Harada embodies the loneliness and isolation of urban life, especially – perhaps – for writers, a typically solitary vocation. Both Harada’s parents died when he was eleven, he left a loveless marriage, and is estranged from his only son. The recent divorce has left the screenwriter in financial difficulties. Unable to afford more than the basics, he moves into his office in Tokyo. The building, while busy with workers during the day, is as silent as a tomb at night.

One evening, his regular writing partner, Mamiya, visits him, dropping two bombshells – he plans to date Harada’s ex-wife, and argues that this will make it too awkward to work with Harada again. Harada is still reeling from the visit when a woman arrives at his apartment with a half-drunk bottle of champagne, claiming to be his only neighbour in the building, and requesting his company. Angry at his ex-wife and, by extension, all women, he harshly rebuffs the visitor.

On his birthday, Harada decides to revisit the neighbourhood where – three decades earlier – he lived with his parents. He encounters a man who bears an uncanny resemblance to his dead father, and from this point onwards, Harada’s world becomes entangled with the supernatural.

In Yamada’s novel, spending time with ghosts saps a person’s life force, and the contentment Harada feels, spending time with his long-dead mother and father, quickly takes its toll on his body. However, the warmth and unconditional love he receives from them give him the courage to begin a new relationship with his neighbour, Kei – the woman he turned away on the night of Mamiya’s visit. He is acutely aware of the oppositional forces pulling him into the past and a possible future, and in contrast with his dramatically declining physical appearance, his self-awareness and mental health grow stronger.

Harada is a compelling protagonist, and the story is carefully crafted in spare but effective prose. Only the depiction of Mamiya – whose behaviour seems unnaturally contradictory – feels flawed, but I accept that this might be due to cultural differences. Harada's isolation and loneliness reflect our modern age, especially after Covid, and feel uncomfortably familiar. The supernatural elements that offer respite from his pain, rarely feel overdone, and there is a sense of hope at the end of the novel, reflecting Harada’s growth as a character.

In all, Strangers is an enjoyable and thought-provoking read.

Strangers was written in 1987. The English translation, which I received as a Christmas present, was first released in 2003. The front cover advertises the film adaptation All of Us Strangers, released in 2023. After finishing the novel I watched the film and was struck by the way the central theme of loneliness and isolation is used as a springboard to tell a different story. An earlier Japanese film, The Discarnates (1988), is another adaptation that I plan to find and watch soon. Once I have done so, I will write another blog post that compares both films with the source material.