5 comments about Turning Japanese: Memoirs of a Sansei.

1. I am a Japan-born Japanese who lives in Boston for over 10 years and it is my strong pursuit to learn cultural encountering points between East and West especially, to name, Japan and US. The book caught my eyes immediately when I first saw it in a bookstore since I thought I can read about this Japanese American who know more about US than Japan although he must have been exposed to a some level of Japanese-ism over the course of his upbringing. My expectation from the book was to see the complex mosaic of his feeling toward Japan and its culture now that he lives in the country Japan. Unfortunately, it was not what I retrieved from the book since he was rather in a rare subculture of Japan and read little about his interaction with Japanese as cultural encountering. However, it was certainly a personal memoir of an expat who lives in a foreign country but knows the intricacy of Japan. This will not be a book for those who want to read his statements of Japan. But it will certainly be an interesting reading if you want to read the life of this expat who can describe his personal experience in more Japanese familiar terms.



2. I can't comment with any authority on this book regarding its literary merit. However, I can say that, having lived life as a sansei just as David Mura has, I found this book a compelling read -- a book whose feeling and emotion was/is quite consistent with mine. This is so even though for the most part we seem to have lived very different kinds of lives. Our principal commonality appears to be that a stay in Japan during young adulthood played a pivotal role in helping us learn something about ourselves. Trivial and obvious? Perhaps. Anti-white and/or anti-American (as has been stated by other readers here)? I don't think so.



3. An overwraught and overwritten diary about how hard it is to be David Mura, wealthy American of Japanese descent. Hello? Hard lives are lived on the West Bank, in drought-striken East Africa and in Northern Ireland. This self-indulgent work trivializes real suffering.



4. I appreciate Mura's contribution to Asian American literature and his courage to reveal himself, which is very atypical for Asian/Asian American men. His struggles with his racial identity and journey to find connections with his grand parents' homeland were fascinating. Being a person of Japanese ancestory, I believe Asian/Asian American men can personally relate to Mura's story. I also recommend his other book,"Where the Body Meets Memory", which reveals further on his issues and helps to complement this book.



5. I agree with the reviewers who found the book repetitive, a little boring and more about his family than Japanese culture. While he attempts to provide many insights I fear that most of them are dated now 16 years later. Also the author makes such a big deal about seeing the hometown of his grandfather and when he finally gets there after 300 pages there is absolutely no payoff.

2 comments about On the Move in Japan: Useful Phrases & Common Sense for the Traveler.

1. This book has become my most used when I travel in Japan. The prases have the Kanji translation, so that you can point to a phrase, and any Japanese person will understand.

   From buying train tickets to what happens during specific holidays, this little book has packed a great deal of information into a convenient package.




2. After living in Japan for several years and purchasng several hundred dollars worth of Japanese language materials, this book is the best by far to quickly help you get around and survive here!!! Despite the fact that it is designed primarily for tourists, anyone who is residing in Japan and has not mastered the language yet will benefit from this helpful little book. A few of its outstanding features are:
   
   1. topical arrangement of materials from the basics to utilities; to getting along; and getting around; and getting in and out of trouble
   
   2. explanations of written Japanese for tickets and time schedules
   
   3. cultural notes about holidays and events
   
   4. general traveling advice about what to see and how to enjoy it. Although this information is not expressed in detail the size of this pocket guide makes it convenient and easy to use. It gives the reader a reliable point in the right direction.
   
   This little book is so much more useful than the standard phrasebooks because of the kanji characters it uses. I highly recommend it for anyone spending a week or a year in Japan. If you are planning on spending considerable time in Japan, this book is much easier to purchase there than in the United States.

No comments about Dollarwise Guide to Japan and Hong Kong.

3 comments about Osaka, Japan City Map by ITMB (Travel Reference Map).

1. I will know more when I next visit, but from memory of last January(2007) this map would have been invaluable.



2. If you're going to Osaka, I'd definitely recommend this, or at least some map. Kyoto and Tokyo are easy to figure out, but Osaka was a whole new trial. This map is easy to read, well labeled, and from what I experienced is pretty up-to-date.



3. The map of Osaka arrived within the timelines I expected and is an excellent map.

4 comments about A Guide to Ethnic Food in Los Angeles: Restaurants, Markets, Bakeries, Specialty Shops for the Food of Cambodia, China, Ethiopia, Greece, Guatemala,.

