Memoirs of a Gaijin


Book Description

The adventures of a young American woman living in a Tokyo Gaijin house.




Memoirs of a Gaijin


Book Description

Hello from Japan. Not much new here. My four-year-olds attacked me, my crazy female stalkers jumped on the desk and professed their love for me, my depressed coworkers fist-fought each other at the all-you-can-drink karaoke bar, and I have no idea what I ate yesterday but it was uncooked and squishy. Pretty much the usual. What's new from home? Ben took the teaching job in Japan because he wasn't quite ready to figure out what he wanted to do with his life. Instead, his efforts were put towards figuring out his new students, coworkers, and dinner. He is a "gaijin," the Japanese word for "foreigner." From festivals and temples to bicycles and cleaning supplies, Memoirs of a Gaijin: Emails from Japan is the one-year collection of emails and journals that chronicle Ben's experiences in the comedic and confusing country of Japan. "A witty, honest work. Ben Hesse's Memoirs of a Gaijin should be a required read for those college grads who are contemplating the increasingly popular first 'real life' step of teaching English abroad."-C.J. Renner, author of Tried to Say




Yokohama Gaijin


Book Description

G e o r g e L a v r o v George Lavrov was born and raised in Yokohama, Japan, where he attended St. Joseph grade and high school. He is a graduate of San Francisco State University, with a major in international trade management with area specialization in Japan and the Pacific Rim. He is the author of The Pacific Rim--Threat or Promise, as well as various other articles dealing with Asian and international business. Being trilingual, he speaks English, Russian and Japanese. During 1975 to 1986, Lavrov was based in Tokyo where he represented American insurance interests. Since returning to the U.S., he has continued to work in the international arena, especially related to Asia and the Pacific Rim. Yokohama Gaijin is George Lavrov's personal story, told from his own eyewitness account. It recounts the horror of WWII carpet bombings of Japanese cities, including the tragic loss of his elder brother, Konstantin, who was killed instantly when a bomb from an American B-29 bomber made a direct hit on the Lavrov residence in Yokohama, Japan, on May 29th, 1945, the harsh wartime treatment of gaijin (foreign) residents of Japan and much more. It is the true story of a stateless White Russian and his family, as they coped through some of the most difficult times of the 20th century--the WWII period in Japan and the postwar years that followed. But it's also a story of faith and hope in the future--a future that spelled A M E R I C A and a successful career in the international business world.




The Only Gaijin in the Village


Book Description

In 2016 Scottish writer Iain Maloney and his Japanese wife Minori moved to a village in rural Japan. This is the story of his attempt to fit in, be accepted and fulfil his duties as a member of the community, despite being the only foreigner in the village. Even after more than a decade living in Japan and learning the language, life in the countryside was a culture shock. Due to increasing numbers of young people moving to the cities in search of work, there are fewer rural residents under the retirement age – and they have two things in abundance: time and curiosity. Iain's attempts at amateur farming, basic gardening and DIY are conducted under the watchful eye of his neighbours and wife. But curtain twitching is the least of his problems. The threat of potential missile strikes and earthquakes is nothing compared to the venomous snakes, terrifying centipedes and bees the size of small birds that stalk Iain's garden. Told with self-deprecating humour, this memoir gives a fascinating insight into a side of Japan rarely seen and affirms the positive benefits of immigration for the individual and the community. It's not always easy being the only gaijin in the village.




Tokyo Central


Book Description

The memoirs of Seidensticker, perhaps best know for his translations of modern and classical Japanese novels, including the 11th century Tale of Genji. Seidensticker was introduced to Japan as a young diplomat during the Allied occupation and remained in Tokyo afterwards, befriending many of the luminaries of the Japanese literary scene. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR




Gaijin


Book Description

Exquisite and excruciating, Gaijin is a blunt, alarmingly honest accounting of scars and blows to the spirit. Part memoir, part mythology, and part eulogy to a grandfather, Gaijin simultaneously tracks a personal rupture and a family, through the painful and awkward reclamation of the self after sexual violence and the evocation of a patriarch, half dreamed, half real. So powerful is the poetry and aching of Gaijin, it crushes the breath out of you as you read.




Turning Japanese


Book Description

In 1984, David Mura, a third-generation Japanese-American, was awarded a writing grant to live in Japan. After years of ignoring his ethnic heritage, Mura, with his wife (an American), embarked on a trip that profoundly changed his life. Turning Japanese chronicles his quest for self-knowledge and racial identity.




Tune in Tokyo


Book Description

Originally published in slightly different form by Wayward Mammal in 2010.




Sharing a House with the Never-Ending Man


Book Description

A highly entertaining memoir describing what it was like to work for Japan’s premiere animation studio, Studio Ghibli, and its reigning genius Hayao Miyazaki. A behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like for a gaijin (foreigner) to work in a thoroughly Japanese organization run by four of the most famous and culturally influential people in modern Japan.




Tokyo Vice


Book Description

NOW A MAX ORIGINAL SERIES. A riveting true-life tale of newspaper noir and Japanese organized crime from an American investigative journalist who "pulls the curtain back on ... [an] element of Japanese society that few Westerners ever see" (San Francisco Examiner). Jake Adelstein is the only American journalist ever to have been admitted to the insular Tokyo Metropolitan Police Press Club, where for twelve years he covered the dark side of Japan: extortion, murder, human trafficking, fiscal corruption, and of course, the yakuza. But when his final scoop exposed a scandal that reverberated all the way from the neon soaked streets of Tokyo to the polished Halls of the FBI and resulted in a death threat for him and his family, Adelstein decided to step down. Then, he fought back. In Tokyo Vice he delivers an unprecedented look at Japanese culture and searing memoir about his rise from cub reporter to seasoned journalist with a price on his head.