lolita media library: Kenji Ohtsuki’s Rocking Horse Ballerina

“I was 18, it was summer, and I was stupid.”

I have not read this yet save for the opening line translated above, but I own a copy and plan to dig into it sometime this summer. (Japanese is not my first language, so I like to start new Japanese language novels when I have a lot of time and patience to let my brain work through it.)

Synopsis and general info

It is a coming-of-age story about high school friends Kōsuke, Saji, and Pan who form a punk band called Nohara (野原, “Field”) and decide to go on a nationwide tour across Japan. Each chapter is named after a region or city. It was first published in 2004 but has been reprinted a number of times since then.

How it’s related to lolita

Lolita fashion’s historical roots are tightly intertwined with the underground/alternative music culture of 1990s Japan; this is when Malice Mizer (Mana, who was instrumental in the rise of the fashion as we know it today, was in this band) became famous and the fashion saw a huge surge in popularity. One of the main characters in the book, Machiko Nanamagari (七曲町子), dresses in lolita fashion and wears Vivienne Westwood rocking horse shoes, which is very likely where the book’s name stems from.

About the author

Kenji Ohtsuki (大槻ケンヂ) is a relatively famous musician and has been in a number of bands, most famously Kinniku Shōjo Tai (筋肉少女帯). The book’s cover illustration was drawn by manga artist Hiroyuki Asada (浅田弘幸). The cover illustration of Shinjin (新人), one of Kinniku Shōjo Tai’s albums, also features Machiko smiling and in a different pose. In the edition of the book that I have, there are black and white manga panel illustrations on the chapter cover pages.

Preliminary comments

I wanted to buy this book before I saw the cover, but I got really excited to read it after it arrived and I got to study the cover illustration. I am a fan of all of these things (coming of age stories, lolita fashion, music) so I am really looking forward to it. I imagine the being in a band parts of it are particularly well written given the author’s extensive experience as a musician. Being married to a musician and having friends who write and play music, I am hoping I have some relatable insights to help me understand the book. I may write a more detailed synopsis and review once I am finished reading it, since I couldn’t find anything like that in English.