Scattered All Over the Earth

Scattered All Over the Earth is the first book in a proposed trilogy by the acclaimed Japanese author Yoko Tawada. It was originally published in Japanese by Kodansha Ltd. in April 2018 and in Margaret Mitsutani’s English translation in March 2022 by New Directions Books. The novel is a work of speculative fiction that follows Hiruko, a refugee from the extinct “land of sushi” as she navigates through Europe searching for a compatriot alongside an ever-growing group of friends. The book explores themes of Cultural Hybridity and Cultural Erasure,  Language as a Source of Identity, and The Stress of Diaspora. The thematic use of language in the novel reflects Tawada’s own exophonic literary identity: As a Japanese writer who has lived in Germany for many years, she writes in both Japanese and German. Scattered All Over the Earth was a National Book Award Finalist for Translated Literature in 2022. Its sequel, Suggested in the Stars, is set to be published in October 2024.

This guide references the first edition New Directions paperback, published in March 2022.

Content Warning: The source text contains both anti-immigrant and anti-transgender language, reproduced in this guide where necessary in direct quotes.

Note: This guide exclusively uses the pronouns she/her to refer to a transgender character in the narrative, Akash. While the text uses only he/him pronouns for the character, this character self-identifies as a woman, and such pronoun choices align better with the lived experiences of trans women.

Plot Summary

On a rainy day in Copenhagen, Denmark, Knut is watching TV and finds himself fascinated by a program featuring people from extinct countries. He is particularly drawn to one woman who reminds him of a heroine from an anime show he watches. As a linguist, he is curious about her use of a homemade language, which she calls Panska, that combines multiple Scandinavian languages into one. To the ear of a native speaker, it is disjointed, but understanding shines through. He calls the station, asking to speak with her, and when the station calls back, they tell him to come to the studio to meet her. Knut cancels dinner with his mother to meet this woman, named Hiruko, and the two go to dinner, where Hiruko tells him of her homeland, the “land of sushi,” and tells him that she is traveling to Trier, Germany the next day for the Umami Festival and to hopefully find another compatriot. Knut asks if he can join, and she agrees.

Hiruko works at the Märchen Center in Odense, teaching immigrant children Danish and Panska to help them assimilate. She earned the job after the center decided it would be best for immigrants to teach other immigrants. She showed them Panska and debuted her idea to use pictures alongside the folktales she reads to help vocabulary retention. While working there, Hiruko receives a call from a TV studio asking her to join a panel. She is reluctant but agrees when they tell her they will pay for her travel to the station and even to Trier the day after. After Hiruko’s time on the panel, she receives many calls, and though she hopes one may be from someone who speaks her language, most are from people pressuring her to assimilate fully. She agrees to meet with Knut because of his interest in Panska, and on the flight to Trier the next day, he explains his strained relationship with his mother, who gives more attention to a sponsored student from Greenland.

At the Luxembourg airport, Akash, who leads a group of fellow Indian students, notices Knut and Hiruko. Recognizing that Akash and the other Indian students are speaking Marathi, Knut approaches and tells her that they are attending an Umami festival at the Karl Marx House. They all take the bus to Trier, where Akash leaves the students and brings Knut and Hiruko to the Karl Marx House. When they get there, they discover that the festival is actually at the Karl Marx Museum (not the Karl Marx House), and they decide to go out to dinner to waste time. Akash brings them to an Indian restaurant but is shocked when everything is served in pizza form. With still more time to waste after dinner, Akash brings them to the Kaiserthermen, the Imperial Baths, which are Roman ruins with tunnels under them. While in the tunnels, they see a tall woman approaching.

Nora works at the Karl Marx Museum and coordinates the Umami Festival, though she must cancel the main food offerings because her keynote chef, Tenzo, is stuck in Oslo, Norway due to political turmoil. The narrative moves back in time to her first encounter with Tenzo: About a month before the festival, Nora is walking through the Kaiserthermen when she encounters a man with a sprained ankle. He does not look German but speaks the language fluently and introduces himself as Tenzo, making her believe he is from the “land of sushi.” She brings him back to her apartment, wraps his leg up, and allows him to stay until he can find a job. He tells her he is a sushi maker researching dashi, and she plans the festival to help him, but right before the festival, he leaves for a competition in Oslo and does not return. Needing a break from placing “cancelled” stickers on the festival’s food posters, Nora takes a walk through the Kaiserthermen, where she meets the trio of Akash, Knut, and Hiruko. Akash explains that they’ve arrived for the festival and when Nora explains why Tenzo cannot come, they express doubt about there being political turmoil and agree to meet in Oslo to find Tenzo.

