Get Your Copy Japanland: A Year In Search Of Wa Designed And Illustrated By Karin Muller Released Through Digital Paper

"Our differences are obvious from the very first day, Yukiko is very traditional. I am not. She is quite sure, for example, that all these newfangled cooking devices, like microwaves, break down food, I've done nothing to disabuse her of this notion because there is only one microwave in the house, and it is now conveniently located on my kitchen counter.
"

This is a story of about the author, Karin Muller's, attempt to ingratiate herself into the world of Japan, Not the touristy, superficial world but the real, get to know the people, Japan, Muller does a marvelous job in this witty and wellwritten account of her year in the land of Nippon,

"Her ceaseless vigilance is making an impression, For the first time in my life I feel guilty about putting the toilet paper roll on backward, Until now, I never even knew that toilet paper had a front and back, I resent feeling guilty, so I refuse on principle to turn it facing forward, Then I worry that Yukiko will see it, so I use it up as quickly as I can and hope the next one will end up the right way around.
"

What I really loved about this book, is that I learned so much, I always prided myself on my knowledge of the world, and like Karin, I approached this journey although mine was the written kind certain that I had a good foundation on which to set out.
She quickly came to discover how little she really knew, and how much her own cultural values stood in her way of living a Japanese way of life.


Muller is brave, optimistic and doesn't give up, I really enjoyed traveling across Japan with her! Couldn't finish it, Found it repetitive and with no plot, The only thing I got was that if you suffer from insomnia running and practicing Martial arts really helps, Autore māk interesanti stāstīt par saviem piedzīvojumiem un nedienām Japānā, Papildus grāmatai ir uzņemta arī dokumentālā filma, I have what some might call a minor no, major obsession with Japan, As such, it didnt take much convincing for me to buy this book, which is an account of the author spending a year in Japan in search of harmony and balance for her life.


What this is not, I should say, is a travel guide to Japan, It contains a lot of fantastic insights into the culture, both mainstream and more esoteric, but if you plan to read this book thinking that it will make your trip to Tokyo easier, youll be disappointed.


On the other hand, if you have an interest in what Japanese culture is like for both an insider and an outsider, then I definitely recommend this book.
From her stay with a host family to her Buddhist pilgrimage, Karin Muller weaves a wonderful story with skill, honesty, and respect, Shes not ashamed to reveal her own ignorance of some situations, nor is she ashamed to point out when other people are just plain baffling, at least by Western sensibilities.


I have read this book more than once now, and its one of the few books that I can safely say I take more away from it each time I read it.
Its an engrossing book, with plenty to amuse those who nothing about Japanese culture and those who know quite a bit,

By the end of the book, whether the author feels theyve achieved a sense of inner peace and harmony is almost irrelevant, Shes learned a great deal, experienced more than most people ever dream of, and shes taken away a little piece of another place to keep inside herself, In a sense, her pilgrimage toward the end of her time in Japan was only a fraction of the pilgrimage she embarked upon, and it left an impression that even the reader can feel as they share the journey from beginning to end.
A fantastic read. Highly recommended! Havent enjoyed a book so much since a while : This is by far the most annoying book I have ever read, This author shows her complete ignorance to Japanese culture through some of her distasteful, snarky comments and observations during the short time she was there, She came to Japan “to find herself” because she is a privileged white female who has connection that no one else has, And of course such privileges plus her ignorance enable her to freely judging others culture a culture that is so different from her own and she has no understanding of it.
This is a worst read, Dont even bother

to have a glance! I enjoyed this book tremendously, more for the opportunity to tag along with the author than for any knowledge gained about Japan.
Muller's writing brings images and people alive with rich detail, I appreciated her willingness to share so much of her thoughts and feelings, It was brave of her to be so forthright about experiences that probably embarrassed or unsettled her at the time, She's an unsparing documentarian. I confess that I found Japan's "culture of shame" difficult to admire, By Muller's account, so did she, in spite of her desire to absorb the nation's singular spirit, However, she clearly found much to love in Japan nevertheless, including a few individuals who were not in lockstep with all of the mores, In spite of some offkilter experiences, Japanland is not at all about a sad or uncomfortable journey, It's about illumination. There are plenty of laughoutloud moments too, Karin Muller has a very nice voice, I liked her. I thought she told her story well, There were chapters and storylines I liked better than others, and some I wasn't too moved by, I liked hearing about her living accomidations and her relationships with the various people she got to know, The lastor so pages of the book were kind of a snooze for me, I wasn't too into hearing about her last minute pilgrimage to bring her year to a really amazing zenlike head, I more enjoyed hearing about her attempts to film the last train leaving Shinjuku and then staying at the men's capsule hotel, At the end, she kind of goes for that classic college thesis wrapup, like, oh everyone meant so much to me and are with me and each one was so great and meaningful.
Well, I have to say, I would have been happier to hear her say something like, Yukiko, sorry I would occasionally chat with your husband, who INVITED me to stay here, and by doing so I sometimes got in the way of your vegetable chopping, but Japanese customsshumstoms, COME ON.
There is a decent way to treat people and then there is absurdity, Throwing your vegetable garden onto the lawn and keeping it there so when your mother comes to visit she can she the train wreck that you created and be asshamed and dissappionted No babe, that is not Japanese customs and poiteness and whatever.
That is just outofcontrol bitchiness, I was so relieved when you got out of there! I liked the book ,liked the way it flowed easily for me, Meeting different characters from different parts of Japan, She does not hide her feelings and herself while recounting her experiences, I would love to see her documentaries, Very interesting and enjoyable as a travelogue, though less so as a personal narrative, The author repeatedly comes off as naive and unprepared for a seasoned traveler and documentarian, She seems oddly dismissive of Japanese culture at times, considering she travelled to Japan specifically to experience and record that very culture, Sometimes get attitude is just confusing, For example, she's invited to give a short speech on judo, by her host and mentor, and she is shocked to find the venue is an upscale Playboy club bunny waitresses and all.
She then describes how she has to wrestle with her American pride or words to that affect to not immediately wall out in disgust, What! It's a club not a brothel, Also, Playboy is a quintessentially American institution, yikes! This story nonJapanese woman goes to Japan to learn about the culture and language by immersing herself in it was all too familiar: the oppressive weight of being a barbarian gaijin in Japan, the terror of the everyday "yuubabasan" the older woman who rules every detail of your life with a brutal iron fist "there was a stain on your cutting board! You caused me to lose face!"
And also the lovely things about Japan the real unstinting generosity you find with strangers, the baths, the food, the attention to detail, the minutebyminute training in good manners and sensitivity to others' feelings.

