★ The latest essay collection from Ito Ogawa, one of Japan's most beloved healing-lit authors. Her debut The Snail Restaurant sold over 850,000 copies in Japan, and the Chinese edition of The Kamakura Chronicles holds an 8.3 rating on Douban with over 70,000 reviews. Her works have been translated into Chinese, English, Korean, French, Spanish, Italian, and more.
★ A full year living in the forest: gardening in spring, camping by the river in summer, preparing for winter in autumn, sipping red wine by the wood stove in winter — a quiet, fulfilling record of four seasons spent with her beloved dog.
★ She doesn't "write about" the forest — she lives in it. Readers say it feels "as if I'm experiencing it myself" and "my heart has grown still." An essay collection that gently catches the weariness of city dwellers and sets it down.
★ Her readers have been waiting for this: after her novels, they want to know what kind of life the author herself leads. This is the second personal essay collection from Ito Ogawa, following her earlier This Is Happiness Enough.
★ For everyone working hard in the city who sometimes wonders, "What if I could just move to the mountains?" — opening this book is a forest holiday.

It has been one year since she moved to live in the forest.

In spring, she throws herself into the garden. In summer, she heads to the river to cool off, or goes camping. She welcomes guests with ratatouille made from fresh vegetables and fruit punch made from fresh fruit. In autumn, she prepares for the winter months ahead. In winter, she observes the stars, or savors a glass of red wine in front of the wood-burning stove.

Every season is precious. A collection of essays chronicling quiet yet deeply fulfilling days spent with her beloved dog.

Ito Ogawa
Born in Yamagata Prefecture in 1973, Ito Ogawa is a defining voice in contemporary Japanese healing literature. Her works have been translated into Chinese, English, Korean, French, Spanish, Italian, and many other languages, published across the globe.
In 2008, she debuted with The Snail Restaurant, which won the inaugural Poplar Fiction Prize and has sold over 850,000 copies in Japan. It was adapted into a feature film in 2010 starring Kou Shibasaki, won the Bancarella Award (Culinary section) in Italy in 2011, and the Prix Eugénie Brazier in France in 2013. Her representative novel The Kamakura Chronicles (2016) placed 4th in the Japan Booksellers' Award in 2017 and was adapted into an NHK television drama. The Chinese translation was selected as one of Amazon China's Top 10 Paid Kindle New Books of 2018 and holds an 8.3 Douban rating with over 70,000 reader reviews.

Rice Porridge / Peter Is Peter / Hot-Spring Natto / Winter-Proofing / TKG / The Everyone-Welcome Diner / Kobushi Magnolia / Walking the Snowy Path / Yuki-chan / Snowlight, Moonlight / Garden Work / A World of Rime Ice / Harumi-san / Sanctuary / Snowdrops / A Quiet, Quiet Sunday / The Child Is Father to the Man / Addicted to the Garden / Mycorrhizal Fungi / A Gift [and more]