The action of Shipwrecks takes place entirely in a small, isolated village on the coast of Japan.  The villagers are dependent on what the sea provide for sustenance. Every winter brings possible starvation with it.  There’s a village tradition of family members going into indentured servitude in order to earn money to buy grain.  This is what Isaku’s (the novel’s nine-year-old protagonist’s) father does.  His … Continue reading Shipwrecks by Akira Yoshimura (translated from the Japanese by Mark Ealey)