Miura, Shion "The Easy Life in Kamusari"

Miura, Shion "The Easy Life in Kamusari" (Japanese: 神去なあなあ日常 Kamusari nānā nichijō) - 2009

We read this in our international online book club in May 2022.

I doubt I would have picked up the book otherwise. I have read plenty of books about young people who are sent somewhere and then their whole life turns around, it sounded like chick lit for teens.

But it was alright. Not a great book but not that bad, either. There is a little about Japanese mythology and beliefs, that's always interesting.

The author has a nice and pleasing writing style. It was a quick read but nothing remarkable. Apparently, this is book #1 in "The Forest Series". I doubt I will read the second one.

Comments from some other members:

• I think this was an easy and pleasant nature and coming of age story. One has to take it for what it is though, good light summer reading without any real dangers or drama. In the book there were many opportunities for a more serious and dramatic story.
• I think part of that is down to the fact that it is actually the first of a trilogy, so this book is in fact only the introduction. Having recently read "Story" and currently reading "The 7 Basic Plots" for college, I foresee a crisis happening in Book 2 that will be resolved in Book 3. Although I'm not planning to read either of them, so I won't find out if I'm right or not. (True, this is the beginning of a trilogy, I still would like to have a "complete" book if it is published as a book and I can't buy all three at the same time.)
• The value of "The Easy Life in Kamusari" lies in the imagining of a way of life closer to the earth, respecting it, and working in partnership with it. This orientation is one we all need to learn and to live if we want to continue to live on this planet. This is important for all ages as it presents the most profound drama of our age. The book is also a light, enjoyable summer read. I read it in an area of staggering beauty, inhaling the scent of cedars beside me, on my deck in Canada. The truth of the land itself is very difficult to convey and this book does it well.

From the back cover:

"From Shion Miura, the award-winning author of The Great Passage, comes a rapturous novel where the contemporary and the traditional meet amid the splendor of Japan’s mountain way of life.

Yuki Hirano is just out of high school when his parents enroll him, against his will, in a forestry training program in the remote mountain village of Kamusari. No phone, no internet, no shopping. Just a small, inviting community where the most common expression is 'take it easy.'

At first, Yuki is exhausted, fumbles with the tools, asks silly questions, and feels like an outcast. Kamusari is the last place a city boy from Yokohama wants to spend a year of his life. But as resistant as he might be, the scent of the cedars and the staggering beauty of the region have a pull.

Yuki learns to fell trees and plant saplings. He begins to embrace local festivals, he’s mesmerized by legends of the mountain, and he might be falling in love. In learning to respect the forest on Mt. Kamusari for its majestic qualities and its inexplicable secrets, Yuki starts to appreciate Kamusari’s harmony with nature and its ancient traditions.

In this warm and lively coming-of-age story, Miura transports us from the trappings of city life to the trials, mysteries, and delights of a mythical mountain forest."