5 comments about Bento Box in the Heartland: My Japanese Girlhood in Whitebread America.

1. This was an incredible journey for me as I lived two blocks from the Furiyas until 1977 when my family moved from Versailles, Indiana. I remember the family fondly and this book put the rest of the story to many of my childhood memories.
   
   I remember the summer Linda went to Japan and had always wondered what the trip was like. Now I know!
   
   I bought the book this morning and finished it this evening. It's a great read and I'm now looking forward to trying some of the recipes.



2. I grew up half-Japanese in a whitebread small town in Illinois during the same period author Linda Furiya lived in her small Indiana town, and I can relate to much of her story. Was that the old Star Market in Chicago that her family made special trips to just like my family did? The author paints quite a revealing portrait of her life, wanting desperately to be like the other kids and confused about where she belongs and how to merge her two cultures. The racism she encounters and must deal with on her own will pull the heartstrings of readers. Her dream trip to Japan as a ten-year-old where she discovers her roots and her family is a deeply felt learning experience and creates a bond with her somewhat distant mother. Perhaps it is a typical immigrant story where children raised in America have a difficult time understanding the ways of parents of a foreign culture. Furiya offers a no-holds-barred commentary on this difficulty as well as the frustrations and confusion she felt as an alien in the country she was born and raised in.
   
   Despite the disjointedness that often occurs in the flow between chapters, the subject of food and its meaning in her life provides a connectivity that culminates in a beautiful final chapter where Furija is able to look back on her childhood and come to a sense of understanding and peace. I quite enjoyed this book and plan on trying out some of the recipes.



3. I was so anxious to read this book- I loved the title and expected some kind of knowledge or insight to come from having read it. Unfortunately I found it to be a very humdrum account of childhood angst in the midwest. I was surprised to learn that the author was a professional journalist; the grammar and punctuation were just awful in places and the flow was practically nonexistent, with the author going back and forth in time as if to teach the reader a lesson about something, but no lesson ever came, except possibly that people of Japanese heritage are annoyingly nonconfrontational and midwestern American men are dirty old predatory geezers. I can live without that type of pigeonholing, thank you.



4. As a Japanese-American raised first in California and then in Texas, I can relate to many of the experiences that author Linda Furiya, a food columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, shares in her childhood memoir of growing up as a Nisei in a small Indiana community, in particular, the complex interdependency evident in her relationship with her Japanese-born mother. In fact, Furiya spends little time writing about her father or her brothers because of the especially symbiotic connection with her mother. Her particular back story as an atypically liberated woman in a male-dominated society lends an intriguing twist on the stereotype one usually associates with the traditional Japanese woman.
   
   Similar to Laura Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate, the book is a series of vignettes organized around selective memories of preparing and eating food reflective of the author's heritage. Whereas Esquivel opened each of her chapters with a recipe, Furiya chooses to close each chapter with one for family favorites such as Chinese Home-Style Tofu and Japanese Pot Stickers. Although the recipes make nice transitional points within her episodic structure, they actually aren't that necessary since she otherwise captures the pervasive dichotomy of having a racial identity utterly different from her surroundings in ways that are both poignant and painful. Some of the episodes felt so familiar to me that it made me wonder just how well Asian-Americans in general have assimilated into the mainstream.
   
   The book's title refers to the Japanese box lunches that her mother would meticulously prepare for her to take to elementary school where her classmates had their regulation sandwiches. Rather than face embarrassing stares and questions, she would hide in the bathroom eating her mother's homemade onigiri. That palpable sense of isolation informs many of the anecdotes Furiya shares here, as they highlight the subtle forms of racism and sexism she experienced firsthand while attempting to make sense of her place between two distinct cultures. Moreover, she makes precisely calibrated observations on the generational conflict that seemed inevitable in serving to alienate her from her heritage only to embrace it later through her love of Japanese food. Despite some heavy-handed passages, the book is a relatively light read that taps into darker themes in a most affecting manner.



5. Furiya has a voice that is warm, approachable, and intimate. Reading her work, you feel in the company of a friend who also happens to be a masterful storyteller. She weaves a tale that's both exotic and profoundly American, one that combines family and food in a way that's lyrical but never sentimental. Wherever you grew up, and whatever you mother put in your lunchbox, this is a treat to savor.

5 comments about Epitaph for a Peach: Four Seasons on My Family Farm.