1. When this book first came out about 10 yrs. ago or more it was a revelation. In one collection it guided you through EVERY major ethnic community in the greater L.A. region and told you which were the best restaurants, bakeries, markets, etc. I don't know of any other book that comes to close to being this comprehensive & incisive.

   If you ever spend any time in L.A. & you are interested in ethnic food, you must have this book.




2. This is the greatest book on the best ethnic restaurants in LA. Hopefully, the author will put out a new edition. I have it. It's about 10 years old, and I'm not going to sell it. It's better than any new guide out there. Even if you don't go to these places, it's an interesting read.



3. This is a fantastic compendium of ethnic food in LA. It gives you everything you'd ever want to know: best bakeries, best markets, best restaurants. It divides categories by geography (important in LA) & by ethnic cuisines.

   While the 1992 printing will make some info out of date (restaurants for example), this book is one of a kind & the best in its genre.




4. Although 13 years old, much of the info in this book is still relevant. Despite the youthfulness of Los Angeles, there are restaurants and markets that have managed to survive for decades. These places are invariably great and almost institutions in their community. Hence, many of the listings in Burum's book still survive in this megapolis. You'll have fun tracking down that obscure German sausage maker who has had his shop for some 30 years...as well as the occassional let down upon discovering that the old Japanese immigrant, who made fresh tofu daily at the back of his grocery store, decided to call it quits a few years ago.
   
   This book is not only a guide to the ethnic markets in LA, but also serves as an introduction to the cuisine of LA's ethnic groups. Interspersed within the listings, you'll find glimpses into the history of LA's immigrant communities, and what they really eat that you don't get at the mainstream ethnic restaurants. If you're the type that prefers to eat where you're the only one not of the ethnic group the restaurant caters to, get this book. It lets you in on not just the basics of a people's cuisine, but makes you feel comfortable with the unfamiliar (and much more authentic] dishes.
   
   The book is organized into the following chapters, which fairly represents the demographics of Los Angeles:
   China; Japan; Korea; Thailand; Vietnam; Southeast Asian [Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Phillipines]; India; Mexico; Central/South America and Caribbean; Europe; Greece, the Middle East and Africa.
   
   Overall, an indispensable introduction to LA's greatest asset: It's diversity of people and cuisine.

2 comments about On the Narrow Road: A Journey into Lost Japan.

1. Lesley Downer retraces Matsuo Basho's famed 17th century journey to unknown northern Japan documented in his book "On the Narrow Road to the Deep North." Ms. Downer rediscovers a "lost" Japan. The journey and the writing are well worth the effort.



2. Unlike Alan Booth, who wrote my favorite books by a westerner in Japan, Lesley Downer seemed to admire and revere Basho. Alan Booth seemed to think he was a drunkard and a leech. Lesley Downer attempts to follow the path that Basho took 300 years earlier through the wilds of northern Honshu. Miss Downer does take advantage of modern transportation throughout her travels unlike Basho who couldn't, but probably would have if it had been available.
   
   I found it a little bit incredible that Miss Downer was disappointed that so much from Basho's time had disappeared. I'm surprised that she found as much evidence of his travels as she did in the 1980's.
   
   Still, the book is engaging, interesting, well written and different. It certainly should be included if, like me, you are interested in reading anything written by westerners who have lived in Japan.

5 comments about Queer Japan: Personal Stories of Japanese Lesbians, Gays,Transsexuals and Bisexuals.

1. People will stumble upon this book, I think, from their interest in other areas, gay and lesbian studies, or Japanese culture for example. The area of gay and lesbian studies in Japan is still so new and relatively small compared to the United States, for example, that as a discourse it does not quite have the independence and stature to attract wide notice or sympathy.

   That said, this is an excellent introductory book, one-of-a-kind, in fact, of Queer Japan. In every story, translated by a trio of non-Japanese academics who have spent several years apiece in Japan and are active in gay-lesbian-bisexual-transexual groups, the author is awash with gratitude, to be allowed finally to speak in one's own voice, of the struggles, pain, and yes, the joys experienced. In such an oppressive culture, where candid, direct speech is not encouraged, or even actively discouraged as being childish and selfish, these essays are all the more remarkable.

