Vanishing World
by Sayaka Murata
A surreal, absurd, and deeply unsettling vision of Japan’s future that pushes every boundary imaginable.
If Earthlings was too much for you, turn back now. But if you loved the unsettling absurdity of Bora Chung, the moral unraveling of The Vegetarian, or the taboo-breaking strangeness of Walking Practice, Vanishing World will feel right at home on your shelf.
What It’s About
In Vanishing World, Sayaka Murata takes the fundamental building block of society, the family, and turns it inside out. In this version of Japan, sex between married couples is considered incest, physical intimacy is rare, and children are conceived through artificial insemination. Desire is redirected into extramarital relationships, fictional characters, and manufactured idols.
Amane, our narrator, always found a way to be “normal” even if she was conceived “the old way.” When she and her husband move to an experimental community where all children are raised communally and every adult is called “Mother,” her beliefs and boundaries are tested in ways she never imagined. By the end, Amane crosses the very boundaries she’s spent the whole novel defining herself against, leaving you unsure if she’s collapsed or simply adapted to survive. It’s unsettling, extreme, and exactly what makes this book brilliant.
What Stuck With Me
This is Murata at her most extreme. It’s surreal and absurd, yes, but also razor-sharp in its social commentary. Under the shock is a very pointed question: how far is this really from the path Japan is already on? I think Vanishing World is one of those rare books where the absurdism isn’t just there to shock. It’s there to mirror something uncomfortably close to real-life trends. With declining birth rates, rising isolation, and entire industries built on artificial intimacy and from friends becoming life partners and rented family members to anime and pop idol obsessions, Murata’s imagined future doesn’t feel so far-fetched.
Reading it was like being grabbed by the collar and told to pay attention. It’s grotesque in places, but in that particular Murata way where the grotesque is there to make you think, not just to shock. The writing is precise, the world-building is unapologetic, and the result is both fascinating and deeply uncomfortable. That “too weird to be real, but not really” feeling is what makes it hit so hard.
Would I Recommend It?
Only to readers who seek out the extreme. If you loved Earthlings, Walking Practice, The Eyes Are the Best Part, or short fiction by Bora Chung, you’ll find that same fearless, off-kilter energy here. This is not for the sensitive, but for those willing to go there, it’s brilliantly and absurdly surreal.
Where to Find It
📘 Buy on Amazon
📘 Buy on Bookshop.org
First time on Bookshop.org? Click for discount code
Also available via WorldCat to check your local library
Reading in a World That Feels Slightly Off
Vanishing World isn’t a cozy curl-up read, but it’s perfect for a night when you want to sit with something unsettling and brilliant. Set the tone with a few things that feel just a little out of step with the everyday:
LED Bedside Lamp (So cool)
Sometimes the right atmosphere makes a book like this hit even harder.
Looking for your next read?
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