1. Author David Masumoto has written an excellent vignette into the year in a life of a small-scale, family farmer. His passion for his life's work, his connection to the land, and his strong family values are so clearly evident in his writing. I think a lot of readers will be envious of the life he describes. I share many of his views on the value of small family farms and the need to focus on how food should taste. Masumoto's book will reonsate deeply with those of us who know what it means to be curious about how something grows, who look forward to the first ripe peach or melon of the year, who prefer to make things from scratch and sit down with all our kids at dinner.



2. wonderful. when you read this work you can actually feel the soil, smell the grass, and taste the fruit. a greeat read



3. I feel a connection with David Masumoto. Not that I've met him or anything - in fact, there's a good chance I never will (although I keep hoping that one summer day I can make it over to his farm to pick peaches). No, this feeling is based on an impression that we have both fought the same fight over different things, for the same reasons. It is also because he writes so poignantly about a landscape I grew up in. Mr. Masumoto is an organic farmer in the valley of California, and his story is becoming more and more familiar to me as I see this way of life disappearing across the country.
   
   A third generation Japanese American peach and grape farmer, David Masumoto inherited the family orchard from his father. He also had the heritage of his childhood memories of how that particular peach variety, Sun Crest, tasted and ran with juice unlike the pretty red baseballs that have passed for today's supermarket peach varieties. Mr. M wanted to show the world how delightful an old-fashioned peach could be.
   
   When he took over his father's farm, he resolved to not only continue growing his Sun Crests, but to do it organically. This would prove challenging in our day and age of cheap, quick fixes; moreover, it would test his strongly felt ideals. The land needed to heal and replenish itself after years of chemical fertilizers and toxic pest control methods. Masumoto had to take his example from research on other organic farming practices, planting wildflowers to encourage beneficial insect life and sowing "green manure" crops to act as natural mulch and compost. All this took time, patience, and faith that his hard work would eventually pay off.
   
   Epitaph for a Peach is rich in sensory descriptions, philosophy, and nostalgic flashbacks. It is a picture of the way a farmer's life is connected to the seasons, capricious weather patterns, and changing market conditions. Not incidentally, Masumoto also teaches about the obscure history of Japanese farmers in the Valley - something that even I, native to Fresno, had little idea of. Reading this book was a slow, thoughtful experience much in the same manner that one slows down to savor a rich fruit. Recommended to anybody interested in history, growing food, or the vanishing California landscape.
   -Andrea, aka Merribelle



4. I live somewhat north of the area Mr. Masumoto writes about - where the San Francisco Bay Area Suburbs collide with the San Joaquin Farmlands. The Peach and Cherry Orchards and the Sweet Corn, Tomatoes and Strawberries are currently holding their own - but like Mr. Masumoto's Peaches and Grapes, only tenuously, and with great courage. If you would like to understand not only how these people live, but who and why they are, you should read this book. It is both beautifully written and thought provoking.



5. It is rare to read a book where the author works miracles with his hands and his words. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys non-fiction but finds it dry, without humanity. David Mas Masumoto is anything but dry. His land may be at times, but his poetic prose is anything but. His relationship with his family, his family's farm and nature is a rare combination. I highly recommend this read.

5 comments about Shipwrecked!: The True Adventures of a Japanese Boy.

1. This book should be read by every American. It is a tremendous story of hard work and commitment as well as the right person being in the right place at the right time. Interesting and full of adventure, it's a TRUE story that illumines America's history and helps the reader understand the seeds of the global economy we have today. Don't miss this story--you won't find it in many history books or taught in today's classrooms. Educate yourself on true American history while enjoying this intriguing book by Rhoda Blumberg, an engaging author.



2. My girls, 6 and 8, couldn't wait to continue reading this book each day. It is so much more than a biography and is very readable. Besides an indepth look at the life and times of Manjiro, AKA John Mung, it is a wealth of information about Japan, whaling, and culture (and cultural change) without a textbook feel. I agree that it should be made into a movie (if it hasn't and I just don't know about it). This book is infused with many black and white photographs, paintings, prints, and drawings -- including sketches by John Mung. If using this in a classroom or homeschool environment, this is a great jumping-off point toward such varied subjects as Moby Dick and whaling, samurai, Commodore Perry, ships, Japanese history and culture, Hawaii, and even the California Gold Rush. This was riveting and gives the reader (even young ones!) a deeper understanding of Japan and the times surrounding Manjiro/John Mung's life. Pair this up with How to Be a Samurai Warrior (How to Be); You Wouldn't Want to Sail on a 19th Century Whaling Ship!: Grisly Tasks You'd Rather Not Do (You Wouldn't Want to...);Step Into... Ancient Japan (The Step Into Series);Exploration into Japan (Exploration Into); or Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun



