Spring Garden (Haru No Niwa)

'He'd come to realise that it was a mistake to grind up his father's remains with such a thing. The mortar was lined with narrow grooves, a little too perfect for ashes to get stuck in.' Divorced & cut off from his family, Taro lives alone in one of the few occupied apartments in his block, a block that is to be torn down as soon as the remaining tenants leave.

Since the death of his father, Taro keeps to himself, but is soon drawn into an unusual relationship with the woman upstairs, Nishi, as she passes on the strange tale of the sky-blue house next door. First discovered by Nishi in the little-known photo-book 'Spring Garden', the sky-blue house soon becomes a focus for both Nishi & Taro: of what is lost, of what has been destroyed, & of what hope may yet lie in the future for both of them, if only they can seize it.

°°°
Tomoka Shibasaki was born in 1973 in Osaka & began writing fiction while still in high school. After graduating from university, she took an office job but continued writing, & was shortlisted for the Bungei Prize in 1998. Her first book, A Day on the Planet, was turned into a hit movie, & Spring Garden won the prestigious Akutagawa Prize in 2014.
 
POLLY BARTON grew up in London & read philosophy at university. Since winning the inaugural JLPP International Translation Competition in 2012, she has translated a variety of fiction by authors including Nao-cola Yamazaki, Mitsuyo Kakuta, Misumi Kubo & Aoko Matsuda, as well as non-fiction & art-related texts. She lives in Osaka.