Meet “Naruse,” the Quirky Go-Getter Schoolgirl Who Is Out to Conquer the World

Life on the Shores of Lake Biwa

In April this year, first-time author Miyajima Mina won the 2024 Japan Booksellers’ Prize for Naruse wa tenka o tori ni iku (Naruse Sets Out to Conquer the World). The influential prize is chosen by bookstore employees nationwide. The prizewinning book was published in March 2023, and was followed by a sequel this January. A third instalment is apparently already in the works. Miyajima and her lovable, quirky heroine are rapidly becoming a publishing phenomenon.

First, an outline of the award-winning first volume of linked stories. The main character is Naruse Akari, a teenager in her second year of junior high school in Ōtsu, a small city on the shores of Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture, not far from Kyoto. One day just before the start of the long summer vacation, she announces to Shimazaki Miyuki, her friend since childhood who lives in the same apartment building: “I’ve made up my mind, Shimazaki. I’m going to dedicate this summer to Seibu.” The Seibu in question is the struggling Seibu Department Store, whose Ōtsu branch is scheduled to shut on August 31.

Naruse is not your run-of-the-mill schoolgirl. One of her claims to fame is an appearance on TV when she was in fifth grade, when she wowed audiences on a local variety show with her performances as a champion soap-bubble blower, producing bubbles “the size of those silly little dogs that rich people like to keep as pets.” In her graduation yearbook, her stated ambition is to “live to be 200.” And her talents don’t end at bubble-blowing: she’s also a wiz at kendama, the traditional cup-and-ball game that is harder than it looks.

From the start of August, the same local TV show will broadcast live from in front of the Seibu store every day, counting down to the moment when the store lowers its shutters for the last time. Naruse’s aim is simple: she will don a Seibu Lions baseball uniform and find a way to make sure she is featured on the broadcast every single day. This is apparently her own little way of showing her appreciation for a local landmark that has been a formative part of her life so far. Her best friend finds herself being roped into the scheme and has no choice but to tag along.

But Naruse is not finished there. One day she announces: “Next target, Shimazaki: comedy. We’re going to the top!” The friends form a comedy duo and enter the qualifying rounds of a manzai comedy contest. The station closest to the apartment where both girls live has the unusual name “Zeze.” They decide to call themselves “Zezekara” (short for “Zeze kara kimashita,” or “We come from Zeze.”) The main character’s quirky sense of humor is one of the charms of the book.

Naruse has a fondness for puns and wordplay, and could be charitably described as unconventional—but she is an outstanding student. At one stage she predicts she is going to ace a perfect score on her end-of-term exams, and almost comes good on her promise, finishing with 490 points out of 500. She duly goes on to the Prefectural Zeze High School, a selective school with a reputation for getting students into the most prestigious universities. As she continues to follow her own path, she does not care if people around her regard her as a bit of an oddball.

The grown-ups and classmates at her new school who initially looked askance at her unconventional ways are won over by her magnetism, energy, and open-eyed optimism—and soon find themselves drawn into a series of little events that sweep across small-town life. Everything is described with lightness and humor, drawing readers into the charming fictional world the author has created. The story of Naruse’s ambitions to “conquer the world” is told in a tone befitting its high school setting: with humor, innocence, and a sense of fun.

Summer Festivals, Local Flavor

Naruse Sets Out to Conquer the World has become something of a publishing sensation, scooping a number of other awards to go with the prestigious Booksellers’ Prize. This is an impressive degree of success for a debut collection. The author, born in 1983, graduated from the literature department at the University of Kyoto and now lives in Ōtsu. What are the factors that have made her book such a hit?

One factor is obviously the convincingly drawn heroine and her friends—but I suspect that the local touches and the realistic depiction of community life are also a large part of what has made the novel resonate with so many readers. The book is full of real places and lovingly observed local detail: the Ōtsu branch of the Seibu store counting down to its last day in business, the Michigan—a replica Mississippi steamer that takes tourists on trips around Lake Biwa—the locally run Heiwadō supermarket, the Tokimeki summer festival, where the main event is performances of Gōshū Ondo, a type of dance song that originated in the local area . . . All these details help to set the novel apart and make it feel grounded in warm, everyday reality.

The other characters who impinge on Naruse’s life (her parents and friends, neighbors, and the local children) are friendly, well-meaning people full of empathy Despite the problems of isolation and population decline that affect some rural areas, community life in this novel is full of energy.

The prizewinning debut ends with her friend Shimazaki announcing that her father has been relocated to Tokyo and the family will soon move away from Ōtsu. Naruse herself is preparing for her college entrance exams, hoping to get into Kyoto University, where she would be able to study while continuing to live at home. What happens next? Many readers surely finished the first volume curious to know what becomes of Naruse’s future and her friendship with Shimazaki.

Local Tourism Ambassador

In the sequel, Naruse wa shinjitai michi o iku (Naruse Follows the Path She Believes in) our heroine is working part-time as a cashier at a local supermarket while studying for her exams. In one episode, she foils a shoplifter with the help of a complaint-prone local housewife. But just as you think she has settled down to a life of humdrum routine, she sails through the selection process and is chosen as Lake Biwa Tourism Ambassador.

Another young woman chosen as tourism ambassador at the same time is Shinohara Karen, whose privileged upbringing makes a stark contrast with Naruse’s down-to-earth character and background. They go forward to the first round of a nationwide competition. At the preliminary heats for the Kansai Region, all the ambassadors give speeches expressing their affection for their region and what makes it special.

Then, one day toward the end of the year, Naruse suddenly disappears, leaving a note saying only: “Don’t try to find me.” Shimazaki and the other characters who have appeared in the story so far band together to form a search party. The conclusion of the search is a vivid and heartwarming moment that is likely to leave a lasting impression in readers’ minds.

Probably most people can recall at least one classmate at school who was a little like Naruse. Both the first installment and its sequel are ideal reading for young people, bringing a much-needed breath of fresh air to young lives too often blighted by pressure and feelings of being “hemmed in” at school. For grownups, the books will also no doubt bring bittersweet memories of their own younger days. The next installment will apparently deal with Naruse’s time as a university student in Kyoto. The story continues . . .

(Originally published in Japanese. Banner photo: The Naruse covers courtesy Shinchōsha.)