Copies of 100 Million Yen Sayonara by Kazufumi Shiraishi, published July 2018 by Tokuma Shoten, on sale in Tokyo. Photo: Red Circle Authors Limited.This latest novel, titled 100 Million Yen Sayonara (一億円のさようなら) by the Naoki Prize-winning author was published in Japan by Tokuma Shoten in July in tanko-bon (hardback).
The 541-page novel took Shiraishi several years to write and is one that he ranks alongside his best works, such as The Ray of Light (一瞬の光 ), his debut novel – a tragic love story that instantly put him on Japan’s literary map when it was published in 2000.
Tokyo bookshop promotional display featuring 100 Million Yen Sayonara by Kazufumi Shiraishi. Photo: Red Circle Authors Limited.It tells the tale of Teppei Kanoh, a 52 year-old man working for a mid-size Japanese chemicals company, who inadvertently discovers that his wife had inherited 3.4 billion yen (34 million dollars) a decade before they got married, and has wilfully managed to keep this secret from him, despite their marriage of two decades.
He also learns to his disbelief that his wife has managed to increase her inheritance by almost 50 per cent through canny investment, and is now worth a staggering 48 billion yen. And she has achieved this while he has been beavering away as a salaryman at his chemicals company.
His wife subsequently decides to give him 100 million yen and suggests that they separate. The novel follows the unexpected twists and turns in Teppei’s professional and personal life following his life-changing discovery.
About Red Circle:Red Circle Authors Limited is a specialist publishing and communications company that conducts bespoke projects on behalf of a carefully selected and curated group of leading Japanese authors. Red Circle showcases Japan’s best creative writing. For more information on Red Circle, Japanese literature, and Red Circle authors please visit: www.redcircleauthors.com.-
About Kazufumi Shiraishi:Kazufumi Shiraishi had a successful career, spanning two decades, as a journalists working for one of Japan's highest profile monthly magazines, Bungeishinju, before following in the steps of his father and twin brother becoming a full time author. He is a deeply thoughtful author who writes about love, life and the human condition and is unique in being the only Japanese author to follow in his father’s footsteps by winning the same major Japanese literary prize.
