Tune in Tokyo: The Gaijin Diaries
by
Tim Anderson
Order:
USA
Can
Amazon, 2011 (2011)
Softcover, e-Book
Read an Excerpt
Reviewed by Hilary Williamson
I
n his
Author's Note
at the beginning of
Tune in Tokyo: The Gaijin Diaries
, Tim Anderson calls his book '
a light-hearted romp through Japan's capital, my love letter to the city and its people.
' He introduces himself as '
a college graduate with such impeccable credentials as a BA in English, diabetes, credit card debt, Roman nose, and a fierce and unstoppable homosexuality
' and explains the he left his three part-time jobs in Raleigh, in search of
his destiny
.
T
he tall, white, gay Southerner took a job teaching English with MOBA, a popular Japanese language school (that he later learned is far from picky in their hiring practices), and describes his experiences with an alien culture - and with a variety of eccentric expatriate fellow teachers from around the world - in a self-deprecating style, laced with humor.
I
t's fun to share his experiences and observations - such as giving up his seat to a
Yoda
on the subway; being entertained by new friends playing a
humongous
Japanese harp; or looking for ways to elicit responses from his students and finally getting a rather terrifying pot stirrer in his class.
H
e muses about why beautiful young Japanese women ('
surely the most sublimely and ridiculously dressed girls on the planet
') accept dates from all the
Barney Rubbles
(often ugly foreigners); about the country's obsession with
cuteness
; and why teen girls devour
yaoi
manga (about love between men) with such fascination.
L
eaving two years later, Anderson tells us that '
In so many ways, Japan is America on Opposite Day
'. Having been there in the 80s, and having often wondered about teaching English overseas when I travelled, I enjoyed this entertaining update on modern Tokyo seen through
gaijin
eyes.
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