Japanese for Travellers A Journey Through Modern Japan

Katie Kitamura is travelling to Osaka to visit her parents. As her train undulates across the neat landscape, she reflects on her assorted memories of Japan - her amusing brushes with pop culture, her family relationships - and contemplates the country’s tumultuous history after the Hiroshima bombing. Through her experiences and observations she tries to put together a coherent picture of Japan’s identity, and to discover where she fits in a culture of which, as a Japanese-American, she is both a member and an outsider. The result is a brave and thoughtful exploration of aspiration, belonging, change and decay.