Strange Pictures

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. Strange Pictures blends genres and media and does not have a clear protagonist or linear storyline. How did its nontraditional features impact your enjoyment of the book?

2. Have you watched any Japanese horror movies, like Ju-On: The Grudge, or played Japanese horror games, such as Yokai Tales? How would you compare the role that visuals play in Uketsu’s book to the role that visuals play in these other forms of media? Which do you enjoy more—horror movies, horror games, or horror novels—and why?

3. Have you read Strange Houses or another example of Japanese horror that blends art with text, such as Natsuhiko Kyogoku’s The Summer of the Ubume (1994) or Junji Ito’s horror manga Uzumaki: Spiral into Horror (2000)? Did these other texts utilize art in similar ways, or were there significant differences? How did the art style impact your experience? Did you see elements of both horror and mystery in other such texts?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Did you feel any sympathy for Naomi? How do your own ideas about motherhood impact your response to her as a character?

2. Do you participate actively in the arts—as a visual artist, writer, dancer, musician, etc.? To what extent do you think art reveals the mind of the artist? How do your views compare to the stance Strange Pictures takes on this subject?

3. Are there aspects of the story that are difficult to relate to because they are grounded in different cultural beliefs than your own?

4. Have you ever relied on your own education or experience to make a judgment call that later turned out to be badly wrong? How did you respond afterward?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. What interventions and supports would be offered to a child like Naomi in your own community? Do you think these would be any more or less effective than the ones Naomi was offered?

2. What social and cultural factors contribute to Yuki’s death? How easily can you imagine a young mother in your own society making similar choices under these circumstances?

3. The book is set during the 1990s and early 2000s. How does the story reflect the rise of internet culture during this time period? How is the serious economic stagnation that Japan experienced in the 1990s reflected in the story?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. The novel features several unreliable point-of-view characters. How might their flawed accounts of themselves contribute to the novel’s broader ideas about perception?

2. How do the illustrations contribute to the reader’s ability to function as another investigator in this story? What might be the point of enlisting the reader in this way?

3. Do the novel’s male characters differ significantly from its female characters? What messages about gender do these differences convey?

4. How does the story’s characterization of Naomi build over time? How does the reader’s understanding of this character shift as the narrative’s portrait of her builds?

5. Did you find this story frightening? How did its atmosphere compare to Western horror that similarly focuses on “everyday” or domestic evil?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. The novel employs a distinctive style of art to help create its atmosphere. What are some elements of the art that, if changed, would dramatically impact the book’s atmosphere? If you were turning this novel into a film, what are some visual choices you might make in order to preserve the novel’s original atmosphere?

2. Strange Pictures employs both text and illustrations in order to take advantage of the unique properties of both forms of media. What is another form of media that you could add to this story in order to amplify its impact and meaning? What are the unique qualities of this form of media, and how might it be used most effectively?