This book is set in Japan in early 2000s. It is a personal journey by a teacher of English through different facets of everyday life, amongst ordinary people, in a culture generally perceived to be impenetrable. It assembles sights and sounds, landscapes and interiors, public and private faces, joy and frustration in a simply observed, but highly detailed, mixture of humourous anecdote and thoughful reflection. Many aspects of Japanese life are included: language, food, television, travel, the workplace, cross-cultural interaction, all find their place in this book, which does not pretend to be a sociological thesis or an in-depth analysis of the Japanese mind, merely a tribute to the many open-hearted and welcoming people who made the author''s experience of living in Japan such a happy and enduring memory. The aim of the book is to share that experience with others and to give a small insight to anyone wishing to visit Japan into what they may expect to find when they get there.
