Why One Hundred Years of Solitude Is (Finally) a Hit in Japan

Gabriel García Márquez’s masterpiece may be One Hundred Years of Solitude, but it took 50 years of circulation to become a bestseller in Japan. Find out how this internationally beloved novel finally took off.

A masterpiece no one was reading

One Hundred Years of Solitude has been a best-seller since its publication in 1967. The novel tells the story of the Buendia family and the fictional isolated town they found Macondo. Spanning multiple generations, it reflects on the rise and fall of both the family and town.

Colombian literary genius Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s magnum opus is considered one of the greatest novels ever written. Translated into 46 languages, with over 50 million copies sold worldwide, its status as a classic novel is undeniable.

However, for many years, that didn’t seem to help its sales in Japan.

The novel’s Japanese translation (百年の孤独; hyaku-nen no kodoku) was originally released in 1972. Tsuzumi Tadashi’s translation is praised for its deft use of the Japanese language, bringing to life the emotions and environment of the story. Particularly, his use of Japanese onomatopoeia gives a greater depth to the story.

Subsequent reprints have revised the original translations as well. It also stayed widely available, with multiple underperforming reprints, coasting on its reputation as a masterpiece.

Over the decades, Márquez’s tale also acquired a fierce level of adoration from Japan’s literary elite. Oe Kenzaburo and Ikezawa Natsuki, both famous writers in Japan, drew inspiration from the novel for their own works. Abe Kobo, another Japanese literary giant, also heaped praise on the classic, saying his life was split between before he read the novel and after. Still, the book never found a strong following amongst the general public.

Why the lackluster sales?

To start, there’s the elephant in the room. The novel is notoriously difficult to follow. With a long, winding narrative that shifts between space and time and characters melding into one another, it’s not an easy read.

I found the book one of the most difficult I’d ever read. It took me months to get through it in university.

The setting and style are also markedly different from those of most Japanese novels and most famous Western novels. Relying heavily on magical realism and the history of Márquez’s home country of Colombia, it wasn’t a genre with which most casual readers were familiar.

Finally, all the previous editions had been hardcover novels. Japan is a big fan of paperback novels, as they’re portable, easy to read while commuting, and cheap. At 422 pages, the hardback copies were neither, so they lingered on shelves.

A new edition

On April 1st, 2024, publisher Shinchosha announced they were releasing a paperback version on social media service X (formerly Twitter). Many comments expressed surprise or thought it was an April Fool’s joke.

The book was previously considered impossible to print in paperback. Hampered by contractual issues for years, that seemed to be the case, but the publisher persevered. Spurred on by the 10th anniversary of Márquez’s death and a Netflix series scheduled for release in 2024, they managed to get a paperback copy onto shelves for the very reasonable price of 1375 yen (9.84 USD).

Their work paid off when the novel topped the book sales ranking, becoming the best-selling novel in Japan for July. In its first eight weeks, it sold over 290,000 copies. That’s almost more than all the previous hardback sales combined. It continues to sell steadily and currently occupies the top five ranking for paperback novels.

A classic gets a new life

The new price point and portability solved some of the novel’s initial hurdles. However, there were other reasons for the latest sales boom. Since the publication of the original translation, Gabriel García Márquez has received the Nobel Prize in literature. Literary prizes are a big deal in Japan, and Márquez’s winning the biggest of them all is good PR for the new paperback edition.

Then there is the cover. The publisher tapped artist and graphic designer Miyake Ryuto to create the artwork. Miyae is currently a hot property working on campaigns for well-known brands like Gucci and Apple. His cover is aesthetically pleasing, designed to evoke both pivotal items in the story and a roadmap to the overall narrative.

Book clubs

A gorgeous cover and an affordable price point have encouraged readers to pick it up. However, these haven’t made the text less dense and complex. Reviews on Amazon and other sites warn it’s a difficult novel but rewarding, garnering rave reviews.

The YouTuber Baki Baki Virgin has promoted the book, saying it is currently the book he finds most interesting. He also warned potential readers that it was going to be tough. Still, he said it wasn’t a stuffy book and that readers should try it.

Readers eager to engage with the book but intimidated by its reputation have turned to book clubs. One book club participant said, “You shouldn’t pressure yourself too much with it, but take it in slowly, bit by bit.” The groups get together to discuss the timelines, the characters, and how to keep all of that information straight, along with the themes of generational curses and isolation.

A bonus to understanding the text is an in-depth reading guide by the previously mentioned writer and self-professed Márquez superfan Ikezawa Natsuki. It breaks down the storyline and explains the relationships between the characters. It’s a bit of a cheat sheet but I would have appreciated one when I gave the book a go.

With the current state of the world, themes like war, greed, isolation, mental health, and toxic families are as timely as ever. One Hundred Years of Solitude‘s success in Japan proves that a good story is universal, even if it takes a generation to find its audience.

Sources

文庫化したら世界が滅びる!?　ノーベル賞作家の傑作 『百年の孤独』ついに文庫化　「大事件」に特設売り場も- https://www.tokyo-np.co.jp

世界的ベストセラー「百年の孤独」 初の文庫版 異例ヒットに-https://www3.nhk.or.jp/

バキバキ童貞”ことぐんぴぃが『百年の孤独』を激推し＆語り尽くす!-https://news.yahoo.co.jp/