhaps their differences cause Fuyuko to begin questioning her lifestyle. Compared to her glamorous friend, Fuyuko sees herself, to borrow Jane Eyre’s words, as “obscure, plain and little”. But venturing outside the comfort of her home has become difficult for Fuyuko. To work up the courage she begins drinking alcohol, even if her body doesn’t respond well to it. She eventually begins going to a cafe with an older man. While the two speak of nothing much, they seem happy to exchange tentative words with one another.

I can see that this is not the type of novel that will appeal to those readers who are keen on plot-driven stories. However, if you are looking for an affecting character study, look no further. Through Fuyuko’s story, the author addresses how Japanese society sees and treats women who are deemed no longer ‘young’. Marriage, motherhood, and a career seem to be the requirements for many Japanese women. Those like Fuyuko are considered outside of the norm and because of this, they find themselves alienated from others. Fuyuko’s self-esteem is badly affected by this to the point where she feels that she has to go outside her comfort zone, even if the only way to do so is through inebriation. At a certain point, I was worried that Kawakami would make Hijiri into the classic fake/mean female character who is portrayed as aggressive, promiscuous, and a woman-hater to boot. Thankfully that was not the case. While Hijiri is not necessarily a likeable person Kawakami doesn’t paint her as a one-dimensional bitch and her relationship with Fuyuko isn’t sidetracked in favour of the romantic subplot. And yes, on the ‘romance’...I will say that this man wasn’t as nuanced as Fuyuko. I found him slightly boring and generic. I did like that the relationship between the two forms has a very slow build-up to it and the ending will certainly subvert many readers' expectations.
Anyway, overall I rather enjoyed this. I liked the melancholic mood permeating Fuyuko’s story, the descriptions of Tokyo, the mumblecore dialogues, the way Kawakami articulates Fuyuko’s discomfort, anxiety, etc. Now and again there were even moments of humour and absurdity that alleviated Fuyuko’s more depressing experiences. I also appreciated the novel’s open-ended nature, which added an extra layer of realism to Fuyuko’s story. While some of Fuyuko’s actions aren’t given a ‘why’ or closely inspected, as we read on we begin to understand more fully her various state of mind and how these affect her behaviour.

“I was so scared of being hurt that I’d done nothing. I was so scared of failing, of being hurt, that I chose nothing. I did nothing.”


While the dialogues did have a realistic rhythm, the secondary characters (who usually did most of the talking given that our main character isn't a talker) did tend to go on very long and weirdly specific monologues that seemed at times incredibly random or oddly revealing. This is something I noticed in other works by Kawakami. Secondary characters go on endless rants or whatnot while our main character gives little to no input. It seems a bit unusual that Fuyumu would come across so many people who are willing to go on these very long monologues that reveal personal stuff. Even so, I did find the majority of the dialogues to be effective.

“If I thought about things long enough, I would always lose track of my own feelings, which left me with no choice but to proceed as usual, without taking any action.”


All the Lovers in the Night is a work of subtle beauty and I look forward to revisiting it again in the future.

Kawakami is a truly wonderful author and every time I read her writing, I get so completely submerged in the world she creates. This time we explore the concept of love and human companionship. How we think we know people from surface level information. How easily you can lean on people if you are isolated in your day to day activities. And the knock on effect of sexual assault.
I read this in one sitting.

Fuyuko’s 34, she spends her days locked away in her tiny, Tokyo apartment, poring over manuscripts to fulfil her obligations as a freelance copy-editor. Apart from the woman she works for, seemingly confident, single, career woman Hijiri, she’s basically alone. She has one precious thing that’s hers, every Christmas Eve, on her birthday, she walks through the night, surrounded by the glow from houses, shops and streetlights, finding some solace in the atmosphere and the sensations aroused by being bathed in light. Her interactions are minimal, although she’s not exactly exhibiting hikikomori-like behaviour, there’s an intensity to her increasing withdrawal from the outside world that resembles it, together with an uneasy sense that she’s rapidly deteriorating. Then by chance she meets a man Mitsutsuka, who tells her he’s a physics teacher, and they begin a tentative relationship, meeting for coffee while he explains the workings of light and colour. And she sees the possibility of something different, of some form of connection she’s never had.

Mieko Kawakami’s novel starts out at an unhurried pace, deliberately so, as the early sections replicate the mundane nature of Fuyuko’s daily existence, the banality of her routines, her biting isolation, her anxiety which she attempts to mask by drinking to oblivion, night after night in her room. Kawakami contrasts Fuyuko’s world with Hijiri’s and Noriko’s, a married mother and former schoolfriend, all women in their thirties who’ve taken different paths but all floundering, equally isolated and unfulfilled. It’s a story without a plot, an exploration of women’s lives, their inner worlds, their confusions, deftly told, quiet and hovering on the brink of devastation. Although the style’s completely different, the sensibility reminded me at times of reading Carson McCullers’s work, particularly The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, with its cast of lost, lonely, bewildered people. Kawakami’s meticulously-observed narrative gradually drew me in, until I was totally bound up in it, towards the end I was almost scared to turn the pages I was so invested in Fuyuko’s possible fate. Translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd.