The Passengers on The Hankyu Line by Hiro Arikawa

This book was originally published in 2008 and has become a bestseller in Japan. The new translation in 2025 joins a list of popular Japanese fiction that is now being enjoyed worldwide.

The Hankyu Line is a privately run railway that runs in the mountainous Kansai region of Japan, connecting Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto. It is known for its maroon carriages and retro feel and is very popular with railway buffs. This story takes place on the lesser known Imazu Line.

The author splits the story into two parts. The first takes place on the train going between Takarazuka Station in the direction of Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi Station. For each stop (8 in total) there is a story revolving around characters that we get to know. Cleverly, these stories intersect as people get on and off the train.

The return journey takes place 6 months later and it goes in reverse. Again, there are stories for each of the 8 stops along the way. Building on the characters from the outward-bound journey, we meet some of them again and see how things have changed, or in some cases have not.

The stories each of the characters tells are simple slices of life. Do you often wonder when you are sitting on a bus or a train about the lives of the people around you? We meet a young man who recognises a young woman on the train because he has seen her at the library, and she reads the same books as he does. There is a woman dressed in white, who we learn has come from her ex-fiancé’s wedding. The passengers sometimes connect, and at other times they merely exist alongside each other. There are some interesting Japanese cultural aspects, like respect for elders and forms of etiquette.

Sometimes I found the translation made this a bit stilted to read, but overall, it’s a gentle and pleasant book, and a snapshot of life in Japan.

Reviewer: Rachel White

Penguin