"If I become a model person, more so than any Japanese, I still won't be treated like a proper human as long as I have Korean citizenship. The way a sumo wrestler can't become a stable master while he still has foreign citizenship. Assimilation or exclusion. There are only two choices in this country."

This is a conflicting one, properly leaning more towards a 2.5, and I wonder if it's just that Nieda's translations don't click for me. They work from a technical point but the language kind of feels stifled. While the summary speaks of the relationship between Sugihara and Sakurai as the focal point, it felt more like a B plot to the story and was certainly its biggest weakness. The conversations fell flat and the development of their relationship felt like a confetti gun - fired off in an instant and fizzled out just as quickly. It doesn't help that the dialog between these two in particular felt lifeless, including this gem:

"What kind of music do you listen to?" she asked.
"All different kinds. But I guess I don't listen to a lot of Japanese music."
"Why not?"
"I don't know. I never really thought about it. What kind of music do you listen to?"
"I listen to all different kinds. But I guess I don't listen to a lot of Japanese music."
"Why not?"
"I don't know. I never really thought about it."
"I guess that makes us the same."
"I guess it does."

This would be effective portrayal of awkward teenagers early in a relationship were it not for the fact that plenty of other dialog instances really shone, especially concerning discussions of ethnicity and xenophobia. That's really where "Go" shines - it's raw in its discussion of the social predisposition of Zainichi and how they're perceived by the Japanese society. Kaneshiro captures the sense of alienation, of belonging everywhere and nowhere, beautifully. It's only a shame that such scenes were little isles of gold in between what was otherwise a slog to get through.

Structurally, the novel felt a little disorganised, as time skips and flashbacks often occurred suddenly, with little warning, making the timeline muddled sometimes, though I will commend that all loose ends tied together. I don't mind the protagonist being an annoying violent teenage boy but some instances of violent bordered on the line of impossibility.

Though the strength of "Go" lies in its depiction of social struggle and little dips into philosophy, it falls short when it comes to convincing characterisation.

Nicely done coming of age story with a unique plot line. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Because it is so often disregarded, the narrative of individuals born in Japan but never acknowledged as Japanese is always a fascinating viewpoint.

The book is rather brief and does not overstay its welcome. It was written with a Japanese audience in mind and expects the reader to grasp the roots of Japanese culture, so those who have never lived there may find it less effective.

In 2000 Kaneshiro won the Naoki Prize for Go, which tackles issues of ethnicity and discrimination in Japanese society which is new for me. On average his writing style reminds me of other prolific authors.

As a child of parents with North Korean citizenship, Sugihara automatically became a Zainichi. People like them were labeled as don't have a dream to become doctors or lawyers. Even so, that doesn't mean that he was infected by communist ideology. He was just living with the circumstances that happened to be born into and became a misfit. It's like in Japan, if he becomes a model person, more than any Japanese, he still won't be treated like a proper human as long as he has Korean citizenship.

Sometimes he'd think he didn't need school as long as he had his 'Asian' parents. Sugihara also reads, listens to music, and runs. This reminds me of Murakami's as I mention before 😁. I think the story comes into conflict when Sakurai, a secret admirer suddenly appeared and when his best friend Jeong-il has died in a fight hence learning from historical tragedies he hopes to combat racial discrimination and aims to explore the root causes of racism lessons from history by his own way.

Thanks to @netgalley and the publisher for providing an earc in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own.

My rating: 4 ⭐️

3.5 stars.
The protagonist of this novella is Korean, but has lived his whole life in Japan. Sugihara lives with his father, and uses violence to deal with his problems, as his father does. Sugihara is full of anger, having had to defend himself repeatedly from bullies. When he falls for a Japanese girl, Sakurai, her father’s racist ideas drive them apart. And, though already questioning his place in Japanese society, this further reinforces his sense of loneliness and disconnectedness.

The writing is spare, and a little sobering, particularly when he or his father uses violence to express themselves. I wasn’t entirely feel that Sakurai was well fleshed out, but I did like the exploration of bigotry, loss, young love and identity by the author.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Amazon Crossing for this ARC in exchange for my review.

From the first page Go is engaging and funny and as the story goes on it becomes thought-provoking while still not losing two of its previous virtues. The protagonist is burning with this righteous anger which is mesmerizing to watch. On the topic of side characters, I absolutely adored his mother.
This is beautiful coming-of-age story and I'm thankful to the author for opening my eyes to the ethinc discrimination of koreans in japan.

