Kappa

Heavy handed with Japanese satire, I appreciated what this book was doing, but kind of found it boring.

Patient No. 23 is a madman whose story takes up the majority of this short book. He's out hiking, chases a Kappa (a Japanese spirit) White Rabbit style, and winds up in Kappa Land. Rather than be concerned at this turn of events, he moves right in and starts trying to fit in with his new (strange) neighbors.

We get a lot of author commentary about Japan's feelings on several topics, through Kappa who find themselves in similar situations. Everything is very episodic, in that the (short) chapters are fairly self contained. Something happens, Patient No. 23 provides commentary on Kappa behavior about the something, and we move onto the next chapter, which is generally something completely different. I would have appreciated a little more direction, but then again, these are Kappa we're talking about.

It just never rose beyond "huh" for me, interest-wise. A lot of what's discussed here isn't new, Japan is prudish, Japan is conservative, Japan doesn't like outsiders, Japan is hard working to a fault, on and on, fairly unrelentingly. The cover art was what drew me in, I just wish I enjoyed the story more.