In the Miso Soup

After finishing In the Miso Soup, I was very curious to know how other people reacted to it. I can definitely see why this book would be divisive, especially when it seems the book is advertised to be a thriller. It is a thriller but it's also the author's reflection on Japanese culture at the time it was written and a comparison of that to American culture. I'd argue that aspect becomes much more important than the “thriller” part of the plot, especially after the halfway mark.
All that being said, I genuinely did enjoy this book. So much unnerved me in this story. While a lot of credit for that goes to the American tourist character, Frank, there were quite a few little details that made me physically recoil from the book in my hand. The gore definitely had shock value. Maybe a little too over-the-top but I enjoy that kind of stuff.

The main things I'd warn readers about:
The perspective of the book is very male-oriented and the main character is a bit... judgemental. You don't get to see much of the perspective of women in the sex industry. I assume this is done on purpose for the theme of the book but it's still pretty jarring.
The pacing of the book is strange but I hesitate to say it's “bad” or “wrong”. Don't expect it to follow the pacing of a usual thriller.
The gore is pretty shocking if you aren't used to over-the-top stuff.