I have another book to review from Tuttle Books and, once again, they have kindly agreed to give (given) one free copy of this book to a random visitor to my blog!
(Before that though…have you entered in the drawing for the free sets of lovely Japanese origami? There’s still time!
Click here and here and enter both drawings!
Click here to read all of my reviews and giveaways.)
The book that I’m reviewing here is titled “Clueless in Tokyo: An Explorer’s Sketchbook of Weird and Wonderful Things in Japan” by Betty Reynolds.
I will put the details of the free drawing for this book at the end of this post.
Ms. Reynolds lived in Tokyo for seven years with her husband. They are both Americans so, of course, everything in Japan was new and strange to them when they first arrived here.
I can relate to that!
This book is perfect for anyone who has ever visited Japan or plans to visit here, anyone interested in Japan (whether they’ve been here or not), and anyone in learning about a very unique culture!
It would even be interesting to someone who, like me, has lived in Japan for a long time and are no longer shocked or confused by the everyday aspects of Japanese life found in the pages of this book…but, even after many years, still loves Japanese culture.
Ms. Reynolds drew the pictures in this book of the things that are commonly seen in Japan but that are “very Japanese”. Having lived in Japan for most of my life now, I’ve become “used to” life here and often don’t even notice these things anymore…they’ve become commonplace to me now. So, it was fun to see them with “fresh eyes” again through this book.
“Clueless in Tokyo: An Explorer’s Sketchbook of Weird and Wonderful Things in Japan” shows “mysterious” Japanese things including scenes found at shrines and temples, Japanese food, Japanese holidays, decorations, traditions, seasonal customs, Tokyo architecture, youth culture, and more.
It explains things that are “regular” life to the people of Japan but a “mystery” to visitors in a way that is easy to understand.
I did notice a couple of small mistakes in it though. But these errors were minor “spelling” mistakes of the Japanese kanji terms…but most of the kanji is correct and all of the English-alphabet (roma-ji) of the Japanese words are.
So, those kanji mistakes aren’t a big deal or don’t diminish the value of this book, I believe.
I recommend this book. It’s charming, interesting and fun to read!
“Clueless in Tokyo: An Explorer’s Sketchbook of Weird and Wonderful Things in Japan” can be purchased through Amazon here.
But, as I said above, Tuttle Books has agreed to give (given) one random visitor to my blog a free copy of this book.
To enter the drawing for the free book, submit this form by 2014 October 11th:
***** Updated October 11th, 2014 *****
This special promo ended on 2014 October 11th. One random winner was selected and contacted directly by Tuttle Publishers (via email) with the details about the free book.
Thank you to all who entered, but only the winner was contacted.
*****
Tokyo Five 
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