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Stuff I've been reading: books about Japan
Posting some belated short reviews of books I've read over the last several months. I've been reading several about Japan, including a few illustrated travel diaries, listed below. I've also been reading a lot of other non-fiction titles about Japan that I'll round up on a later post.
Diary of a Tokyo Teen by Christine Mari Inzer is an expanded, professionally published version of her earlier self-published book Halfway Home, which I reviewed here awhile back. It's in a much nicer format with additional material, and is worth checking out even if you read the previous version. As with the first book, it's a fun and charming account of Christine, a half-Japanese American teen, and the summer she spent in Japan visiting her grandparents.
Japan Ai: a Tall Girl's Adventures in Japan by Aimee Major Steinberger is a similar in tone: a humorous travel diary with cute, cartoony illustrations, although the author is an adult visiting Japan as a tourist, rather than a teen visiting family. She is a fan/collector of Japanese ball-jointed dolls made by VOLKS, and her hobby led her to start a website about them. That led to a staff writing position at Haute Doll Magazine, which in turn led to an invitation to visit VOLKS and have dinner with the president.
I’m not into dolls myself, but I can relate to her fannishness and how thrilled she was with the invitation--much like I would be if I’d been invited to visit Studio Ghibli and meet Hayao Miyazaki!
She’s also a fan of the Takarazuka female theater troupe, and since she was going to Japan anyway, she and a couple of friends decided to take advantage of the opportunity to see a musical there as well.
The book documents their travels and interesting things they encountered along the way, ranging from visits to temples and onsen and various themed cafes, to meeting cosplayers in Harajuku. There is also the Takarazuka performance of Rose of Versailles, and of course the visit to VOLKS.
The drawings are funny and charming, and really convey the excitement (and sometimes bewilderment) of traveling in Japan. It shows as "temporarily out of stock" on Amazon (not sure if it might be out of print), but there are used copies available at reasonable prices, or you might be able to find it at your local library as I did.
Tokyo on Foot and Manabeshima Island Japan by French artist Florent Chavouet are more sketchbooks than diaries, recording his observations of his stay in Japan with exquisitely detailed illustrations. The people that he encounters (and himself as well) are rendered as humorous caricatures, but everything else is drawn with such detailed realism that he perfectly duplicates the kanji on a billboard or candy wrapper even though he can't read Japanese.
I enjoyed both books, but Manabeshima Island Japan was my favorite. Tokyo on Foot was fun to read, but it was mostly drawings of random people, places, and things that caught Chavouet's eye during his walks in Tokyo. In Manabeshima, he's staying on a tiny island with an equally small population, so the story is more cohesive, and we get to know the local residents along with him as he tells interesting and entertaining little stories about them, accompanied of course by his charming caricatures.
Both books were delightful and left me wishing I could read more, but they seem to be the only two titles he's written that are available in English.
Diary of a Tokyo Teen by Christine Mari Inzer is an expanded, professionally published version of her earlier self-published book Halfway Home, which I reviewed here awhile back. It's in a much nicer format with additional material, and is worth checking out even if you read the previous version. As with the first book, it's a fun and charming account of Christine, a half-Japanese American teen, and the summer she spent in Japan visiting her grandparents.
Japan Ai: a Tall Girl's Adventures in Japan by Aimee Major Steinberger is a similar in tone: a humorous travel diary with cute, cartoony illustrations, although the author is an adult visiting Japan as a tourist, rather than a teen visiting family. She is a fan/collector of Japanese ball-jointed dolls made by VOLKS, and her hobby led her to start a website about them. That led to a staff writing position at Haute Doll Magazine, which in turn led to an invitation to visit VOLKS and have dinner with the president.
I’m not into dolls myself, but I can relate to her fannishness and how thrilled she was with the invitation--much like I would be if I’d been invited to visit Studio Ghibli and meet Hayao Miyazaki!
She’s also a fan of the Takarazuka female theater troupe, and since she was going to Japan anyway, she and a couple of friends decided to take advantage of the opportunity to see a musical there as well.
The book documents their travels and interesting things they encountered along the way, ranging from visits to temples and onsen and various themed cafes, to meeting cosplayers in Harajuku. There is also the Takarazuka performance of Rose of Versailles, and of course the visit to VOLKS.
The drawings are funny and charming, and really convey the excitement (and sometimes bewilderment) of traveling in Japan. It shows as "temporarily out of stock" on Amazon (not sure if it might be out of print), but there are used copies available at reasonable prices, or you might be able to find it at your local library as I did.
Tokyo on Foot and Manabeshima Island Japan by French artist Florent Chavouet are more sketchbooks than diaries, recording his observations of his stay in Japan with exquisitely detailed illustrations. The people that he encounters (and himself as well) are rendered as humorous caricatures, but everything else is drawn with such detailed realism that he perfectly duplicates the kanji on a billboard or candy wrapper even though he can't read Japanese.
I enjoyed both books, but Manabeshima Island Japan was my favorite. Tokyo on Foot was fun to read, but it was mostly drawings of random people, places, and things that caught Chavouet's eye during his walks in Tokyo. In Manabeshima, he's staying on a tiny island with an equally small population, so the story is more cohesive, and we get to know the local residents along with him as he tells interesting and entertaining little stories about them, accompanied of course by his charming caricatures.
Both books were delightful and left me wishing I could read more, but they seem to be the only two titles he's written that are available in English.