æz wˈʌn ɹᵻvjˈuːɚ pˈʊt ɪt, "nˌækɐɡˈɑːmi wʌzðə fˈɜːst ɹˈaɪɾɚ fɹʌmðə ɡˈɛɾoʊ tə mˌeɪk ɪɾ ˌɪntʊ ðə mˈeɪnstɹiːm ænd tʊ ɐtˈɛmpt tə tˈɛl ˈʌðɚ dʒˌæpənˈiːz, haʊˈɛvɚ fˈɪktɪvli ɔːɹ ˈiːvən fæntˈæstɪkli, ɐbˌaʊt lˈaɪf æt ðə ɹˈʌf ˈɛnd ʌvðɪ ˌiːkənˈɑːmɪk mˈɪɹəkəl.
As one reviewer put it, "Nakagami was the first writer from the ghetto to make it into the mainstream and to attempt to tell other Japanese, however fictively or even fantastically, about life at the rough end of the economic miracle.