beautiful and feel-good story about an assortment of characters in a train line and their connections with each other. very episodic. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

A feel-good story following several sets of passengers whose journeys overlap on a train line in Japan. The second half, on another ride six months later, shows how the connections they made affected them.

A pleasant slice of life, touching on a variety of concerns and issues in a light but thoughtful manner.

Various individual stories overlap and affect each other while passengers ride the Japanese trains. Random encounters create positive change.

So thankful to have gotten an ARC for the English translation of this novel coming June 3rd 🥹 Thank you, NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group!

SYNOPSIS TAKEN FROM GOODREADS:
Come along on a heartwarming, funny, and perfectly cozy voyage with the charming and relatable passengers—including one dashing dachshund—whose lives intersect and affect each other on one of Japan’s most romantic railway lines from international bestselling author Hiro Arikawa.

This was such a cozy and heartwarming palate cleanser that left my heart feeling full. The 5 interconnected stories with themes of budding romance, choosing yourself, and being a kind and respectful person left me smiling from ear to ear with so many highlightable quotes. I know this novel is a work of fiction, but it further strengthened my belief in the red string theory - a belief in Asian mythology that people who are meant to be present in each other's lives are connected by a red string, and life will bring them to meet again despite time, circumstance, or distance.

This was the perfect lighthearted read to keep me out of a reading slump as I lost reading momentum during my move, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a cozy read!

This book also has me hoping I'll have a reason to ride the Hankyuu line during my trip to Japan in September ☺️

Review: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Genre: literary fiction, fiction

Much in the spirit of the wonderful The Travelling Cat Chronicles, but not nearly as successful in portraying the shifting, everyday, yet (in their own way) dramatic tales of human beings going about their lives, commuting on the Hankyu line, encountering one another, falling in and out of love, caring for each other, making friends, feeling supported, cherished, and loved, if only fleetingly and by strangers. Sweet is the adjective that comes most readily to mind when trying to classify these interconnected stories.

Hiro Arikawa has become one of my new favorite authors of late. Though her writings are not all that new, they are new to me. I first discovered her when I read a copy of The Goodbye Cat which totally had me enthralled. So much so, that I gave a copy to someone who had recently lost their cat. When I saw this new (US) release of The Passengers on the Hankyu Line, I just had to read the book. As expected, this was a joy to read. Arikawa has a way of weaving a story together that creates a fascinating tapestry of people and events that are easy to follow without getting lost along the way. Enough detail to find things to relate to and become enamored with, but not so much that you lose the plot along the way.

The Hankyu Line is a train in Japan that serves as the connecting feature between the various characters. It's the common thread amongst them all, yet they are all very different from each other and have their own lives that intertwine as the story evolves. Chance encounters change lives in both subtle and dramatic ways. We are like passengers seated off in the corner observing these interplays between the different commuters who have their own lives to play out right in front of our eyes. No, not everything takes place on the train, nor in the station, but it does serve as the catalyst to move this story along.

Arikawa is an intriguing storyteller and weaver of lives that satisfy a reader's interest without weighing down the mind too much, yet offering a fulfilling array of little subplots. Many will find some of these relatable to their own lives, or to those they know. Together, they create a pleasant tapestry of stories that unite as a whole work of art.

The Passengers on the Hankyu Line by Hiro Arikawa was an interesting story about people crossing paths on a commuter train. Some of the actually get to meet some of the other passengers; some are observers! I received an advance copy of this book through Netgalley.com and I always review every book that I read. This is a book that I normally would not have read but I enjoyed it. It transports the reader to the culture of Japan. It was different for me being a citizen of the United States and never having traveled to Japan. The characters will become friends and their experiences will enrich your life and maybe even cause you to interact with people that you see every day in your travels. Enjoy.

The Passengers on the Hankyu Line by Hiro Arikawa was an endearing book about transfers and linkages between passengers on a special train line in Japan. The life lessons shared between them and learned during their connections are kindly shared between strangers and new acquaintances. I enjoyed the book after living in Japan for several years and from understanding some of the language and cultural aspects.

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the opportunity to read this ARC.

3 stars – The Passengers on the Hankyu Line by Hiro Arikawa is interesting Japanese fiction. Its about passengers on the train line between Takarazuka and Nishinomiya in the mountainous region of Japan. Readers learn about a small subset of people, their thoughts and their interactions on and off the train and how they impact each other’s lives. I found the bride story to be very interesting and the couple that saw each other at the library. It’s both a challenging read, as American culture is different, and interesting to see the impacts on each other.

Thank you, Berkley/Penguin Random House and NetGalley, for this ARC. This independent, honest review is happily shared.