3. Shipwrecked (Book Review)
   
   A boy's manhood is at stake. Manjiro gets marooned on an island by a deadly storm. He is saved but by completely different people, Knowing he can never return to his home. He travels to America and learns English. Then one day Manjiro decides to go back and is thrown in prison. Later he gets promoted to samurai and lives happily. Shipwrecked is a fun to read nonfictional book. I would recommend this book for people who like reading stories about the sea and Japan.
   Manjiro was always independent and had to be or his family would face the consequences. He started being even more independent when he looked out for his friends on the island by looking for food and scanning the terrain. Manjiro also decided by himself what to do on his own was when he decided to go to school and learn even though he was sixteen. He was the first one to ever think about going back to Japan even when he knew the consequences. So he went to get gold in California To raise money to go back.
   Manjiro was unique in many ways. He thought differently than anybody else. He somehow beat the odds when he came back to Japan when he didn't get executed by his government. In that time Japan was an isolated country that killed anyone who entered the country. If you left you would never be able to come back, but in Manjiro's case he was able to. Instead he got promoted to samurai. Manjiro beat the odds in education also. He learned English in a matter of months when he never even went to school before in his own country! If you don't think that's unique you're crazy! He also took care of older people when he was only a young boy. When he took care of his family and took care of his older friends on the island 300 miles away from the Japanese shore are two examples.
   Manjiro persevered all throughout his life. Especially through school and his very own survival. The ship that rescued them off the island wouldn't have found them without Manjiro's perseverance because when the ship was turning away he kept waving until he got the ship's attention. That's one of the ways he saved his life. When people weren't giving him enough pay for his work he didn't give up on his family. Instead he ventured off to find a new one and worked harder. Last but not least he persevered all the way through school. Everybody started recognizing his intelligence on the first day of school. Even Manjiro was faced with all those trials when he came back he never quit and so he was the first person to be promoted from peasant to samurai.
   The nonfictional book, Shipwrecked, is really fun to read. People who enjoy reading books about Japan and the open sea would surely love reading this book. Manjiro was an independent person from a very young age. He was very unique in many ways. His best trait was perseverance. Manjiro never did deserve all the plight he faced. If I was Manjiro to be honest I would have never gotten off the island and make it through all the events that happened in his life.
   
   D. Bennett



4. This is one of the greatest true adventure stories of all time. Hollywood should consider making this into a movie. I expecially like how Manjiro tries so many different things and seems to succeed at them all, including getting along with those around him.
   
   Charles L. Hooper, coauthor Making Great Decisions in Business and Life



5. This is more of a history lesson than a novel for kids. I thought that the book would be about a Japanese boy and his adventures, but there were too many names of boats,captains, and dates to make it interesting to read. You felt like it was a book they assign you in school for a test.

5 comments about Sun and Steel.

1. Sun and Steel is a book-length essay which describes Mishima's effort to recover himself from the "corrosive" nature of words through developing his physical beauty and prowess. On the most superficial level it is about bodybuilding. On another level, it is about a man attempting to reclaim his identity later in life, and doing so with discipline and knowledge of the nature of time.
   
   I am honestly not sure that this book is worth reading unless you are generally familiar with Mishima's biography and work. I would recommend that people interested in this book first read Confessions of a Mask and at least one of the novels.
   
   The exception to this recommendation would be readers looking for specific work on bodybuilding in literature. As I side note, I found it interesting to note the similarities between what Kathy Acker and Mishima had to say on the subject. (Wouldn't Mishima have been horrified by the comparison?)
   
   The essay seems written more quickly than other works in the Mishima canon. I had trouble engaging with it at times, and found it more interesting biographically than as a work in its own right.
   
   The book is bound with an Epilogue called F104 and a poem called Icarus. The Best translation felt competent, although there were some noticable typographic errors which I hope were corrected in later editions of the book.



2. This book is a literary type that was once common in Japan, the self-obsessive partial memoir. But Mishima's style, tone, and content are absolutely unique.
   
   He writes about the relation between world and word, body and mind or spirit. But to me, the most interesting aspect of this book, and Mishima's whole outlook is something that's often overlooked. It is this, he could not stand ugliness. He shrank from (his own perception of) ugliness as we would from a rabid rat. So then, how did he define beauty and ugliness? You may call it shallow but no matter, this book makes no apologies: beauty or ugliness lie in physical appearance, body and face.
   
   To most of us there are many kinds of beauty, and maybe that multi-perception keeps us going - we see or imagine the beauty of inner virtue, selfless giving, artistic projection, humility or humor and so on. A wide expansive definition.
   
