(June 13, 2023) The Japanese bestselling novel Love Like the Falling Petals by Keisuke Uyama is finally coming to America. First published by Shueisha in 2017, the page-turning romance captivated a nation with its exploration of the beauty and pain of young love, as two souls are brought together by fate, only to be torn apart by circumstance. The novel became a runaway bestseller in Japan and also inspired a popular, live-action Netflix movie of the same name in 2022, directed by Yoshihiro Fukagawa, written by Tomoko Yoshida, and starring Kento Nakajima and Honoka Matsumoto. Now Media Do International and Clover Press are partnering together with publisher Shueisha for a Kickstarter campaign for the first-ever English publication of the book. With a charming translation by Terry Gallagher, a cover by artist Heikala, and variant covers by LAL!ROLE and Cheseely, this beautifully written and emotionally charged novel is primed to connect with a new international audience. The campaign is now live on Kickstarter.
“Growing up, dreaming I would one day become a writer, I never thought that my stories would be read outside of Japan and reach people around the world,” said novelist and accomplished screenwriter Keisuke Uyama. “I am deeply moved and excited about the English-language edition of Love Like the Falling Petals. I wish I could convey this excitement to my childhood self. Of course, I did not get here alone. I would like to thank Terry Gallagher for his translation and Heikala for her wonderful cover illustration, and Cheseely and LAL!ROLE for the variant covers for the English edition.”
“It was a pleasure to translate Love Like the Falling Petals by Keisuke Uyama, a classic ‘meet cute’ love drama with a dark twist,” said translator Terry Gallagher. “The characters are very believable and identifiable. Their Tokyo is my Tokyo. The language of the book is the language of real life: heat of summer, chill of winter, the grind of work, the thrill of young love, a family-run pub, a fancy French restaurant, the smell of hospital hallways. But something untoward happens to this couple. The story takes a novel approach to explore our collective obsession with youth, connection, and ‘relationships.’ Will they find their way out of their predicament?”
Love Like the Falling Petals is a heart-wrenching tale that takes readers on an emotional journey in which a young couple—Misaki and Haruto—navigates the ups and downs of life and relationships. Set in the stunning landscape of Japan, and the fleeting symbolism of cherry blossoms, the novel paints a vivid picture of the country’s culture and traditions, while exploring the universal themes of love, sacrifice, and the power of the human spirit. The Love Like the Falling Petals campaign will feature rewards including bookmarks, tote bags, hand towels, greeting cards, folders, and calendar prints, all adorned with gorgeous art.
“I first got to know the story of Love Like The Falling Petals through the Netflix film,” said cover artist Heikala, a Finnish artist who resides in Tokyo. “Then when I got the chance to read the book, I was touched by the way that Uyama depicts the varying forms of love in his book. In addition to being a beautiful depiction of a budding relationship between young adults, the story illustrates the themes of familial love, and that of grief and loss in a sincere way. In my illustration for the cover, I wanted to depict the book’s themes of fleeting beauty symbolized by the short life of the cherry blossom. I wanted the cover art to be a delicate depiction of the main characters with an emphasis on the beautiful world that they are surrounded with.”
The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles (JFLA) which promotes international awareness and mutual understanding between Japan and the U.S. through a wide range of cultural programs and grants, will support the campaign with YouTube video featuring Uyama and Heikala.
“At Clover Press, we’re all about trying new genres, formats, and ways to get great books that we love into people’s hands,” said Clover Press Publisher Hank Kanalz. “Love Like the Falling Petals” is no exception and is a great example of Clover Press’s plans to expand into bringing quality international material to North America. We started with importing some European books, continued with our recent art books with pixiv featuring exciting artists from Taiwan and Korea, and now we are pleased to share this new prose novel from Japan in partnership with Shueisha. We’re also diversifying our line to include more prose, with more planned later this year and next.”
“The story is about a woman who ages a dozen times faster than others, and a man who loves her,” said author Keisuke Uyama. “The ephemeral nature of love and life is depicted through the motif of cherry blossoms, which Japanese people cherish as a metaphor for life. Cherry blossoms only bloom for a short period every year. Throughout the story, I hope readers, regardless of their culture or nationality, can experience the sentiment that life is as beautiful and transitory as the falling cherry blossoms.”
