Penguin Michael Joseph buys Hiyoko Kurisu's The Amberglow Candy Store in the Night Alley

Penguin Michael Joseph has acquired the "charming and affirming" The Amberglow Candy Store in the Night Alley by award-winning author Hiyoko Kurisu, a fable-like novel originally written and published in Japanese.

Senior editor Madeleine Woodfield acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, including audio, from Bruno Onuki Reynell at New River Literary, on behalf of Kohei Hattori at the English Agency and Poplar. It will be translated by Matt Treyvaud, with publication scheduled for November 2025. 

North American rights were sold to Putnam, part of Penguin Random House in the US, which pre-empted the novel within twenty-four hours. Rights have sold in 11 territories in total, including pre-empts in Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Brazil, Turkey and Poland.

The blurb reads: "With shades of "Spirited Away", The Amberglow Candy Store in the Night Alley is an immersive, cosy fantasy novel that teaches readers valuable life lessons through the characters’ interactions with Kogetsu, a half fox shopkeeper who gives his customers traditional wagashi sweets, who himself takes on new learnings and reveals his own backstory the more you read."

Woodfield said: "I knew I had to publish The Amberglow Candy Store in the Night Alley the minute it landed in my inbox. The novel is wonderfully charming and full of affirming life lessons, it is the perfect read for taking you somewhere new and making the world feel that bit brighter. I can’t wait to bring Kogetsu and Hiyoko’s wonderful writing to the English-speaking world for the first time, and it is so exciting for the Penguin Michael Joseph list to be growing our roster of translated fiction."

Kurisu said: "I hope that this night alley run by mysterious beings might also be loved by readers in the UK. Please allow your heart to be warmed by the mysterious experiences within."

In May, industry figures told The Bookseller how there was increasing interest in "healing fiction" powered by Japanese and Korean literature.