Mina's Matchbox

On sleepless nights, I open the matchbox and reread the story of the girl who gathered shooting stars. 'Beguiling' New YorkerAfter the death of her father, twelve-year-old Tomoko is sent to live for a year with her uncle in the coastal town of Ashiya. It is a year which will change her life. While the 1970s transform Japan, her uncle's magnificent colonial mansion is a place out of time; its sprawling gardens are even home to a pet pygmy hippo. Equally beguiling are Tomoko’s relatives, especially her cousin Mina. Their growing friendship draws her into an intoxicating world – one full of secret crushes and elaborate storytelling. Rich with the magic and mystery of youth, Mina’s Matchbox is an evocative snapshot of a moment frozen in time, and a striking depiction of a family on the edge of collapse. ‘Beautifully composed’ Financial Times‘Effervescent’ New York Times Book Review‘Transfixing’ Time'I read Mina’s Matchbox like a besotted child, enraptured, never wanting it to end' Ruth Ozeki

On sleepless nights, I open the matchbox and reread the story of the girl who gathered shooting stars

After the death of her father, twelve-year-old Tomoko is sent to live for a year with her uncle in the coastal town of Ashiya. It is a year which will change her life.

While the 1970s transform Japan, her uncle''s magnificent colonial mansion is a place out of time; its sprawling gardens are even home to a pet pygmy hippo. Equally beguiling are Tomoko’s relatives, especially her cousin Mina. Their growing friendship draws her into an intoxicating world – one full of secret crushes and elaborate storytelling.

Rich with the magic and mystery of youth, Mina’s Matchbox is an evocative snapshot of a moment frozen in time, and a striking depiction of a family on the edge of collapse.

''Beguiling'' New Yorker

‘Beautifully composed’ Financial Times

‘Effervescent’ New York Times Book Review

‘Transfixing’ Time

''I read Mina’s Matchbox like a besotted child, enraptured, never wanting it to end'' Ruth Ozeki

• | Author: Yoko Ogawa, Stephen Snyder
• | Publisher: Vintage Publishing
• | Publication Date: Aug 07, 2025
• | Number of Pages:
• | Language: eng
• | Binding: Paperback / softback
• | ISBN-13: 9781529933536
• | ISBN-10: 1529933536