Leanne’s answer to “I'm unclear on the author's background with Japan, how she did her research, and what her qualifica…” > Likes and Comments
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Unfortunately, it isn't a matter of bias, but rather a genuine sadness that this book is so horribly misrepresentative of Japan. I come to that opinion with both experience and academic knowledge. I was excited to read the book and had high hopes, but instead I was quite disappointed at how the author approached this. It's almost as if someone gave her a list of descriptive terms about Japan and she just arbitrarily plugged them in after writing a story.
You seem pretty committed to your narrative Sara, but what I and others are pointing out is that perhaps your reaction to the book is solely yours. You are not alone in your knowledge- many of us have studied Japan, lived in Japan, and don't perceive the "horrible misrepresentation". You are certainly entitled to your thoughts on the book, but you dismiss any other viewpoint without providing anything more than provocative adjectives and vague claims of knowledge that you assume the rest of us don't possess.
Hi Leanne. I'm happy to provide my credentials. I majored on Japanese Language and Literature and graduated with honors. After graduating I lived in Japan for 13 years working as a translator for half of them and continued with this work to present day. I speak Japanese fluently and read fluently enough to have translated two books. I'm also a librarian and deeply invested in research on a daily basis. If you look at the books I've read and reviewed you'll see that I make it a point to read practically any book pertaining to Japan... and have done so for years. I think I'm fairly well qualified to review this book and raise questions. Judging from other reviews I've read, it seems I am not the only person with reservations about this book. I'm so glad you enjoyed it; it seems many have. But is this an accurate representation of Japan? No, not at all. It's simply a romance dropped into a pseudo-Japanese environment. It could have been anywhere, really, but the author, for some reason, went for the Asian Mystique factor. That's all.
My experience of Japan (apparently especially my understanding of post war mid 20th century Japan) is different from yours, so we'll have to agree to disagree. I would like it if you didn't refer to this as a 'romance'. This is in no way a romance- never in the entire novel is the main character happily partnered, and I know you don't think her infatuation with her powerful brother was romantic, right?
I don't think I can possibly define the romance genre. I've heard others refer to it as tragedy porn or chick lit. It most definitely is not historical fiction. Fantasy might be the right genre. It's an odd one but the fact that it provokes so much discussion is a good thing.
You're just an ignorant white weaboo Sara
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Sara
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Oct 16, 2020 05:14AM
Unfortunately, it isn't a matter of bias, but rather a genuine sadness that this book is so horribly misrepresentative of Japan. I come to that opinion with both experience and academic knowledge. I was excited to read the book and had high hopes, but instead I was quite disappointed at how the author approached this. It's almost as if someone gave her a list of descriptive terms about Japan and she just arbitrarily plugged them in after writing a story.
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You seem pretty committed to your narrative Sara, but what I and others are pointing out is that perhaps your reaction to the book is solely yours. You are not alone in your knowledge- many of us have studied Japan, lived in Japan, and don't perceive the "horrible misrepresentation". You are certainly entitled to your thoughts on the book, but you dismiss any other viewpoint without providing anything more than provocative adjectives and vague claims of knowledge that you assume the rest of us don't possess.
Hi Leanne. I'm happy to provide my credentials. I majored on Japanese Language and Literature and graduated with honors. After graduating I lived in Japan for 13 years working as a translator for half of them and continued with this work to present day. I speak Japanese fluently and read fluently enough to have translated two books. I'm also a librarian and deeply invested in research on a daily basis. If you look at the books I've read and reviewed you'll see that I make it a point to read practically any book pertaining to Japan... and have done so for years. I think I'm fairly well qualified to review this book and raise questions. Judging from other reviews I've read, it seems I am not the only person with reservations about this book. I'm so glad you enjoyed it; it seems many have. But is this an accurate representation of Japan? No, not at all. It's simply a romance dropped into a pseudo-Japanese environment. It could have been anywhere, really, but the author, for some reason, went for the Asian Mystique factor. That's all.
My experience of Japan (apparently especially my understanding of post war mid 20th century Japan) is different from yours, so we'll have to agree to disagree. I would like it if you didn't refer to this as a 'romance'. This is in no way a romance- never in the entire novel is the main character happily partnered, and I know you don't think her infatuation with her powerful brother was romantic, right?
I don't think I can possibly define the romance genre. I've heard others refer to it as tragedy porn or chick lit. It most definitely is not historical fiction. Fantasy might be the right genre. It's an odd one but the fact that it provokes so much discussion is a good thing.
You're just an ignorant white weaboo Sara