Not a bad book, just missed the mark for me. Perhaps I just didn’t understand what the author was trying to accomplish.

A slim novel with a lot to think about packed within its pages. This book won Naoki Prize, in part for how it "tackles issues of ethnicity and discrimination in Japanese society" (quoted from author's bio). This might sound like a dry topic but it's all told through the lens of a high school kid who's struggling with figuring out who he is and who he wants to be, all while navigating the ups and down of his first romantic relationship. At the core of the book is the question - what determines if someone is Korean or Japanese or anything else? Is it your nationality? Can you choose your nationality? Is it your roots? If so, how far back do you trace your roots to determine what you are?

But as we move deeper into the book, we realize that the real question is none of these. The real question is - "Does it even matter?" And the answer to the protagonist is "no." But the answer to everyone in the society that he lives within is "yes, it matters more than perhaps anything else."

So what happens when these two views collide - when someone lives in a society where your nationality matters above all else - and you will be judged accordingly - and yet this person refuses to accept that judgment and insists that he will choose his own identity. Well, especially if you're a hot-headed young adult as the protagonist is, it leads to a lot of fistfights and rash decisions. But it also leads to a lot of eye-opening moments as we see him try, one fight at a time, to carve out his own path in the world.

Reading GO was such an eye-opener for me. I didn’t read many Japan Literature before, so I don’t know if the racism issue in Japan is mentioned in other books.

GO tells a story about a young Korean descent live in Japan. Even though he was born and raised in Japan, the Japanese still see them as Zainichi (a Korean resident of Japan). So, they are seen and treated like a foreigner by the Japanese. This book also has so many literature and movie references, it’s so fun to know many more literature mentioned.

Although at the beginning he said that the story in this book was about his love story, but the romance isn’t mentioned much. For me, this book is more about what nationality means, how people often treat others differently based on their origins or maybe their physical appearance.

I like the part where our MC tells about the history of racism between Japanese and Korean people, also the part about DNA and tracing our roots from mother. This book also tells a lot about friendship, and the courage to embrace ‘who I am inside’ and have a firm stand on our own life principles even though it may be different from other people.

This was a compelling coming-of-age story of sorts that discusses the difficulties of being zainichi in Japan. Tackling themes of racism and prejudice, and struggles with identity and belonging, it wasn’t always easy to read. The timeline skips were occasionally confusing as well. However, overall I really did find this an engaging and interesting exploration into the zainichi identity in Japan.

Thank you to Amazon and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Go by Kazuki Kaneshiro is an interesting coming-of-age novel about an ethnically Korean student in a Japanese high school. The story revolves around Sugihara, whose parents moved to Japan when he was young. He grew up speaking Japanese in Japan, but other people will always see him as different because of his Korean heritage. This has led to bullying and tons of violence, most of it perpetrated by Sugihara himself. But what will happen when he falls in love? Will a Japanese girl be able to look past his nationality?

Here is an educational excerpt from an opening chapter, which introduces us to Sugihara:

"Back when my father was a kid during World War II, he was a Japanese citizen. Why? Long ago, Korea was a Japanese colony. Forced to adopt a Japanese name, Japanese citizenship, and the Japanese language, my father was destined to fight as a soldier in the emperor's army when he grew up. He came to Japan as a kid when his parents were drafted to work in the munitions factories. But when Japan was defeated and the war ended, the government no longer allowed him to remain Japanese. And to add insult to injury, the Japanese government said, "We're done with you. Get the hell out of our country," sending Korean residents into a panic."

Overall, Go is an exciting novel in translation that reveals a slice of Korean-Japanese culture. One highlight of this book is that it is a Japanese novel being translated into English. As a reader of Asian descent, I am so happy to support this author. I hope that more books published in Asia can be translated and published in English in the future. I also learned a lot about a segment of Japanese culture that I had not known about before. I did take off 1 star, because the beginning of the book felt disjointed - jumping from one place to another. It does settle down though and a plot does emerge, so that is just a minor criticism. If you're intrigued by the excerpt, or if you're a fan of Japanese fiction, I recommend that you check out this book, which is available now.

