Synopses & Reviews
Though it has a lovely name, the real “Island of Dreams” is actually a hunk of reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay where the city dumps its garbage . . . and yet, Shozo Saka, a middle-aged widower, does indeed find the place beautiful: gravitating more and more, since the death of his wife, toward the Island’s massive piles of trash. One day, however, his refuge is invaded by Yoko, a mysterious woman in black, who visits the Island on her motorcycle for no other reason than to treat it as her own private obstacle course. Soon Yoko has lured Saka away from his garbage-paradise, leading him back into a Tokyo far less benign than the things it’s thrown away. Acclaimed on its first publication, Island of Dreams is a sinister satire on urban decay.
Review
A novel. . . that forces us to contemplate the dark side of our cities.In this novel, the metropolis of Tokyo is a living creature. Within its inner workings, skyscrapers and massive overpasses alike are born and grow, continually breathing, panting, trembling, maturing, and developing cracks. --Masashi Miura
Synopsis
Hino’s novels have been compared to the work of J. G. Ballard. Available for the first time in English: his masterpiece Island of Dreams.
About the Author
Keizo Hino (1929-2002) was born in Tokyo and accompanied his parents to Korea while the country was under Japanese
control. After his return to Japan, he worked as a foreign correspondent for Yomiuri Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper. He later wrote several novels, his work being compared to that of J. G. Ballard.Charles de Wolf is a professor at Keio University. His translations include Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s Mandarins and Keizo Hino's Island of Dreams.