   My only complaint, which prevented me from giving 5 stars to the book, is technical: there are numerous grammatical errors, as well as careless word use. Sorry, I was an English major in college. I was trained to spot misuse of transitive/intransitive verbs, for example. It makes me sad that such errors suggest to me a lack of attention on the part of the publisher; in other words, this makes me feel that those involved in editing the book did not take as much pride in their own book as their subjects, which conflicts with the heartfelt call for those in the book, and others like them who struggle in Japan, to take pride in themselves, their essential beings.

   In short, an excellent, though technically flawed book, for those looking to expand their understanding of modern Japan.




2. I have lived in Japan for more than twenty years and I was very pleased to read this book. Though I am not gay I have many Japanese and non Japanese friends who are, and I have listened over the years to their stories. This book is a perfect example of what the gay experience is like here in Japan. It's very honest and moving. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Japanese sub culture.



3. I came across this book three years ago, when I first arrived in Japan. I was reading it just as I was coming to terms with my own homosexuality. It contributed to the opening of my mind, and helped me find courage to come out and start living my life to the fullest.
   Queer Japan was, at first, my only way of knowing about Japanese attitudes toward alternative lifestyles, and about Japanese gays and lesbians themselves. Since the subject is never discussed (in either a good or bad light) at work or in the media here, the book helped me realize that there were indeed a lot of Japanese people out there in situations similar to mine.
   The book provides an extremely accurate portrait of how homosexuality is viewed in Japan, but that's not really the point. The point is that it allows so many individual gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transsexual Japanese people to tell their stories -- something they are all too often forbidden to talk about.



4. Queer Japan is an excellent book examining the real lives of gays, lesbians and transsexuals in Japan. I know the editors of the book personally and attended the book opening in Tokyo. I heard the stories of the Japanese women and men whose personal stories are contained in the book. It is a moving and realistic account of the Japanese people's treatment of transgressors of their mianstream culture. I lived in Japan for 6 years and taught at Gunma Prefectural Women's University with Cheiron (one of the editors); and I know first hand the lives of the lesbian, gay and transsexual people in Japan.
   All I can say is "Read it !"



5. I have a great interest in gay life in Japan, so I figured this book would be a helpful resource, though it is a little dated. There are some excellent personal stories that make up this compliation, however I was disappointed to find that it is primarily focused on the the lesbian community. Of course I have no problems with lesbians, however the role they take on and the problems, issues they encounter being gay in Japan are likely far different than mine as a gay man. To be honest, they are probably facing a lot more discrimination than us men!
   I didn't feel that there was an equal depiction of the lives gay men lead in Japan - probably 80% of the book is devoted to bi women/lesbians. As the book's title suggests a more diverse collection of the entire QUEER community, I feel it was misleading. Devote an entire book to the bi/lesbian/femminist movement in Japan as I'm sure it deserves atleast that. If you're interested in GAY/BI men in Japan...my suggestion is to keep looking.

No comments about A Travel Guide to Queer Japan: Exploring Queer Spirits.

5 comments about Great Mirrors Shattered: Homosexuality, Orientalism, and Japan (Ideologies of Desire).

1. As an Asian, this book makes me uneased while reading it. Yeah, the author cites Edward Said's "Orientalism" couple times. But the tone of mighty American looking down the funny Japanese is running through lots of the pages.

   I really like to hear Japanese gays and lesbians's opinions on this book.




2. For the reviewer from Mars: This book is a subjective account of life in Japan during the time of AIDS. This is not meant as a depiction of gay and lesbian Japanese life, no could it be. The Japanese misperception of American life is echoed in this review.

   I found this book soul-baring and intense. Well done!




3. Reading everyone's comments of this book, I realize how controversial this piece must be and is in reality. That NO ONE rates this book anything but a 1 or a 5 speaks to its strong nature. You either love it, find meaning in it; or are repulsed by it. Speaking as a white American lesbian who has been studying queer culture in Japan and has also visited Japan, I am completed horrified by the certainity with which Treat dabbles in topics of enormous proportion. Why write a memoir if you are supposedly addressing so many key issues of social concern unless you are actually going to address them?! Besides that fact, he never once seems to apologize or doubt his masculinist and racist grip on his material. He is always a spectator, always the man behind the controls. It is sickening really. I have only read half of this book, but as I read, I read to see how much more I can become baffled at his arrogance of subject matter. His treatment of each subject, at best, leaves me cold and wondering why he even bothers to make it seem like he cares. It seems like a completely narcissistic attempt to get through some clearly lingering white suburban American guilt. I don't think the fact that queers in America have become involved with Asian Studies because is it an Orientalist gaze get's to be made into a "duh" statement or be left unquestioned. It is NOT ok, and DOES need to be discussed, not just left for stereotyping or pigeon-holing. The only part of this book that I can remotely enjoy is references to a country that I miss and experiences that may seem similar, but do not somehow excuse themselves as "boys will be boys" or some crap like that. Very disapppointing perspective, yet almost predictable from a white gay male with so much arrogance.



