Sympathy Tower Tokyo

So über-zeitgeisty that it might have been written this morning, yet it is far more than merely topical or trendy, as deep moral, political, social, cultural, architectural and lingual problems collide throughout this short novel. A contemporary gem * Spectator *Stuns and illuminates. Sympathy Tower Tokyo is an ode to language and possibility and the ongoing question of how to be in an ever-changing world. – Bryan Washington, author of MemorialA brilliantly ambitious struggle and mediation on language, thought and existence. A wondrous book – Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of Chain-Gang All-StarsSo cleverly reflects back to us our current world in which artificial intelligence infects our thinking process, determining what we write and how we speak… masterfully subtle * The New York Times *A fantastical fable. Sympathy Tower Tokyo is an architectural feat; at the length of a novella it houses satire, polemic and complex characters * Financial Times *A fantastical fable. Sympathy Tower Tokyo is an architectural feat; at the length of a novella it houses satire, polemic and complex characters * Financial Times *

Rie Qudan was born in Saitama, Japan. After she made her debut in 2021 with Bad Music, which won the Bungakukai New Writers Award, she was quickly acclaimed as one of the most exciting new writers in Japanese literature. In 2022, her second work, Schoolgirl, was shortlisted for the Akutagawa Prize, Japan’s most prestigious literary award. Her third work, The Poetry Horse, won Noma Literary Newcomer Award. Her runaway bestselling fourth novel, Sympathy Tower Tokyo was published in 2024, and won the Akutagawa Prize.