Living Japan: Essays on Everyday Life in Contemporary Society

by Harumi Kimura (Editor), Haruko Miyazaki (Translator), Yuriko Takahashi (Translator)

This volume forms a unique and remarkable enterprise in the context of contemporary Japanese literature, social studies and the nature of Japanese society. It comprises 70 essays by private individuals living in Japan today (members of a writing club) who have chosen a subject to write about with a view to projecting a genuine insight into the events, issues and aspirations that make them who they are - from life in a condominium to dealing with in-laws, early retirement and life after children. Edited and introduced by the distinguished best-selling author Harumi Kimura (winner of the Ohya non-fiction prize for her book 'Letters from Twilight London'), the book's objective is to make 'Japan'more accessible to the nonspecialist general reader and provide a counter-balance to Western media images and reporting as well as conventional academic theory and observation about modern Japanese society. By definition, it also offers an invaluable primary source for scholarly reference.

Genres: Japan

240 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2008

Reviews

[Leyla · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have ever lived in Japan, prepared to be infused with a gentle sense of nostalgia. This refreshing narrative takes on both the small and great matters of life

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of short personal essays by regular people in Japan is about various aspects of their lives. For instance, one man laments that he can only have one egg per day; another is about a mother who is surprised to find out that her sons remember her ritual of patting them on the head every morning. Many of the essays are by old people about their lives, which I think is a good thing. For some reason the lives of old people are rarely media-ized; reading a little about them makes old age feel less scary for some reason (not that I'll be "old" anytime soon). Overall I really liked this collection, and it made me wonder how the writers agreed on personal writing instruction--the style of the essays seemed a bit different from American personal essays for some reason.