   But there's room on your bookshelf for somebody who takes an uncompromising view: beauty is the beauty of your body and your appearance. While it can be crafted and guided by external method (who knows what Mishima would have thought of the cosmetic surgery craze now sweeping China), ultimately physical beauty to him is the only important projection of the soul.
   
   The insanely monomaniacal American football coach Vince Lombardi once said "Winning isn't everything - it's the only thing". This book, despite all its meandering and subtle threads, is really saying just that, about beauty - it's the only thing. And Mishima, at mid-life, was losing all illusions about attaining or retaining any personal beauty.
   
   Of course what sheds the interesting backlight on this book for most readers is Mishima's dramatic seppuku at Ichigaya Japan self-defense force headquarters. (Reminds me of the wit who stated, when informed of Sylvia Plath's suicide, "Good career move".) People read this book to try to unravel the mystery of it.
   
   But in light of what I've said above, about beauty and Mishima's uniquely narrow definition of it, this book leaves no mystery to his action. Just as Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray slashed the ugliness accumulated on his horribly aging portrait, Mishima, lacking a magic painting, did just the same to his own body - sentenced it to death for the crimes of aging and ugliness.
   
   It is entirely summed up by the following single line from 'Sun and Steel':
   
   "I had already lost the morning face that belongs to youth alone."



3. So Mishima finds out through exercise that he's been wasting his time with the writing. He writes all about that. Attention liberal: this review is helpful.



4. This isn't Mishima's best work. Mostly because he is too close to the subject. At once a guide book on his beliefs and how he transformed himself from "bookish" into a physical specimen. But you can see his troubled focus shift from the internal Mishima to the external Mishima.
   
   To me this is an explanation of something even Mishima doesnt understand. More of a catharsis of the self than a clearly defined work.
   
   Many of the descriptions of Mishima's internal evaluations sound almost as if he was dealing with aspects of Borderline Personality Disorder. Which would make his style of death even more ironic and symbolic.
   
   Don't get me wrong, this is true Mishima -- makes us think and examine ourselves even as he talks of himself.
   
   Any work by Mishima is worth reading and adding to your collection. It took me years to find a copy, now it is available for everyone -- I wouldn't hesitate to buy or read.
   
   -Mike



5. Every author should write at least one of these books of personal reflection. This is not the only place you can get a glimpse of the inner workings of Mishima's mind ("Confessions of a Mask" and "Patriotism" are good examples).

   Of course, this is assuming the book accurately reflects the author's views. If you have read Mishima biographies such as Stokes' "Life and Death of Yukio Mishima" you might agree that "Sun and Steel" is a true reflection of the author's feelings. Otherwise, you might not have a good frame of reference.

   It's a good idea not to make this the first of Mishima's works that you read (the aforementioned biography and "Confessions of A Mask" are suitable prerequisites). However, it is an interesting work in its own right.

   My main reason for not giving this book 5 stars is that I was longing for more depth into his character than could be provided in so short a work; but maybe that's just because of my fascination with the author's life.

5 comments about Dandelion Through the Crack.

1. This is a heartfelt, heartwarming family saga of an immigrant Japanese American family and their struggle to survive despite war, racism, poverty, farming misfortunes, and many obstacles that would have defeated the toughest among us. It is a story of hope, devotion, love, faith, endurance and steadfastness against staggering circumstances that the World War II era had to offer new Japanese immigrants as well as native born Nisei Japanese Americans. While the protagonists are a Japanese family, their story has many commonalities that will resonate with any family that came with little and struggled to achieve the American dream. Everyone alive could only hope to have as remarkable a family as the Sato clan. Congratulations Kiyo on telling your story so well.



2. It was a great read. Both poignant and humorous at times. Personally knowing the family made it even more enjoyable. My reading group is now involved in reading it and more are asking to read. One of the group has purchased a copy for herself to keep. There were several issues of which I was not aware. Knowing the area, I could picture all that happened.



3. Readers might expect a book about being banished to an internment camp to be depressing, but Dandelion is not the story you would expect. First and foremost, it's a heartwarming story about an American immigrant family's daily life on the family farm in Sacramento.
   
   Here you have the young man, Shinji Sato, coming to America with nothing, working as a farm laborer to make a living and save for the future. After a few years, he returns home to marry, and realizes America is his new home. Together, he and his new bride, Tomomi, return to California to farm and raise a family. Against great challenges and prejudice, they manage to lease and then buy a farm, build a home, and raise award-winning strawberries and grapes, as well as other crops.
   