This book can best be described as a cultural experience. A teenaged boy describes his school years with his story of bullying, dealing with racial prejudice, and generally feeling like a misfit. His father had been born in North Korea but had Japanese citizenship during the period that Korea was a Japanese colony. But when Japan revoked such citizenship at the end of the war, father (like all other colonial citizens) had to chose North or South Korean citizenship and the father chose North since he thought they would be more sympathetic to the poor people. But just when the reader thinks this will be a multi-generational family story, Sugihara, the teenage first-person narrator, focuses on his own life. Although he claims to have always hated school, he tells a tale that is peppered with literary allusions. And that tendency is sometimes overdone because multiple sentences, large parts of numerous paragraphs are lists of titles. For example, instead of just saying that he and his new girlfriend discuss books and music, the sentence is followed by numerous titles and names of artists. Those name dropping sentences were a weak point at times; These lists make what would be a novella into a short novel. Allusions span the decades from Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock to Jack Nicholson in scary movies, Malcolm X to Chagall, Bruce Springsteen to Picaso... ad nauseum.

The strength of this book is that a reader will experience what it is like to be a racial outcast- called a "Zainichi" - in a country that one considers one's own. Even the girl he starts dating refers to him by this ethnic category. On the April 29 holiday to honor Emperor Showa's birthday, the protagonist says Korean students have to walk home in groups because Japanese students came to their school for "Korean hunts." The protagonist has adopted a Japanese sounding name in an attempt to blend in, but it does not work. Besides, at age 16 one had to be finger printed as a foreign resident. So he has become a self-described "badass" to ward off physical attacks.

Excerpts of this book would be interesting and useful in history classes. In addition to the history of prejudice, there is the fun example of the ancient Asian board game of GO which also seems to be a symbol for a teen boy's maneuvers to survive a challenging social environment. The overload of literary allusions just killed some of my reading enjoyment, but other readers might find those allusions fun. Find out for yourself and give it a "go."

A Korean-Japanese teen struggles to explore his identity while falling for a Japanese girl. Somewhat stilted prose. This was an okay read for me.

First off, I would like to thank Netgalley, AmazonCrossing, Kazuki Kaneshiro and Takami Nieda for allowing me to read this ARC in return for an honest review.

Sugihara is a teenaged Korean citizen living in Japan, this book gives us a glimpse into his coming of age and his experiences with racial discrimination in Japan and falling in love. Sugihara was born and has lived his entire life in Japan, but he is forever labelled as Zainichi Korean, a Japanese racial slur reminding Sugihara that he will always been seen as a foreigner and less than a Japanese citizen, he attends a North Korean school learning about the "greatness" of Kim Il-sung and the history of North Korea.

Sugihara eventually chooses to change citizenship to South Korean and to attend a Japanese high school, he tries to blend in as best as he can, but word gets around about Sugihara's true citizenship and is left being targeted by Japanese students, one in particular is Kato, the son of a prominent yakuza who grows to respect and like Sugihara. Through an invitation to a party hosted by Kato, Sugihara meets Sakurai, an unknown but intriguing Japanese girl.

I was surprised to learn that this book was originally released in Japanese in 2000 and it has taken so long for an English translation to become available, I'm not sure if a lot of my critique for this book is due to the translation or the writing itself. For the most part I enjoyed this book, however I found the story to jump around quite a bit at the start and I was left confused in some parts about when certain events had taken place in Sugihara's life.

The story itself is quite short and is a quick read once you get going, it features a lot of your standard topics you see in a YA book such as love and heartbreak, growing pains and grief from losing a loved one, you get a raw insight into the discrimination experienced by all "Zainichi" living in Japan and how different they are treated, especially Korean people. The story itself comes across as very authentic as the author himself is "Zainichi Korean" and would have written from a lot of his own personal experiences.

Overall, this book was a great read and is something I think fans of other East Asian authors would enjoy.

“I was just living with the circumstances that I happened to be born into. And given those screwed-up circumstances, naturally I became a misfit. I mean, how could I have turned out otherwise?”

The main character of the novel, Sugihara, is a high school boy, who as born and raised in Japan, however he isn’t “Japanese. ” He is a Zainichi, a person who retains Korean Citizenship in Japan. These are people who were displaced during/before the war and ended up staying in Japan. Their situation is made even more complicated by that fact that when the Korean Peninsula was split into two after the Korean war, many had to choose whether to choose North or South Korean Citizenship. In the beginning of the story Sugihara and his family actually have North Korean Citizenship, so Sugihara attends the North Korean School. Eventually Sugihara makes the choice to attend a Japanese high school and is cut off from the North Korean Community because of this.

