My Mother Is a Tractor: A Life in Rural Japan

by Nicholas Klar

Less than six months after throwing in his management job to take up teaching Nicholas Klar finds himself on the 'JET Program' and a plane to Japan - ending up in the far reaches of rural Niigata prefecture teaching English. Never one to be taken too seriously he spends his time far beyond the beaten tourist path in often carousing encounters with Elvis impersonators, love hotels, toilets, train schedules, cults, hostess girls, freezing weather, the local garbage-man and postal workers, plus an awful lot of drinking and the recording of a bizarre incident where a cow falls out of the sky.

Combining humour, wonder, social commentary and a good deal of eclectic research the author veritably crams his pages chock-full of tales of culture shock, humorous anecdotes and insights, reflections upon his own life and cultural baggage, strange facts, plus cultural incongruities and marvels. He inevitably falls in with a motley crew of acquaintances along the way and revealed are many of the personalities he encounters - both Japanese and foreigners.

My Mother is a Tractor is rollicking, fact-filled ride through the Land of the Rising Sun that will both amuse and inform. If you are "signing up" for Japan this book has been rated a "..must read" by Rough Guide Japan and The Crazy Japan Times.

Genres: Japan, Nonfiction, Travel, Ebooks

254 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 20, 2005

Reviews

[Terrance · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm really in two minds about this book. On the one hand it's a raw and no holds barred look at the life of an Australian JET ALT with all the hilarity and emotional highs and lows of living in Japan. On the other hand it's a poorly written and seemingly mean spirited criticism of the Japanese people and their country.

The author himself has stated that he has written many of the stories in a tongue in cheek manner and that readers need to keep that in mind. While that is true, the humor fails to be funny in almost all cases and does not work in the written form. Instead of laughing with the author, we as readers are usually left feeling as though he bears grudges against the Japanese people simply because they fail to act in a way that he expects them to.

On top of that the stories are often disjointed and loosely structured so that it is hard to follow along before coming to an abrupt end.

I appreciate the fact that he has taken to time and effort to share his life and thoughts on Japan and I realize that he may well be a wonderful teacher and have loved his time in Japan. But at the same time, the absence of any teaching anecdotes and only brief mentions of his fondness for his students will leave readers with the sense that he merely spent two years traveling around Japan to party and get drunk.

I certainly hope that if he writes about his life in China he will take any criticism of his work to heart and present us with a wonderfully crafted tale of what living and teaching in Asia entails. Both the good and the bad.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I liked about this book was the authors lack of pomposity. As warned in the foreword his take is very tongue-in-cheek, taking everything in his stride with great humor and a good deal of self deprecation. Having lived in Australia for awhile I could relate to the author's 'voice' and imagine him sitting across the bar telling great 'yarns' as many of the Aussies I know are wont to do. The book does lack some structure, jumps around somewhat and sometimes seems hardly a memoir. Nonetheless there are numerous laugh out loud moments - especially when he deals unwittingly with a Japanese welcome toast and the use of Viagra. A fun writing style plus I also learned a great deal of interesting minutiae about Japan. 4.5 stars.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had my doubts at first, fearing there might be a lot of juvenile hijinks involved, but overall I felt the story was well written. Folks looking for an emphasis on his classroom time might be disappointed, as the focus is more on his being a foreigner in general.

[Nancy H · Rating 3 out of 5]

A funny and intriguing memoir, this book by Nicholas Klar is a very interesting read. A teacher myself, I find his description of teaching in Japan definitely a good read. I am always interested in the cultures of other places, and especially how those cultures deal with education and teachers. I enjoyed the tongue-in-cheek writing and the author's attitude, and can just imagine how many of those situations were. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

[Shari · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is meant to be read as a "tongue in cheek" book but to me it mostly delivered as a disjointed ramble of a somewhat disrespectful, heavy-drinking Aussie ex-pat. The stories seem to pick up and end anywhere they please while they meander through his muddy recollections of hard-drinking nights with coworkers.

As as Japanophile that is learning the language and excited about one day visiting Japan, it gave me some insight into what the JET (Japan English Teacher) culture is like, so two stars for that. But utter disregard towards learning the language, and kind of seeming like the typical "drunken gaijin" -- it just wasn't a great read for me, unfortunately.

[Ana · Rating 1 out of 5]

All this Aussie does is whine about things in Japan and then boringly drag on about the minutae of teaching and drinking. I've heard that Australian Ex-pats are the worst and this book seems to prove it. He's rude, he doesn't care 1 iota about Japanese culture, he hates the food, he hates being a foreigner. It's annoying to read him just complaining about everything. As for insights about living in Japan, you will find advice on how to be a foreigner, but no advice on how to assimilate.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly unstructured travel account of an Aussie's experience with the JET programme. It is however quite easy and interesting to read and shows a multi-faceted, unromanticized account of living in small town Japan.

[Alison]

kindle travel stories

[Tami · Rating 3 out of 5]

Couldn't get into it, didn't finish. Maybe not the greatest tales or storytelling, or not my kind of personality- too negative?

[Pen Winton · Rating 3 out of 5]

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