For a film equivalent, see "Fear and Trembling, " An interesting recount of a writer and documentarian's year in Japan, While there were scenes and conversations captured in this memoir that I found insightful, I also found that this book was written from a very Americacentric perspective, Which was surprising, coming from someone as welltravelled as Muller, Her cultural analysis of Japan often takes the 'us vs them' approach, which I find populist and boring, Muller's witty and imaginative recounts were enough to keep me reading, but I can't imagine ever going back to her writing if I was looking to read something about Japan.


Muller's frequent complaints of getting up early and feeling hungry constantly irked me, Convenience stores are so common in Japan and the quality and nutrition of the meals you can buy there is amazing, I don't know how she managed to miss them, Humorous, insightful, entertaining, at times even poignant, this companion volume to Karin Muller's multipart PBS documentary of the same name was a fascinating read, At the beginning of the story Ms, Muller makes a decision to leave her stale and unfulfilling life in Washington D, C. for a year in Japan, ostensibly to study judo she's a black belt and film a documentary about the experience, but really to to find "wa"a state of focus and harmony that she found in her judo instructors' "almost ethereal calm and inner strength".
"Wa" literally translates as "circle" or "ring", Her judo contacts in the United States find her a host family, the Tanakas, in Fugisawa, about an hour from downtown Tokyo, Genji is a sixthdegree black belt and a highly successful businessman his wife, Yukiko, is the model of the perfect Japanese wife their daughter, Junko, is rapidly approaching an age where marriage is literally mandatory, lest she lose both her job and her place in the social order.
For six months Ms. Muller enjoys the hospitality of the Tanakaswith mixed resultsand in so doing finds part of the essence of Japan, To find the rest, she leaves their prosperous home under difficult circumstances and settles into a rundown apartment on a crowded alley in Osaka maintained by a gay American expatriate who, like many of the "gaijin", earns his living by teaching English.
Capitalizing on her newfound freedom from the strict social restraints of the Tanaka home, Ms, Muller sets out on a variety of adventures throughout the Japanese countryside, making friends, exploring, and occasionally pressing herself to the very limits of her physical endurance, all the while searching for the elusive Wa.
She tracks down an obscure mountain cult, attends a variety of local festivals, and finally sets out on amile pilgrimage to someBuddhist temples in honor of Kobo Daishi, the patron saint of Japan, in a final, desperate quest for that "elusive inner peace.
. . this pilgrimage is my last hope, " That she finds it in a completely unexpected place and in a completely accidental manner is a fitting and appropriate ending to this joyous and absorbing tale, I highly recommend this book, and the documentary film as well, The author is one of the types of Western folk I encountered occasionally while living in Asia and always hoped would leave quickly to stop giving the rest of us a bad reputation.


Deciding that living in Japan would mystically cure her of her ennui was the first clue that I was going to find this book annoying, and sure enough, she showed up at her host family's house and proceeded to be annoyed they aren't more contemporary American in their views about gender roles and that they're what we would call passiveaggressive here in the States but there, normal and she only seemed to figure that out in the last couple of chapters after being there almost a full year.
It's like she did absolutely no research and expected magic to happen while everyone in Japan fawned over what a special snowflake she really is or whatever,

I nearly quit this book multiple times in the firstpages, and her bad attitude persists even after she finally starts to figure out she's not in America anymore after basically being kicked out of her host family's place, and for darn good reason.
Toward the end, while reading the feudal stories and understanding the culture for the first time, she comments that she'll come to her senses in the morning, Lol okay. Frankly, all she sounds like is one of the few people I'd listen to complain about literally everything about a culture while they're living in that country as a guest and how it's all terrible because it isn't Western.
If you want Western culture, stay in the West, jeez,

Apparently, she travels for a living Horrifying that someone with this significant lack of cultural awareness is representing Americans abroad, No wonder we have a bad reputation as tourists,

I guess, on the positive side, she didn't get drunk all the time, cause massive scenes, and harrass the locals, So, there's that.

This book made me unreasonably angry, Don't be like this woman, y'all, .