4. I've been a big fan of Treat's essays since I read Contemporary Japan and Popular Culture, so I picked up this book with some understanding of his writing already. Anyway, I expected this book to be about gay life in Japan and Japanese literature, but it turned out not to be about that at all... or at least, not much. A lot of the book is a memoir/travel-diary that Treat apparently wrote on the side as he was living in Japan on fellowship money, working on Writing Ground Zero: Japanese Literature and the Atomic Bomb. Treat reflects on various lovers that he had in Japan, things they did together and places they went, what gay life is like in Tokyo and a few other places in Japan. And all that is interwoven into news stories about the growth of AIDS in Japan, stories from Japanese literature, and Treat's own experience being HIV positive and having to hide it during his stay. It's not, by any means, a comprehensive autobiography (Treat isn't so famous as to attempt that), but it's interesting in the way that stories about living in another country often are. On the whole, the book isn't so much about homosexuality and Japan as it is about AIDS and Japan. There are some very interesting sexual anecdotes in the book, all told with a kind of hyper-awareness of the historical relationship between the Occident and the Orient, and the roles the author himself, as a white man, plays in his sexual relationships. Despite being surprised about the main themes, I found it to be an interesting book, and all the personal anecdotes keep the theory from becoming too dry. The book is very honest and candid, and I came away from it with a greater understanding of John Treat as a person, which I liked. And I think a big part of Treat's intent with the book was to show how the "self" and "other" really have more in common than they think, and on that level he succeeded.



5. ...which is probably what's tripping most people up. The title is misleading; when I found this book I was expecting a scholarly analysis of homosexuality as it is viewed and practiced in Japan. Instead, it turned out to be about a year the author spent in Japan after fleeing America to escape the spread of AIDS, only to watch the epidemic unfold in Japan as well--a year in the life of an introspective, promiscuous, slightly amoral intellectual.
   
   He draws from many different sources, sometimes juxtaposed in a manner that's difficult to follow, and touches on a variety of different topics that some way or another intersect with his conception of Japan, AIDS, and being gay. This is not an academic work, this is a personal essay stretched large, a chronicle set in the 1980s gay scene. He doesn't shy away from describing the uncomfortable aspects of that life any more than he flinches from discussing the equally uncomfortable racist, neocolonialist attitudes held by various generations of white conquerors, including his own. He deconstructs these views, analyzes the causes and logic behind them, but it is clear that he does not endorse them, no more than he would endorse the quotes that are hostile or offensive to homosexuals.
   
   Racism and colonialism are inherited, and even if we as individuals choose to reject them, they are still inherent and pervasive in our culture. Where did these ideas originate, and why? Treat ponders such questions at length, and unfortunately that sets him up for attack from people who would rather disregard uncomfortable topics than discuss them.
   
   This is not an anthropological book, or even an ethnography. It feels almost like fiction, which makes it an engaging as well as insightful read, but it is one man's experiences and not to be confused with any sort of authoritative treatise on homosexuality in Japan.

5 comments about Lonely Planet Diving & Snorkeling Thailand (Diving & Snorkeling).

1. Used this diving guide when I was in Koh Samui in July this year, very informative and all the info was up to date

   Scotty Mackenzie




2. This book is the only one we recommend to all our customers. The authors live and work here and the information is accurate. Great photos of the marine life.

   Even though we work here, we still use the book as a reference and it's always close at hand in our office.




3. I was hoping that this book would be like the travel books that lonely planet puts out with opinions on dive operators, places to stay etc.....but the book is a run down of dive sites more than anything else....It helps with dive site selection but it just isn't what a lonely planet book is for me.



4. Good book,
   
   clear info as needed.
   
   info corresponds to reality



5. As always Lonely Planet Snorkeling and Diving guides are the best.
   Only reason I didn't give it a 5 was the fact it was a little outdated.
   I think they will be making a new one soon, since this one is no longer in print.