Spring Garden by Tomoka Shibasaki, translated by Polly Barton (Pushkin Press) ~Ernie Hoyt

Tomoka Shibasaki is a Japanese writer from Osaka who started writing while she was still in high school. After she graduated from university、 she took a job as an office worker but continued to write. Her short story, レッド、イエロー、オレンジ、オレンジ、ブルー (Red, Yellow、 Orange、 Orange, Blue) was first published in 1999 in the literary magazine Bungei. Her first novel, きょうのできごと （Kyo no Dekigoto) was published the following year. It was also adapted into a feature length film, directed by Isao Yukisada and stars Rena Tanaka and Satoshi Tsumabuki.

Spring Garden was first published in the Japanese language as 春の庭 （Haru no Niwa) in 2014 by Bungei Shunju. It won the Akutagawa Prize, one of Japan’s most prestigious literary prizes, the other being the Naoki Award. The English edition was translated by Polly Barton, who has also translated other works of Japanese writers including Where the Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda (Asia by the Book, May 2022), Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa (Asia by the Book, August 2025), and Butter by Asako Yuzuki (Asia by the Book, September 2025). 

The first English edition was published in 2017 by Pushkin Press. This trade edition was published in 2024. As Polly Barton is a British translator, the book was written in British English. I became aware of that fact when she mentions that one of the characters in the book was looking at the ground floor from her first story balcony. If you’re an American reader, once you realize the book is written in British English, it becomes a lot easier to understand. 

Spring Garden is the story about Taro, a divorced man living alone in an apartment complex that’s slated to be demolished.The block of apartments where Taro lived was View Palace Saeki III. It consisted of eight apartments - four on the first floor and four on the second. The rooms did not have any numbers, they were all named after an animal from the Chinese zodiac. 

Taro had noticed a woman standing on the balcony looking down at a house belonging to Mrs. Saeki, the owner of the apartment complex. Currently, the house was empty and Mrs Saeki was living in a retirement home. However, Taro realized that the woman wasn’t looking at Mrs. Saeki’s house, it was the house next to it, the sky-blue house.

Taro would get to know the woman and they would start a strange bond with her and the sky-blue house. He learns that she’s an artist and that her name is Nishi. Shehe had asked Taro if he could use his balcony to get a better look at the sky-blue house. She tells him it’s for her drawings. Taro learns that Nishi works as an illustrator and also draws manga under a pen name but she doesn’t tell him what her pen name is or what manga she draws. 

As a sign of gratitude, Nishi invites Taro out to dinner. While they are eating, she takes out a book from her bag. It is a photo book of the sky-blue house. Once she brings out the book, she begins to tell the story of how she became enamored of it and was hoping that one day she would be able to see its interior. 

Spring Garden is a rather strange story. It’s as if the sky-blue house is also one of the main characters, along with Taro and Nishi. They become obsessed with the house, researching its history and about the couple who lived in it when the book of the house was published. The house becomes a symbol for what they lost and what they hope to find in the future.