The narrative focus shifts to tell the story of Tenzo’s life. He is not from the “land of sushi” but from Greenland, and his name is Nanook. Both of his parents have online, English-speaking jobs, and he decides to go to university in Denmark, earning sponsorship from a woman named Inga Nielsen. He first goes to language school in Copenhagen, where he proves to have an excellent ear for languages but finds that most people ignore him because of his identity as a Greenlander. One day, when a friend sends him to a sushi shop, a girl mistakes him for being from the “land of sushi.” He enjoys the attention and begins crafting an identity, Tenzo, to match this new nationality. He begins working in the sushi restaurant, and when he finishes his classes early, begins traveling with Inga’s support, working in sushi restaurants across Europe. In Husum, Germany, he learns of a man Susanoo, from the “land of sushi” who lives in Arles, France, and commits to finding him. First, he stops in Trier, where he falls into a relationship with Nora, though he finds it too intense and soon flees to Oslo to gain some freedom.

Hiruko arrives in Oslo and finds the restaurant where Tenzo is supposedly competing. She expects Nora and Knut to arrive soon, though Akash could not afford the trip. After checking into a hotel and returning to the restaurant, she finds Nora, who soon introduces her to Tenzo. Nora leaves the two alone to speak, and Hiruko discovers that Tenzo is not from her country and cannot speak the language fluently. She tells him he must tell Nora. Akash arrives in place of Knut, whose mother is sick. Nanook tells Nora the truth, and they all agree to meet back at the restaurant the next morning. The next morning, Nanook is brought in by the police for questioning: A whale has died, and police suspect the death is connected to the competition. Hiruko is nervous for him as an immigrant, but he is soon released and proclaimed innocent.

Before the trip to Oslo, Knut plans to go, but when his mother tells him that she will join him, he offers his ticket to Akash, telling his mother that he found an earlier flight and cannot meet her for dinner there. He continues to lie to his mother, even telling her that he must fly back early for a forgotten conference. Akash keeps Knut updated and informs him that they are going to Arles at the end of the month to find Susanoo, a man who is from Hiruko’s nation and can presumably speak with her. When he calls Hiruko, she tells him of her initial disappointment with Nanook not being from her country, but also finds that she does not care to find a native speaker anymore and values instead anyone who can share her language.

The narrative focus shifts to tell the story of Susanoo’s life. He grew up in Fukui Prefecture with a father who makes humanoid robots for the local PR Center. Susanoo’s childhood is a struggle. His mother is harsh and eventually leaves the family, impacting him to the point where he finds it easier to interact with robotic parts than people. When he visits the PR Center, he finds that the robots lie about the history of the area, and infuriated by this, swears to find a different career from his father. He travels to Germany to study shipbuilding, and there he makes friends with Wolf and finds a girlfriend named Anke. After skipping too many classes, Susanoo loses his scholarship and he, Wolf, and Anke move to Husum to open a sushi shop together. One day, Susanoo and Wolf go to see a matador show and Susanoo’s eye is caught by a woman who reminds him of a robot from his past. He follows her and she introduces herself, giving him her address in Arles. He eventually leaves Husum and his friends and finds her, only to be beaten by her boyfriend. He stays in Arles, working in a sushi restaurant, and loses the ability to speak. One day, Nora and Akash find him at his restaurant and tell him someone is coming to meet him.

Hiruko arrives at the sushi restaurant and tries to speak with Susanoo, who makes no sound. She laments the fact that they cannot speak, wanting to find joy in conversation, and tries to tell him folktales to evoke some shared cultural past. She even pretends to be his father, but nothing works. Nanook soon arrives and also tries to speak with Susanoo. When Knut comes and finds that Susanoo cannot speak, he suggests they take him to a university where he can be diagnosed.

Their time with Susanoo is cut short when Knut’s mother enters the restaurant and is shocked to find Nanook. Knut realizes that he told his mother he would be coming to Arles for a research project and is surprised to discover that Nanook is the student his mother sponsors. She interrogates Nanook about his whereabouts and Knut comes to his defense, telling his mother that he deserves independence. He echoes this sentiment when Nora arrives and also interrogates Nanook. Akash soon joins and declares to Knut’s mother that Knut needs his friends in his life to be happy and nothing more. As they argue, Susanoo stands up and makes a speech, though he produces no sound. Despite this, everyone understands that he wants to go to the university to be diagnosed and they all agree to go together.