The pre-launch page for Love Like the Falling Petals is now live on Kickstarter. For updates, follow Clover Press on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. You can subscribe to the Clover press newsletter here.
To support the campaign, visit Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cloverpressimports/671915138?ref=9826o3
About Shueisha Inc.
In Japanese, our name means “gathering of intellect,” and we at Shueisha Inc. convey useful information, profound knowledge, and great entertainment to millions each day through many platforms of communication. As one of Japan’s leading publishers, our publications encompass a wide range of subjects and genres, from magazines, literature, art, children’s, and reference books, to manga (comics/graphic novels).
About Media Do International:
Tokyo-based Media Do Co., Ltd. is one of the largest eBook distribution companies in the world and retains the largest share of Japan’s eBook market. Media Do International, Inc. is based in San Diego, California. Media Do Group’s mission is to make more content available for more people. NetGalley and its owner, Quality Solutions/Firebrand Technologies, were acquired by Media Do in 2021. Firebrand and NetGalley provide leading marketing and technology services to more than 500 publishers worldwide. NetGalley, LLC operates websites in the US, UK, France, Germany, and Japan. Supadu Ltd. was acquired by Media Do in 2022. Supadü is the lead provider of website and e-commerce solutions for publishers. For more information on Media Do’s services and corporate divisions, please visit: https://mediado.jp/english.
About Clover Press: Headed by IDW co-founders Ted Adams and Robbie Robbins, along with Matt Ruzicka and Hank Kanalz, Clover Press publishes a wide variety of collected and original content ranging from re-mastered reprints of Terry and the Pirates, to horror graphic novels, and high-quality art books. Clover Press is working with a wide variety of creators including Kevin Eastman, Craig & Clizia Yoe, Dean Mullaney, Steve Niles, Gabriel Rodriguez, Ruben Bolling, Matt Bors, Timothy Truman, Jorge Coelho, Richard Bennett, Ray Troll, John K. Snyder III, Stewart Kenneth Moore, Aron Wiesenfeld, and more.
About Keisuku Uyama: Keisuke Uyama is a Japanese novelist and screenwriter. His best-selling novel “Love Like the Falling Petals” was adapted into a Netflix film of the same name. Uyama has also written screenplays for several Japanese TV dramas, adapted from popular comics series. His novels include Color Me True; A Little Miracle For You; This Love is the Most Beautiful Rain in the World; Blue in Love and Sunflowers are the Shape of Love.
About Cheseely: Chelsea (A.K.A. @cheseely) is an artist from Vancouver, Canada who primarily works as a Character Designer in the animation industry. She has a passion for storytelling through her art, and hopes to capture the feeling of a fleeting moment in time. Her previous clients include Marvel Studios, Powerhouse Animation, A1 Pictures, & more.
About Heikala: Heikala is a popular illustrator and designer from Finland based in Tokyo who has a degree in Graphic Design from the Lahti Institute of Design. She enjoys working on product and packaging designs, but it is her traditional work with inks and watercolours, creating art that is often influenced by Finnish and Japanese cultures, along with the in-depth sharing of her processes, that has amassed Heikala a large and growing following on social media.
About LAL!ROLE: LAL!ROLE is an illustrator who illustrated the cover for the Japanese edition of Love Like the Falling Petals.
About Terry Gallagher: Terry Gallagher has been a full-time independent translator since 2000, mainly in the world of business and finance. This year he also became a Research Associate at Harvard University’s Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies. His translation of Self-Reference Engine by Akutagawa Prize winning author Toh Enjoe was honored with the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for Translation of Japanese Literature (2015), and with the Philip K. Dick Award Special Citation (2014). His work as literary translator began with two stories in the ground-breaking 1991 anthology Monkey Brain Sushi, which was edited by Birnbaum. He has translated five books and many short stories, mainly for Viz Media. Previously, he was a journalist in Tokyo, Bonn, and New York. Originally from Brooklyn, he has a B.A. from Brown University, and now lives on Cape Cod. He is a member of JAT and a member and former board member of the New England Translators Association (NETA).
