Tokyo Tempos

Tokyo Motions series #4

In Tokyo Tempos, award-winning mystery writer Michael Pronko explores the mystery of everyday Tokyo life. Drawing on three decades of living, writing, and teaching in Japan, he delves into Tokyo’s dynamism to show what it’s like living with Japanese food, seasons, ceremonies, and special moments he calls “small intensities.”

These pithy, pointed writings reveal how even massive cities like Tokyo live and breathe with the loves, hopes, pleasures, and meanings of the people who live there. These personal and philosophical explorations, part travelogue and part analysis, paint a vivid portrait of the city rich with curiosity and insight.

Join Pronko on his journey into the contradictions, intricacies, and enigmas of Tokyo, a city that is old and new, immense and intimate, indifferent and yet very humane. Independent Book Review called the essays “A medley of vignettes that are as eclectic as they are eloquent.” Authentic and immersive, Tokyo Tempos takes readers deep into the compelling rhythms of Tokyo life.

Winner Pencraft Book Award (2025) for Autobiography
Reviewers Choice Award Feathered Quill (2025)
Gold Winner Nonfiction Authors Association (2025)

Kirkus Reviews (December 2024)
“Pronko succeeds in imbuing Tokyo with serene magic, and readers may feel compelled to book plane tickets upon completing this volume.” Read More

The Book Revue (December 2024)
“This book gave me a new appreciation for Tokyo's complex beauty, reminding me of the careful balance of tradition and modernity that makes this city and Japan as a whole so alluring.” Read More

Feathered Quill (December 2024)
“Tokyo Tempos is a poignant and passionate presentation of Tokyo as a city of contrast, not just a setting but a living entity representing the modern tension between innovation, progress, and the roots of tradition.” Read More

Independent Book Review (December 2024)
“Tokyo Tempos is a charming, unaffected, and yet profoundly philosophical collection of essays on the colorful chaos that is Tokyo.” Read More

IndieReader (November 2024)
”For readers familiar with Pronko’s excellent Detective Hiroshi series of Japanese-set crime thrillers, it will come as no surprise that the prose is beautifully weighted, a sense of place evoked, and telling details precisely set—not just the sights, but the sounds and the smells of the city.” Read More

SPR Review (November 2024)
"An artful love letter to an inimitable city. Pronko's obvious reverence for Japan is clear, and he writes with a blend of humility and pride that only comes from deeply loving your chosen home. No matter the topic, Pronko approaches his subjects with respect and a playful sense of awe that is both endearing and convincing. Taking a poetic, personal, and aesthetic brush to a dynamic landscape, this collection is an impressive and rousing homage from a gifted storyteller." Read More

Reader Views Five Stars (November 2024)
“These aren’t just snippets of Tokyo and the usual touristy accounts of the big attractions. Pronko takes a deeper look at what makes Tokyo hum, what gives it the appeal that draws thousands of visitors every year.” Read More