Despite the unfamiliar names, it was easy to follow the story as the chapters moved back and forth individually focused on one character at a time. While the characters are just going about their normal days regularly traveling on the trains, Arikawa manages to hone in on the very mundane details that shape each person’s life. Sometimes it is interactions with friends or lovers, other times it is interactions with strangers. Oftentimes it is an observation of others or an awareness of being observed by others.
Very different in construction and casual in tone, the author has created a story that precisely targets microscopic events that can change the course of a life.

I found this story difficult from the very beginning of who was speaking and who was speaking about.

The premise for this book is really interesting. It’s about the lives of the people that ride a private Japanese rail line. The lives intersect and yet are different. The issue that I had was with the Japanese names of those passengers and the names of the stops and places of the trains. I did finish the book and will recommend it. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy for my honest review.

I enjoyed this story about connections, as told through the stops on a train line near Osaka. The interconnecting characters were endearing (for the most part) and their stories were told in a clever way. I particularly enjoyed their ruminations on the meaning of a symbol made on an embankment and the various ways it affected the passengers. A couple of the sections were a little disjointed/repetitive, though this was probably a result of this being an ARC. I received a free copy of this book on kindle from netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This review also posted on goodreads.

This is a cozy, pleasant slice of life story set in Japan. Each chapter takes place around one station on the Hankyu rail line near Osaka, and a cast of characters' stories weave in and out of each other on the outward journey and then six months later in the other direction. They mostly focus on changing some pattern in life that hasn't served the characters, whether timidity or anger or underestimating oneself.
I really enjoyed a cozy Japanese book in translation that isn't focused on some element of magical realism (no time travel or cats); as a three-month visitor to Japan, there are a lot of details that feel very true to my brief experience (teen girls being into Muji, propriety on the train, swallows nests, etc). I could picture everything, and really enjoyed being transported back to the country.
Just a couple of minor complaints: Shoko's anger towards "the other woman" is a little regressive; clearly the ex bears the vast majority of the blame, but there wasn't much reflection. I'm not sure this is the book to get into full analysis of the failure of a relationship, but it could have dialed back on the woman-hating. Second, the language was occasionally a little awkward compared to other Japanese translations but I have no way of knowing whether that's the original language or the translation (e.g. it's not commonly said that someone who is pondering something is "ponderous").
All in all, I really enjoyed the visit to Japan. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

3.5 stars, rounded up.
This early book by Hiro Arikawa (author of the popular The Travelling Cat Chronicles) has now been translated into English. The story moves in and out of the lives of some passengers on the mountainous Hankyu Line train. It's quiet and contemplative, yet it tackles heavy subjects. It's reminiscent of the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series and What You Are Looking For Is in the Library. I genuinely enjoyed it, though I didn't find it as compelling as other similar Japanese novels. Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC. This book will be released on June 3.

thank you Netgalley & Berkley Publishing Groupfor the ARC of this book!!

this gave me major Before the Coffee Gets Cold vibes. As someone who always ‘people watches’ and makes up their stories and personalities, reading about different characters and their lives who in someway come together was so right up my alley. i loved the slight connections all our characters also had with each other, it was so well written.

It’s been a while since I’ve read a book in one sitting but this book did it for me. I’m so fond of a tender interconnected story. The pacing wasn’t too fast or too slow so it really felt like I was a part of the story and watching the different scenarios play out. I loved how this shows the different roles that a stranger can play in your life. Really enjoyed the story coming full circle and readers getting a nice wrap up of each person we got to encounter and experience.

Love Actually, but set on a commuter train in Japan. We follow multiple people as they travel to and from work, parties, errands, etc. Whether it’s a meet-cute, a dissolving relationship or a grandmother with her granddaughter as she contemplates her next chapter; each story is filled with heart and compassion. I loved how each is slowly interwoven into the next. Felt like a play and the ending leaves you with a serene feeling.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The story takes place in Japan on the train lines that go through to mountain cities. It is like many stories with all the people who ride the trainlines to work, home, library and shopping in the areas. One of the stories warmed my heart, a young man meets a young woman in the central library. So they have reading in common. The people on the train may totally surprise you, their behavior and how they treat others.

I really wanted to read the book because I saw a dachshund on the front cover. To the many of you who are dachshund enthusiast, the little mini black long hair dachshund does not show up till Loc 2104 at 86% into the book. And does not stay in the story for very long. Usually when I see a dachshund on the cover I assume it is in the story for awhile. Not so this time..

I would like to thank Net Galley and Penguin Random Books for the opportunity in this read.

This book was so sweet and so so interesting! I also absolutely loved the cover of this book and I was hooked!