White Crane Spreads Wings

Yoko Tawada, the contemporary Japanese female writer closest to a Nobel Prize

The first introduction of Tawada Yoko's latest novel

From Berlin, years of living alone, every moment of a slow daily life is a miracle

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【Synopsis】

Misa, who came to Germany with her husband, somehow found an excuse to stay in the country alone.

From contacting a plumber for the first time to moving to Berlin alone, Misa slowly built her daily life, only to find that time gradually became aimless, like a sentence without punctuation. Her new endeavor was a weekly Tai Chi class. When she learned the third move, "White Crane Spreads Its Wings," Misa finally got to know the people at the martial arts hall: Teacher Chen, the Tai Chi instructor, Alyona, a Russian millionaire, Rosalind, a Filipino English teacher, and Orian, a German dentist... various encounters followed. The cruelty in the legend of Obasute, death in distant wars, quietly occurring crime and punishment—which fate would come to pass?

As the right hand lifts diagonally upwards, the left hand reaches towards the ground. "White Crane Spreads Its Wings" is both defense and offense, just as Misa needs to do now.

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【Editor's Recommendation】

◇ Nobel Prize favorite, world-renowned author Yoko Tawada's latest novel introduced for the first time

A Japanese female writer closer to the Nobel Prize than Haruki Murakami, recipient of the Akutagawa Prize, Tanizaki Jun'ichiro Prize, and Izumi Kyoka Prize

Yoko Tawada's first attempt at newspaper serialization, with her latest novel introduced to the Chinese world for the first time

◤ "I hope to write stories like this: every morning, at the same time, when you open the newspaper, you can meet familiar characters." (Yoko Tawada)

◇ Years of living alone starting in Berlin, every moment of a slow daily life is a miracle

Moving alone, what's in those cardboard boxes labeled "redemption" and "light"?

An ear ghost walks in the castle, perhaps it is the pillar of human civilization;

How old exactly was the old woman called a witch in "Grimm's Fairy Tales"?

The cruelty in the legend of Obasute, death in distant wars, quietly occurring crime and punishment...

—I think, from now on, a new life of living alone will begin.

◤ The theme of "daily life," a narrative set in a single city,

Yoko Tawada uses the spirit of language to tell the miracle of walking with friends in slow daily life.

◇ Long-醞酿 Tai Chi theme, "White Crane Spreads Its Wings" is both defense and offense

"Tai Chi is a self-defense technique that can unleash one's greatest strength when an enemy attacks, it is also a method of health preservation, and it is also like a dance... This is a theme I have always kept in my heart and pondered repeatedly. This story originated from a cinematic imagination: in a Tai Chi studio in Berlin, a group of people are quietly practicing. Most of them are elderly women, inconspicuous yet always focused and dedicated." (Yoko Tawada)

◤ Yoko Tawada currently lives in Berlin and started learning Tai Chi about ten years ago.

The book's title comes from a move that resembles a crane spreading its wings, with the right hand lifting diagonally upwards while the left hand reaches towards the ground.

The women appearing in the story each have their own worries, but in the offense and defense of life, they find the exhilarating freedom of a crane spreading its wings.

◇ Translator Lin Quan x Designer Yamakawa, small format hardcover, soft and easy to flip, comfortable to read

Up-and-coming translator Lin Quan's first work, designed by book designer Yamakawa, combining Eastern traditional aesthetics with modern design style.

The cover uses specially textured imported art paper, revealing the rhythm and beauty of the East.

The inner layout is spacious, using quality offset paper, easy to collect.

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【Related Reviews】

When writing my first newspaper serialized novel ("White Crane Spreads Its Wings"), I focused on the theme of "daily life." I hoped to write stories like this: every morning, at the same time, when you open the newspaper, you can meet familiar characters. ...I myself started practicing Tai Chi more than ten years ago, but including my practice experience, I had never written anything related to Tai Chi before. This is a theme I have always kept in my heart and pondered repeatedly. —Yoko Tawada

The comfort of a foreign country is often hidden in the distance from neighbors. It's not the deliberate intimacy of "friends," nor the slightly cold detachment of "acquaintances." The people who appear in the novel are such a group of relationships—not close friends, nor with many commonalities, but they meet by chance and slowly accompany each other in daily life. They come from different ethnic groups and are all immigrants in this city. —Mariko Yamauchi

2025-08-01

译林出版社

289

9787575306850