In a future where Japan has vanished into the sea, climate refugee Hiruko teaches immigrant children in Denmark using Panska, her unique invented language. Driven by a longing for her mother tongue, Hiruko embarks on a journey across Europe, forming an unlikely cohort of friends—a linguist, a gender-nonconforming Indian man, an Inuit, and a German museum worker—each searching for their own sense of belonging in a world reshaped by displacement.

Why You Should Read?

• Explore themes of language, identity, and the search for home in a vividly imagined, post-cataclysmic world.
• Experience a distinctive narrative style, shifting perspectives, and surreal, episodic adventures, from umami competitions to bullfights.
• Discover Yoko Tawada's unique blend of humor, dystopian insight, and profound observations on human connection.
• Engage with a work by a National Book Award Longlisted author, translated by the acclaimed Margaret Mitsutani.