   Kiyo is the eldest child of this struggling young family, and her portrait of their family life is intimate and touching. She describes the hard work in the fields, playing on the farm, the family baths in an enormous hot tub, daily meals and holiday dinners prepared together, school days in a one-room schoolhouse, church life and neighbors, and her dad's wonderful stories and haiku poetry which the children could not get enough of.
   
   Into the middle of this sweet, idyllic family life and a now thriving farm, World War II intrudes. The family is forced to give up everything for the duration of the war and live in an arid, dusty concentration camp in Arizona. Yet even in this, these Japanese-Americans survived and transformed the desert into a garden and their prison camp into a town and the semblance of a home.
   
   The return to their homes and farms after the war brought many heartbreaks and struggles as families like Kiyo's had to start over again. Many had lost everything, yet in true American fashion, they were indomitable in spirit and managed to struggle back and rebuild their homes and their places in the community.
   
   Kiyo Sato's book is destined to become a classic. As the cliche goes, I laughed and I cried when I read it because in presenting such an intimate portrait, Kiyo makes the reader feel like a member of the family. Their struggles, their losses, their joys, and their successes seem almost as though they are our own. Their story is unique to their situation, yet it is also the timeless story of a typical American family, the story of modern-day American pioneers.
   
   Don't miss this book. It's a book you will remember for a lifetime.



4. I am a caucasian American of German descent who grew up on the east coast in the 60's. I had heard, vaguely, about the internment of Japanese citizens during WWII, and I was always a bit curious about it, but it's not as if my own history brought me to this book predisposed to hang on its every word. Yet hang on every word I did; I was desperately short of sleep three nights in a row because I read until my eyes closed. I would love to make this required reading for all citizens, especially in our current time of mistrust against Middle Eastern immigrants. Not only did I love the family Ms. Sato described, I loved their farm, their trees, their dogs. I felt very strongly her family's hopes and bewilderment, and I rooted hard for their triumphs. She writes in a very poetic voice, and it creates out of her family's story a sort of literary flower, individual, delicate and beautiful. Don't miss this book.



5. I've finished "Dandelion through the Crack." It is a book that should be ready by everyone. I especially became personally inthralled because I lived in the area she spoke of 25 years ago. This book really should be required reading for history. I wasn't born and didn't live in CA during the interment but as an older adult I had become aware of our country's paranoia and the shameful thing they did. In her straightforward yet eloquent style she so clearly describes her family and their circumstances. And yet she does not dwell on the negative. In its reading I was able to appreciate the hard work, love of family, and quiet dignity with which they are noted.

2 comments about At the Plate With ... Ichiro.

1. It is about Ichiro going to the M.L.B. and about his life as a kid, and about how the Mariners got him. It's also about him being the second player in history to win the M.V.P and the rookie the of the year in the same season. Matt Christopher is the author.
   The book's name is "At the Plate with Ichiro".
   My favorite part is in the book is the 2001 All-Star game when Ichiro led off and got a single in Seattle. The story takes place in Japan
   and the U.S.A.
   People who like baseball would like this book. The book started good. And it told us about how he was the most exciting player in Japan. I liked the book because it is about baseball. And because it is about him going to the U.S.A. I was a fun book to read.
   by Jackson



2. Although "At the Plate with...Ichiro" ends with the Seattle Mariner's rookie season in 2001 it is still worth reading. That is because the point of Matt Christopher's book is how a player everybody said was too short, too skinny, and too weak to make it in professional baseball in the United States ended up winning both the American League Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards. Even though Ichiro continues to be a star, last year breaking George Sisler's record for most hits in a single season, the key lesson here is how he succeeded as the first Japanese-born position player in Major League Baseball.

   In the first chapter Christopher sets up the context for Ichiro's accomplishments by looking at "The American Pastime in Japan." To understand what Ichiro did young readers have to know about the history of the game in Japan and Masanori Murakami, who became the first Japanese player to play professional baseball in the United States when he pitched for the San Francisco Giants in 1964-65 (I have his rookie card). But Christopher also talks about the cultural differences in how the game is played on each side of the Pacific. By the time you get to the big splash by Hideo Nomo in 1994, the struggles of Hideki Irabu, and the relative success of Kazuhiro Sasaki, you can appreciate the odds that Ichiro was facing.

