Book Review: A Geek in Japan: Discovering the Land of Manga, Anime, Zen, and the Tea Ceremony

A Geek in Japan is an interesting and insightful guide to all who are fascinated by the Japan and its culture.

The book covers aspects of Japan that might be familiar to most, such as manga, anime, and also deeper subjects such as their working environment, society views, practices and more. There are many little nuggets of information in each chapter, such as riding the subway, why people wear face mask,preparing tea, and even a brief travel section.

The best part of the book is the text that explains why Japanese behave the way they do. E.g. The low crime rate, hard workers, employees who typically stay at a single company their whole life, after office hours interaction, family dynamics, the meticulous nature of people, etc. Once you understand that, you sort of get the context to the bigger picture to their society.

I'm not sure how accurate the text is, but several reviews on Amazon commented on that. I guess you have to understand that this is written from the view of a foreigner staying in Japan not for the purpose of studying the country. What's written mostly are based on observation.

The book would have been even better, more insightful with proofreading and commentary from actual Japanese people, because there are times where I go "Is this for real?".

Author Hector Garcia has packed a bit of everything to make it an enjoyable read. I was captivated enough to finish reading in one sitting.

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This review copy is provided by Tuttle Publishing, a publisher and seller of books rooted in Asian culture, language, and history.

A Geek in Japan: Discovering the Land of Manga, Anime, Zen, and the Tea Ceremony is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN)

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