Ichiro Kawasaki

I really loved this novel. It was a very straightforward story of a Scottish woman and a Japanese man who met at a Japanese company for which they both worked in London. They eventually got married and went to live in Japan when the husband's company called him back from his position in London. The story dwells on the difficulty of a foreigner becoming part of the Japanese culture. It also concentrates on explaining the relationships, especially work relationships, in the life of a salary-man.

For those who are looking for drama in a novel, this is not the book for you. Rather, this book quietly follows the marriage of Saburo Tanaka and his wife Alice Burns, as they struggle to integrate as a couple back into Japanese society. I was totally interested in reading about Japanese customs and how they differ from those of the Western world. I enjoyed learning new vocabulary, both in English and in Japanese. I appreciated the translation of the Japanese terms.

I was horrified by what happened to Alice Burns (of which you shall read) as it reflected "fake news" that was reported about her. I am very leery of "fake news" in real life so such a thing as that in a novel mortified me. I was also taken aback to read a line of negativity about Jews in this novel that had nothing to do with anything Israeli or Jewish.

"It has been said that international Jewry and Chinese are exploiting the Japanese people and fleecing them white."

Why is that line in this novel? How do Jews get such a bad rap that they are spoken about negatively in a novel that is not about them?!

In addition, there was one line that threw me for a loop. The mom, Alice, was worried about her son Toshia's being bullied at school and being called an ainoko (half-breed). "At least she was glad that her son would not be subject to any such abuse or indignity in South America." What?! I don't think that would be accurate at all.

Despite my picking at these subjects, my overall impression of this book was a good one. I highly value it for its detailed peek into Japanese culture and would happily ready more works by this author.… (mais)