A Beginner's Guide to Japan : : Observations and Provocations

Locations
Call Number: 952.05 Iy, Adult Book / Nonfiction / Travel / Asia & Oceania / Japan
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	952.05 Iy	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Malletts Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Travel / Asia & Oceania / Japan	4-week checkout	Due 04-20-2024

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Great for armchair travelers submitted by Cherie on July 4, 2023, 3:37pm This was such a unique and interesting read. It took me quite some time to get used to the writing style - very stream-of-consciousness... almost like reading a chat log. It was also overly verbose and unnecessarily waxing poetic in a lot of areas while equally being painfully sparse in others. There were various references made throughout the book that I couldn’t understand until light was brought to them towards the end of the book. (I still don’t understand what Oscar Wilde has to do with Japan.) The sentence structures also made me struggle quite a bit - starting a quote, giving a verbose attribution, then completing the quote - resulting in me having to re-read sections multiple times to comprehend them. However, I found the perspective to be highly informed, relatable, and endearing.

I’m not sure I would recommend this as any kind of guide to someone interested in traveling to Japan, but it does fill some blank spots in cultural knowledge that outsiders might not be privy to, which I find valuable. It also helps that it’s written by a non-Japanese person, which adds an additional level of “translation,” so to speak, in understanding those cultural quirks.

A very quick read. Great for armchair travelers, or those wanting more insight into the quirks of the Japanese culture.

A very different kind of travel guide submitted by tuttlium on August 4, 2023, 7:37am This reads like journal excerpts from one living in Japan over many years. Lots of references to other books and the insights they offer about Japanese culture -- even when they have nothing to do with Japan. The contradictions of that (and the contradictions within the book itself) are part of the point. How else can you describe something as complex and multifaceted as culture? Really enjoyable read.