Society, crime and punishment critiqued in Japanese author Rie Kudan's 'Sympathy Tower Tokyo'

[Interview] In a radical future imagined by author Rie Kudan, 34, prisoners are victims of society and thus viewed with sympathy instead of hostility in novel "Sympathy Tower Tokyo."

[Interview]

Rie Kudan, author of "Sympathy Tower Tokyo" [SHINCHOSHA]

When the inmates confined inside a 70-floor prison called Sympathy Tower Tokyo take the elevator to the top floor, they enter a library with a panoramic view of Japan’s capital. It is also the perfect place to take in Tokyo’s annual summer fireworks.

In this future imagined by author Rie Kudan, 34, prisoners are victims of society and thus viewed with sympathy instead of hostility. Upon publication in January, “Sympathy Tower Tokyo” (translated), or “Tōkyō-to Dōjō Tō,” became an instant hit in its home country, bagging the prestigious Akutagawa Prize shortly afterwards.

The book follows female architect Sara Machina, who sets out to design a luxury, high-rise prison. Its captives are labeled "Homo miserabilis," a Latin term sympathetically used to describe felons whose crimes are viewed as having been influenced by the environment. It juxtaposes "Homo felix" individuals, or those who have been lucky enough to live in an environment where they do not have to sin.

Cover of the Korean translation of "Sympathy Tower Tokyo" [SHINCHOSHA]

The book is garnering worldwide attention as well, particularly for having used ChatGPT generated text for around five percent of its content, Rie reportedly said upon receiving the Akutagawa Prize. It is only used, however, for lines spoken by the generative AI, which is a character in the book.

“Sympathy Tower Tokyo” was published in Korean earlier this year. American publishing house Viking reportedly signed with the Japanese best-selling author and acquired rights to publish the English-language version of the book by 2025.

The JoongAng Ilbo, the Korean affiliate of the Korea JoongAng Daily, conducted an email interview with Rie. Excerpts have been edited for length and clarity.

How did you come up with the concept of Homo miserabilis?

I got help [from many different outlets] and one of them was Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben, who wrote a book called *“Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life” [1995]. This concept of men who are not protected by the state and the law played a significant role in forming the background for “Sympathy Tower Tokyo.”

*Homo sacer is a Latin phrase meaning “sacred man.” It is a concept in Roman law that says a man should not be sacrificed in a religious ritual no matter his sin, though he may be banished and killed by anybody with impunity. He is thus both outside and beyond human law.

Was there a similar discussion within Japanese society?

There are always arguments pertaining to nature versus nurture and whether certain environments give rise to criminals. Homo miserabilis isn’t a unique concept that I created, per se, but something that arose from a preexisting ethos in society. A documentary that followed the happenings inside Japanese prisons for 10 years, “Prison Circle” [2020] by Kaori Sakagami, also helped [surface these issues].

The novel portrays a sense of doubt and political fatigue toward a society that has to call its prisoners “Homo miserabilis.” Do you see speech and language as a mindset rather than just a communication tool?

I do. I started paying special interest because of my parents. They both talk in Japanese but have very different accents and word choices because they were born and raised in different parts of Japan. There was a deeply rooted “disconnect.” I wanted to understand their problems, and so I buried myself in books and began writing.

Did Japanese society’s growing rhetoric around too much political correctness influence the novel in any way?

I am always weary of political correctness limiting our language and ultimately the human mind.

What is some memorable feedback that you’ve received from readers? There were readers who said, “I actually visited the Japanese National Stadium because it felt like the Tokyo Sympathy Tower was really there,” and, “I actually thought that Zaha Hadid constructed the Japanese National Stadium, so I went to the real site to check.” It made me happy to see that an imagined world could be connected to reality.

Do you have plans to write a sequel?

There are no specific plans as of now. If there are enough readers who are interested in more related stories, I can prepare a sequel.

BY HONG JI-YU, LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]