Back when general stores were more common than they are today, NAMIYA Yūji was the owner of one that also served as a letterbox for people seeking anonymous advice on all sorts of matters. Those times are long gone, but when three delinquents take shelter in the abandoned store, they discover connections to the past in the form of letters that would impact their own lives.
Author: 東野圭吾（ひがしの けいご）
Publisher: 角川文庫
Length: 416 pages
The Miracles of the Namiya General Store is told in 5 chapters that all feature a different protagonist who asks advice from the owner. And although the stories and settings appear to be wildly different at first, they soon prove to be interwoven.
I found the structure of this story extremely satisfying. It’s that type of storytelling that seemingly throws you right in the middle of the story only to circle back at the end with context and a new understanding of the situation. I absolutely enjoyed reading the book in itself but was almost euphoric when I reached the final chapter and it all tied up neatly.
The letters asking for advice play a significant role in the story and are written in different styles, honorific registers and amounts of kanji depending on the age, upbringing and literacy of the person who wrote them. The descriptive text is not complicated but because there is a variety of topics covered in the advice letters you will also find a broad range of vocabulary in each chapter, e.g. with regard to financial advice about real estate investments and the stock market.
The same text is also available by the Kadokawa Tsubasa Bunko imprint, which always features 100％ furigana on all kanji. Except for the added furigana, the content is identical.
I was a bit irritated by the cover design at first which is too conventionally childish for my taste and is also a hard contrast to the original cover, which I found quite pretty. But after reading the book, I think it makes perfect sense to also market this story to middle schoolers, since it discusses many situations that I think would relate to people coming of age and which would also be fun to pick apart in a school setting. If you are unsure about your kanji reading abilities, definitely give this version a try.
You can find both versions e.g. on Amazon Japan if you are ordering from overseas.
dokushoclub.com 