   It is only then that Christopher tells the story of how Ichiro was first introduced at the age of three to the game of baseball by his father and went on to become not only the greatest baseball player in Japan (lifetime batting average of .353), but also the most popular figure in the country. Christopher devotes less attention to Ichiro's actual accomplishments on the field in winning seven consecutive batting titles and three MVP awards and spends more time setting up Ichiro's decision to play in the United States. Consequently, young readers will understand why the Mariners were the only team to bid for his services and why Ichiro was ecstatic to be playing for a team on the West Coast.

   Six of the book's ten chapters are devoted to the 2001 season, and I was happy to see that Christopher had the story of how Ichiro was driving Seattle manager Lou Piniella (now with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays) crazy in spring training by just hitting balls to the left side of the infield. Of course there was a method to Ichiro's madness and the story sets up the success to come. I also appreciated how Christopher would talk about Ichiro's first bunt in the Major Leagues in detail, stressing both the strategy behind and the execution of the play. One thing young baseball players will get from reading this biography is how hard work and intelligence are just as crucial as natural ability in playing the game.

   The rest of the book covers that 2001 season, when Ichiro got off to a hot start, made the All-Star team, and set some records. Again, Christopher tells specific stories with key details and does not just rely on listing statistics. There are eight pages of black & white photographs of Ichiro with Seattle along with a couple of pages of statistics and records in the middle of the book. Christopher has written enough sports fiction for young readers to know how to work in lessons along with the biography in this informative and insightful book. Other baseball players that Christopher has written about in a similar fashion include Ken Griffey Jr., Derek Jeter, Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux, Alex Rodriguez, and Curt Schilling (Position players are "At the Plate" and pitcher are "On the Mound").

4 comments about Matsuo Basho.

1. I am fairly new to haiku and this poet. Was recommended to me, and I now do the same to anyone wanting to read and be calmed by the depth of understanding of our lives, animals, all nature around us, that is presented by Matsuo Basho. I now have two of his books, his travel journals, and return to them often whenever I need to mentally take a trip myself to another time and place. Everyone should read some Basho. I recommend this book.



2. If you are looking for a complete collection of Matsuo Basho's poetry, this is not what you are looking for. However, if you are looking for a personal and literary biography of the haiku master and his influence on Japanese literature, this is what you are looking for.
   
   The writing is clear and interesting and the text is liberally studded with examples of not only Basho's, but the the work of his contemporaries and students.
   
   Definately for the literary minded.



3. While reading this book I realized that I knew nothing about haiku. I had always thought that the form of haiku, the 5-7-5 pattern was important but I had never really considered why this pattern mattered, or what one tried to accomplish with a haiku that could not be accomplished with a more free-form style of poetry.

   This book, "Matsuo Basho," not only supplies an interesting history of the undisputed master of Japanese haiku, but it also contains an introductory lesson on the different forms of poetry that Basho utilized, the haiku, the renku and the haibun. Many of Basho's poems are included, both in the original Japanese as well as with a translation, and then interpreted. The author puts the poem in historical context, as well as gives an idea of the scene that Basho was describing. It is truly amazing how complete a scene Basho could bring forth using such a limited palette of words.

   Also included are descriptions of Basho's travel guides, that he wrote on his many voyages across Japan, some highlights of Basho's thoughts on poetry as well as the author's personal interpretation of why Basho has remained a relevant poet, and will continue to remain so.

   A fascinating book overall, and one that has led me to become interested in haiku and seeking out more books by this amazing writer, Matsuo Basho.




4. This delightful little book deserves a brief review, some stars. I read it twenty-five years ago, and can remember the experience with great clarity (which I can only say of a select few books). I didn't have high expectations when I picked it up, but found it surpisingly exciting and deeply satisfying - and grew to care for the book, and Matsuo Basho, long before I was done. If you have an interest in Basho or haiku poetry, this is a marvellous and friendly guide. As well as being a very readable biography of the man, it's also an excellent means of understanding and appreciating the poetry he wrote - what it was, why he wrote it, with whom, what they accomplished, and why it matters. And it's written with love as well as with knowledge. It's not dry at all. Ueda later compiled "Basho and His Interpreters: Selected Hokku With Commentary", which is a great collection if you want to go in deeper. But start here.

4 comments about The Way of a Boy: A Memoir of Java.

1. When I was a very little girl, we lived in Indonesia and were in Japanese concentration camps during WWII.
   I was interested in reading this book, because my brother was taken away at 11 and sent to a men's camp all by himself. I wanted to know what he had gone through.
   This book will tell you a little of what we all went through in those years. It is written from a young boys view point and that was helpful to keep it less of a heavy read.
   I think very few people know how many of us suffered hunger and illness in POW camps under the Japanese. It is history and hopefully we won't have to re-live this.



