Etsuko Watanabe,
My Japan
Kane/Miller, 2009.

Ages  5-9

An absolute gem of a book, My Japan is visually jam-packed with information about a child’s daily life in Japan.  Seven-year-old Yumi guides readers through her home, school and special holidays.  There is plenty here to interest both girls and boys: Yumi talks about what her younger brother Takeshi does too, and highlights things they do differently.

The charming illustrations show a whole scene, from which details are extracted and annotated.  Along with the cross-section of Yumi’s house at the beginning, this contributes to the dynamism of the book, as young readers will want to seek out the specific features and spot the differences in the ways they are represented. They will enjoy comparing Yumi and Takeshi’s lives with their own – they will spot similarities, like spaghetti and hamburgers among the array of lip-smacking Japanese dishes; and they will be intrigued by those aspects of Japanese culture which are perhaps new to them, like the Daruma Doll (“you paint one eye when you make a wish and the other eye when the wish comes true”).  They will enjoy looking at the bathroom and the public baths; most will probably find the fact that Japanese children help clean their school quite shocking; and they will get the paper and scissors out to make the streamers, dolls and samurai hats that Japanese children make for different festivals.

One feat of this superb little book is that it manages to convey a vast amount of information without ever being either overwhelming or didactic.  Visually, it never feels over-crowded yet no space is wasted – even the back cover forms part of the book, with a colorful map of Japan.  Japanese words are included in Western script throughout.  The final section of the book then explores “Writing”, with a brief introduction to Kanji ideograms and a complete hiragana table.  Curious children will rise to Yumi’s challenge to try writing her name and will probably feel encouraged to try more words as well.

Combining attractive visual impact and dynamic, chatty writing, My Japan is an excellent introduction to Japan. Young children will easily absorb many facts about Japanese culture and enjoy making comparisons with their own lives.

Marjorie Coughlan
August 2009