![]() ![]() ![]() Novala Takemoto's hit novel Kamikaze Girls, already a cult-classic in Japan and the inspiration for an internationally acclaimed film of the same name, is more than a quirky coming-of-age tale, it's a new way of life. Together, this unlikeliest of duos strikes out on a quest to find a legendary embroiderer, a journey that takes them to back-alley pachinko parlors, chic boutiques, and epic bike-punk battles. ![]() Her dreams of an idyllic existence are rudely interrupted by the appearance of Ichigo, a tough-talking "Yanki" motorcycle-chick (on a tricked-out moped) who's part of a girls-only biker gang known as the Ponytails. Like most American readers of the novel, I approached the book. It featured Professor Tomiko Yoda of Harvard's Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations.īook description: Life in the boondocks of rural Japan is anything but glamorous, and to escape her humdrum existence, Momoko, a "Lolita," fanaticizes about French rococo, dreams of living in the palace of Versailles, and decks herself out in the finest (and frilliest) of 18th century haute couture from an expensive Tokyo specialty store. The popularity of the movie may have eclipsed this fact in America, but Kamikaze Girls was originally a Japanese novel first published in 2002 under the title Shimotsuma Monogatari by the eccentric writer Novala Takemoto and only later adapted into the Toho movie of the same name. ![]() This session on Kamikaze Girls by Novala Takemoto was hosted by the Reischeuer Institute for Japanese Studies on February 28, 2013. ![]()
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