2. i am 16 years old and read this book for the first time last year. i truly enjoyed reading the book. i am not into books which have a difficult plot or a lot of long words but anyone can undersatnd this book. i cant imagine what the boy would have went through and had to keep on reminding myself that this actually happened. i definitely do not think that this book is given the credit in which it is worth. reading the book makes you realise what a good life you have compared to what the boy went through. so go out and read the book now. p.s. have a box of tissues ready!!!



3. The story is beyond an ugliness of human nature.How any one dare to challenge "How about Hiroshima ?" The boy is above all these and almost religius. The Japanese Emperor and the Governmentaologized for the undue cruelities inflickted on the internees, but the most interesting thing is that they did no do so to their own people who were victims themselves under the Japanese Military systems.



4. A decided to read this book after I heard the news that a movie based on it staring Jane Seymour will be filming next year. I read it only to better understand the movie, and was extremely surprised at what an excellent story I found it to be. It is told from the perspective of a little boy, about his struggles and triumphs, and the little things that help him cope with life in a concentration camp run by Japanese. If you think this is your typical "WW II survivor story", guess again. As I was reading I forgot the book was about a concentration camp. It became the story of a ordinary boy and his mother, and their day-to-day life amidst a horrific background. The harsh reality is it is a true story. I hope the movie does it justice. This book is extremely under-rated. It is up to par with Oprah's book club books. Please read it, and I think you will be surprised. If anyone knows how I can contact the author, please let me know.

5 comments about Citizen 13660.

1. Book was pretty much brand-spankin' new as far as I can tell, and arrived when it was supposed to. Super!



2. On the morning of December 7, 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. At that moment, the terrible suffering and war that seemed so far away from America reached its shores. America was no longer safe. People panicked, and anyone of Japanese decent became the enemy, even if they were loyal U.S. citizens. Not so much unlike the Jews of Europe, the Japanese of America were sent to detention camps out of fear that they might still be loyal to Japan and betray the U.S. Among the many Japanese prisoners was Mine Okubo, who wrote and illustrated her biography, Citizen 13660, about what it was really like to live in Japanese internment camps during World War Two. Okubo's account is full of detail and elaborate drawings on every page, giving the reader an inside scoop into what internment camp life was really like.
   
   Citizen 13660 is a complete account of Okubo's life from the start of WW2 in 1939 to when she was released from the internment camp after living in several other camps over a couple of years. She was a Bay Area resident living in Oakland when she and her brother were forced from their homes along with 110,000 other Japanese Americans living on the West Coast. They had to put most all their belongings into storage and leave for Tanforan Relocation Center, which was located in what is now South San Francisco. The living conditions were poor, and the camp was a mess. It was not the ideal place for any human beings to live. She goes into great detail about every aspect of camp life, and it was startling to realize just how bad the Japanese Americans had it. For example, "the flush toilets were always out of commission," (pg. 72) "the sewage system was poor," (pg 78) and their living quarters was a "20 by 9 ft. horse stall." (pg 35)
   
   If you are looking for a book that is well written and a great piece of literature, I would recommend reading some other book. Citizen 13660 is mostly just simple sentences describing the detailed illustrations on every page. Rather than describing her life through words, she tells her story through beautiful pictures. Yet even with minimal words, she still manages to get her message across. I recommend this book to people who are looking for an easy yet interesting read, and to people who would like to know the real story behind the Japanese internment camps.



3. The novel Citizen 13660 is an exceptional graphic novel that describes the events of the Japanese internment camps. I truly enjoyed the novel by Mine Okubo because it used both illustrations and text to describe the events of the internment camps. Another reason that I really enjoyed the novel was because Okubo describes the camps the way that she experienced them. She doesn't add detail to make the events more or less atrocious. In other words, it wasn't a personal attack on the American people, which is what I expected before opening the novel. Furthermore, Okubo provides a basic understanding of what Japanese internment camps, which is something that I feel that people need to learn about. I think that it would be an exceptional novel for junior high and high school students to read since many American history books don't discuss the Japanese internment camps. Also, since cameras, video recorders, etc. were banned from internment camps and since most of the camps have since been destroyed, Okubo's illustrations illuminate what it was like to live in the internment camps. The images of the hard straw coming out of a thin covering that was supposed to be their bed and the restrooms that provided no privacy and unhealthy conditions are stuck in my head. For those that truly believe these camps were created for the protection of Japanese people, I would like you to look at Okubo's illustrations and explain to me your definition of the word protection.
   As previously stated, there are limited pictures and videos from the Japanese internment camps. However, if you are interested in viewing footage of the internment camps, the film "Something Strong Within" provides footage from ten different internment camps. Through this film, you can see the horrid conditions that the Japanese people had to live in. It also shows images of teenagers graduating high school in an internment camp. I found these images to be extremely effective because there are so many things that we take for granted that the Japanese and Japanese Americans didn't have the opportunity to experience. Through this film and Mine Okubo's graphic novel, people can learn about the struggles that the Japanese experienced during World War II.



