Publisher's Synopsis
Over four million copies sold in Japan
'You will be wrapped in laughter and tears' Reader review*****
'What I love about it is its Kindness' Reader review*****
'I wanted to tap the shoulders of the characters' Reader review*****
Famously scenic, the Hankyu commuter train trundles daily through Japanese landscape unaware of the heartaches of the passengers it carries.
On the outward journey we are introduced to the emotional dilemmas of five characters as we puzzle out how they will unravel; on the return journey six months later, we watch them resolve:
- a young man meets the young woman, who always happens to borrow a library book just before he can take it out himself
- a woman in a white bridal dress boards looking inexplicably sad
- a university student leaves his hometown for the first time
- a girl prepares to leave her abusive boyfriend;
- an old lady discusses adopting a dog with her granddaughter.
As the seasons come around, so the Hankyu line trundles on carrying the lives and loves of its passengers ever forwards.
