'The pleasure of novels is in the strings of letters themselves' (Shinkai, 2014).

Intertwoven with bits of [b:Man'yoshu]'s poetry* at the beginning and end of each chapter, this is 'the novelisation of the 2013 animated film Garden of Words, which I directed' (Shinkai, Afterword section, 2014).


*In Man'yoshu, "love" was written with characters that mean "lonely sorrow".
In Shinkai's words, this is 'a tale of "lonely sorrow"'– filled with unrequited love, lyrical prose and atmospheric-yet-ephemeral settings. (Skyscape lovers, this story is a must!).


It is a fast-paced read, but I highly recommend you to really indulge in it and let "the strings of letters" be your sensorial tour guides.

'Thank you very much for picking up this book, and for reading it' (Shinkai, Feb 2014). Thank you for making a film on this concept, and for novelising it afterwards.