4. I don't know how anyone could read this novel and not appreciate the text and visuals simultaneously. It would be easy to just read the text, but the visual representations created by Mine Okubo are profound and provide the viewer with a greater understanding of the events that Mine Okubo and other Japanese Americans underwent while in the camps. Unlike other graphic novels, the text and image are separate and not integrated. Some may find this difficult to read the text and than view the picture or vice versa, but the sketches were created while Mine Okubo was in the camp and than the descriptive text was added later to correspond with the visuals. These sketches were a descriptive journal for Mine Okubo, who like so many others wasn't allowed to bring in cameras or video recording devices to capture what she underwent and saw while in the camps. Personally, I found the text and visual continually playing of one another and neither one would have been nearly as successful without the other.
   
   Many of the internment camps no longer exist and what remains, "are pieces of concrete, pipes, and wire," they are but a cemetery to the past. Mine Okubo has created a piece of living history and has produced a personal memoir for herself and the United States. This even should never be forgotten and should be a key portion of history that is taught within our private and public schools. Art is an expressive outlet that provides a means of releasing tension, anger, sadness, and anxiety. During the internment other artists and writers were creating profound works of art to communicate and further understand their own circumstances. For anyone that questions the relevance of this text a film that is worth watching is called, "9066 to 9/11." This film takes a look at the secretive footage taken by Japanese American Internees in the camps and corresponds their hardships and mistreatment with our current predicaments based on the 9/11 terrorist attacks.



5. I, personally, have never been into comic books, but since reading Maus I and Citizen 13660 I have found a new appreciation for art mixed with text. This graphic novel is excellent. I disagree with the idea that we need to know the "deep insight into the feelings of the author"; that is what makes this novel so powerful. She intentionally leaves the emotions up to her audience. This is not necessarily a story about woe is me. It is a story about survival, when life hands you lemons you make lemonade and you share it.
   I do agree with the dark sense of humor within this novel. And I must say I like it. Life was hard for the Japanese. These camps were not easy and sometimes rather inhumane. The weather was extreme, the food was scarce, and there was absolutely no privacy. But Mine Okubo is able to take some terrible scenarios and laugh at her characters, which enables her audience to laugh. It also made me think about what it means to have freedom and privacy. Today, people rarely even talk to their parents and siblings, let alone, their neighbors. As depicted in this novel people were practically living on top of one another. And to be to find a sense of humor through it all shows an amazing sense of character.
   Overall, I think this novel is a thoughtful, selfless, piece of art. It shouldn't lose credit for being a graphic novel, or lacking drama. It should be applauded for the value of the factual, overall picture painted within it. It should be applauded for allowing its readers to be affected in anyway that it may, the book world is full of tear jerkers, we don't need anymore soap opera text filling our minds with junk.

4 comments about The New Generation of Japanese Swordsmiths.

1. This is an excellent book for the novice and high-end collector alike. If you own, study or are interested in the Japanese Sword, then you must add this volume to your library. This is about the lives and work of 20 top swordsmiths of Japan, their craft, methods,insights and open discussions about shinsakuto, the modern day Japanese Sword, forged only in the rigid standards of the old school smiths.



2. This book interviews twenty blade smiths and also has interviews with polishers, too!
   
   The reader will be enriched by the thoughts and experiences of these craftsmen and gain a greater appreciation for their craft.
   
   This is a great reference book for anyone studying or even remotely interested in modern Nihon-to and classical Nihon-to.



3. This book is going to be one of those books that will become legendary in the nihonto world. A very facinating look into todays up and coming smiths, their work, and where they see the future of the sword is going. An absolute must for the library, and an excellent resource for nihonto collectors!



4. An excellant companion book to any study of mondern Nihon-to and classical Nihon-to. Detailed descriptions of swords, and great biographical material on the smiths. The son of Yoshihara Yohindo, who wrote "The Craft of the Japanese Sword", is among those interviewed. He has become a respected & licensed smith since his father's book was published in 1985.

   I own this book. One of the 1st bought when i started my studies of Nihon-to.