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Tokyo Night Parade, written by J.P. Takahashi and illustrated by Minako Tomigahara, follows the adventures of Eka and her yōkai friends during one magical night in Tokyo.

What I liked:

• Tomigahara’s soft, bright illustrations reminded me of The Dam Keeper, created by Daisuke Tsutsumi and Robert Kondo at Tonko House. I’ve always felt this style of art evokes an atmosphere that is both specifically Japanese and representative of a very particular subgenre of fantasy. I would be interested in looking at other contemporary fantasy picture books being produced in Japan to see how my theory might evolve; note to my future self.

What I learned:

• I feel like I recently saw 百鬼夜行 referenced in a manga I was reading, but I can’t recall the exact context. I don’t remember it ever coming up in my own childhood and in fact feel like I’ve seen more references to it in a nikkei context in the last few years than anywhere else. It’s interesting to see multiple nikkei authors putting their own spin on yōkai stories and I hope to see more examples. At the same time, I wonder how effectively, so to speak, the significance or creativity behind each of these instances will be communicated to non-Japanese audiences, or even certain nikkei audiences, who may not have a great deal of context in which to understand these stories. This is not to say it’s the responsibility of nikkei authors producing yōkai stories to provide this context, but rather, to express my own curiosity about how each of these authors is situating their own work, explicitly or implicitly, within their own interpretation of this context. I also hope 百鬼夜行 doesn’t become the next hot topic for white authors or other non-Japanese authors who think it’s ok to commoditize someone else’s culture.

Questions I had:

• The experience of reading this picture book really made me stop and think about the significance of language in telling certain stories. To fellow bilingual nikkei readers out there – did any of you also wish for a Japanese version of this story? This may be a very personal preference, but I found that anytime certain English verbs popped up in the story, such as “hoot” or “screech,” I was knocked out of the flow of the story because the cultural context I personally associate with these types of words is completely removed from my own experience of Japanese stories. I realize expressive verbs like these are the bread and butter of many USian picture books, but I wonder if Takahashi also wrestled with this tension while writing the story. In a way, I would liken my experience of reading Tokyo Night Parade to the feeling I get whenever I run across a snippet of manga that has been translated into English; a startling disassociation and sense of, ‘something is off here.’ To reiterate, this is merely a description of my personal experience with this book, not a judgment on Takahashi’s word choice. On a side note, does Takahashi have any plans to write a Japanese version of this story? I did not find any references to her language ability, but if she spent time with her Japanese grandparents in Tokyo, I would imagine she could write a picture book in Japanese.
• How did Black/Japanese (Black/nikkei?) readers respond to this story? Did they identify at all with Eka?
• Did Takahashi envision a particular audience for this story? How would Takahashi situate her work in the context of nikkei literature? What are her thoughts about the state of nikkei literature in the US today?

Follow-up:

• I’m looking forward to Takahashi’s next work!