This novel was full of teen angst as Sugihara tried to find his own path in the world. He is constantly fighting against the preconceptions of those in the Korean community who are disgusted at his choice to attend a Japanese high school and the Japanese community who dislike him due to his ties to North Korea. My husband is a Kaneshiro Kazuki fan and I am so glad I decided to pick up this book. I’m usually not a big fan of angst, but the way it is packaged alongside sarcasm, humor, and questioning of peoples beliefs, allowed me to really enjoy this book. Kaneshiro really illustrates some of the struggles of the community and poses great questions on what makes someone “Japanese.”

There is some violence in the book, so if fighting isn’t your thing this may be one to avoid, I mean it is about a misfit teen who is fighting against the prejudices of others to forage his own path so there are bound to be some violent outbursts along the way. Overall though I think anyone who is interested in learning more about the Zainichi experience in Japan, should give this novel a try. The author, Kaneshiro Kazuki also grew up in Japan as a Zainichi, and therefore paints a very interesting picture of their experiences.

Thank you to Amazon Crossing and NetGalley for the Free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

"Go" is a sort of coming-of-age story about a high school student named Sugihara. Sugihara was born to Korean parents in Japan (Zainichi Korean), but he has never been to Korea himself.
Japan has a long history of discrimination against Zainichi Koreans. They are marginalized in Japan and viewed as foreigners in Korea, they seem to be permanently stuck in limbo of not belonging.
Because of his ethnicity, Suhigara is often physically and emotionally bullied by his peers.
He has a complicated home life, mostly because of his father who is a heavy drinker and a tough disciplinarian.
Apart from a bully he befriended, Sugihara mostly keeps to himself. That is until he falls in love with a Japanese girl he met on a night out who doesn't know he's Zainichi. Sugihara is faced with the decision of keeping that part of his identity to himself, or revealing the truth.

The novel beautifully explores the struggles and prejudice of growing up Zainichi Korean in a society that treats them like second-class citizens.
It tackles themes of belonging, discrimination, racism and violence in a very compelling way.

"Go" is a very fast-paced novel, full of literary and movie references. Some of the violence in this book can be uncomfortable to read at times, and I got lost a few times while reading this novel because of the timeline jumps.
Overall, I enjoyed this novel and would recommend it to people interested in Japanese culture.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is an English translation by Takami Nieda of Go originally released in Japanese in 2000. I became intrigued with the discrimination experienced by Korean born Japanese citizens in Japanese society from reading Pachinko. Whilst this theme is also present in Go, that’s where the comparison ends. Throughout Go there is frequent use of violence, it is used to settle conflict, build boundaries and walls of protection against the racism, and there is abuse from father to son, thinly veiled as discipline. Education as a tool for advancement is a central theme as Shigara studies for the university entry exams. This is not the lightest read with, for the most part, unlikeable characters but there’s enough there to keep you engaged. I did develop empathy and compassion for Shigara particularly in his developing romance with Sakurai, however, some of his choices were difficult to reconcile. I'm interested to see the film adaptation. #NetGalley #Kaneshiro

This was my first book to read by this author but I cannot wait to read more! The characters stay with you long after you finish the book. Such a great story and fast read. Highly recommend!!!

Thoroughly enjoyed the western art references throughout this story; things that would appeal to teenagers in the 1980s.

Thoroughly winced during the numerous descriptions of fighting. (Surely all those adults and children should have been locked up and/or in hospital?!)

The violence, however, doesn’t distract from the discussion of Japan’s prejudice against foreigners and Koreans in particular. Sugihara is right to be angry but his determination, pride and intellect will be his most effective weapons.

Ethnicity, nationality and bigotry are discussed and highlighted all the way through the book but it is the love story of Sugihara and Sakurai that turns this into a YA novel. Hadn’t expected that when I started to read this but then it is a book full of surprises.

I wasn’t aware of the existence of Zainichi in Japan so a lot of this novel was entirely new to me, which I liked.

Sometimes the narrative felt disjointed - I couldn’t tell if the narrator was recounting one of his own memories or talking about something that had just happened - and that made the story hard to follow at times.

Another thing that I didn’t get was the fact that Sugihara’s dad was always beating the crap out of him. Not only that, but then bystanders would cheer the dad on. I’m not sure if that’s a cultural thing related to respect of elders, or if these characters were just particularly violent.

Generally, however, I liked the story and the main characters. Both Sugihara and Sakurai had wild streaks to them, so it made sense that they were so drawn to each other and compatible.