Joel Huan

Just an obscure writer.

For years I have been puzzled by an observation, or a question. That question is, of all countries why only Japan has amassed a seppuku culture? Why only the Japanese have taken the trouble indulging such agonizing deaths with so much intensity, splendor and artistry?

The more I mull over it, the more it fascinates me. Japan maybe a necklace of islets, but Japan is also a necklace of calderas. As other plot points came into mind, I found that I needed to become a fiction writer, seeking out understanding as novelist John Gardner once said, ‘Fiction seeks out truth.’

In the process, I found novel writing excites me as it provides the necessary degree of freedom to allow a few other ideas to be explored. These other ideas—bloop, dreams, leviathan, Edgar Cayce, TWA Flight 800, Snowden—all seemingly unconnected but I wanted to thread them in this fictitious writing, far beyond what’s possible in non-fiction.

The settings of Boston and Tokyo in Over Mount Fuji enhance a global theme and serve as a reflection of my diverse backgrounds. And the subplot incorporates a cross-cultural romance in a catastrophic setting, with a somber and reflective ending.