by Janet James Sasaki aka Julia Shozen

Paperback: 566 pages
Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (September 22, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1439252297
ISBN-13: 978-1439252291

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Editorial Reviews

Review

Four Stars (out of Five)

Compassionate, meditative, and often achingly beautiful, Expatriate Heart is the thoughtful exploration of an American woman's coming-of-age in Japan. Janet James Sasaki considers every aspect of her main character's surroundings, from the traditional way of folding paper to the pattern in the stone wall by the family's house. The result is a heady atmosphere, in which each detail is accounted for. The reader becomes totally immersed in post-war Japanese culture, learning the day-to-day rituals of Tokyo as it revives into a booming metropolis.

Expatriate Heart follows Alice from her early childhood into maturity. The elder daughter of Christian missionaries, she is between two worlds, and acts as a witness to the many changes in her family, her neighborhood, and Japan. Interestingly, her Christianity is discussed as little as Tokyo's destruction. Instead, it is a backdrop for the main action of the story and is never directly addressed. The roundabout way in which the story is told--the landscape beautifully described, but the dialogue and action withheld--makes Alice seem opaque. Throughout the story, she seems to be a passive observer, rather than the hero in her own life.

Sasaki's writing is strongest when she spins out the fine details in a scene. When Alice is invited to a neighbor lady's house, she is aware of the luxury of the stranger's house. "The daughter brought in a tray with three tall, cool glasses of the newly popular Japanese summer drink called Calpis, a syrup concentrate made from fermented milk and fruit extracts sold in attractively polka-dotted, paper wrapped bottles." Each piece of the landscape receives equal attention, and Sasaki gently evokes a world that has faded into the past. The equanimity of this writing style sometimes makes it difficult to distinguish the story's focus--is it really about Alice? Or is Japan the true main character? Sasaki tends to show Alice's surroundings in great detail, while "telling" what happens between the characters. Even very important events, like an argument between Alice and her mother, seems flat--the dialogue does not have the clarity of the bottles that line the window sash. But overall, Expatriate Heart is a delight to read, if only for the scenery.

Like a glimpse into the past, Expatriate Heart is a tender recollection of an American life in Japan. It shares the post-war years with a freshness that is exciting to read, and a precision not often found in contemporary literature. In Expatriate Heart, landscape is everything--and it is a pleasure to wander there, learning the names of the flowers, the traditions of the people, and the blossoming maturity of a young woman in a foreign country.

Claire Rudy Foster --Foreward Clarion Review

Product Description

A compelling story of beauty and depth: Expatriate Heart is a courageous gift of hope for the future. The story of Alice is an honest record of a global generation, a proud and united generation born free of the legacies of war and hate but distracted while their world is destroyed before their eyes. Alice is born after the war, in war ravaged Tokyo, to American protestant missionaries, however, out of her expatriate experience; a non-religious, authentic search takes root in her heart, as her surprising story unfolds with people, places and events in both countries. Janet James Sasaki writes with an intimate bi-cultural perspective. She reaches above culture and nationality and addresses the universal psychosocial plight of the human spirit; the quest for authentic personal growth and the needs of survival and social acceptance. Expatriate Heart is bound to reverberate in the hearts of our global community.

Customer reviews

A Unique Journey, January 23, 2010

Expatriate Heart touched me on many levels. The descriptions of Japanese life of some decades ago were fascinating and heartwarming. The young American girl's innocence, open-mindedness, and awareness allows the reader to experience another time and culture, almost like being there.

As Alice experiences the pain and suffering of adult life she chooses to move away from anger and resentment, towards a life that she fully owns and in which she rejoices. Her life is not easy or simple, yet she consistently makes tough choices to live according to her values.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about another culture. I would particularly recommend this to girls or young women, to experience one woman's journey from innocent childhood to her unique womanhood. All of us are traveling our own journey through life, and this book can provide inspiration to each of us to listen to our own heart and find our own path.

Outstanding book!, December 9, 2009

I was moved by how heroine grew up strongly and purely breaking the wall around her which her family, society build it.
Thinking about myself, I was also trying hard to please somebody by being different person as I am.This book gave me very tender message that I am OK as I am.
I felt I would like to be a key in the chain to change the continuation of verbal and mental abuse from generation to generation in my family as heroine did it.

In addition, it's so beautiful the people and life in old Tokyo.
I would like to recommend this book to everyone!

page flipper, November 9, 2009

I am a psychotherapist, social worker who also is an expatriate. The story was insightful, flavorful and deeply moving. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn about Japan and resonate with the amazing spirit of the story. I couldn’t put the book down.

A Unique View of Postwar Tokyo, October 13, 2009

Expatriate Heart by Janet James Sasaki is a fascinating story. The main character Alice, grows up in the backdrop of postwar Tokyo. Through Alice's memories and observation, the reader gets a unique view of Japan, meets an array of interesting characters and glimpses the life of an American missionary family.

After the war Tokyo began to change rapidly. This is seen in Alice's observation of a stream near her house that supported a cloth business where material was dyed in the water. Later in Alice's memory the stream is more like a sewer where Alice falls in chasing balls caught in the moving water. Through the eyes of a child the reader can see the subtle changes of Tokyo that was rebuilding and morphing into a super power. Part of the story is also centered in Karuizawa a resort in the mountains of Nagano. The train rides and the experiences of an international community add richness to the novel.

Alice meets an array of interesting characters like the "dog lady" who is an eccentric older woman who was saving all the stray dogs and cats in the neighborhood. Mrs. Kawamura who takes care of Alice and helps in the home, relates to Alice facts of an even earlier time of earthquakes and war. Although Alice is an American child, she was born in Japan and grows up with Japanese friends and speaks the language fluently. This closeness to the language and the Japanese people give her some unique insights into the culture and Ms. Sasaki's well-chosen details make this time in history live for the reader.

Alice grows up in this unusual backdrop and begins a journey of college life, marrying a Japanese man, having two children, and then divorcing and becoming an independent woman. Her ties with Japan and the language open up interesting opportunities in the United States. Ms. Sasaki's unique perspective is fascinating, educational, and moving. I couldn't stop reading this book until I reached the end. Anyone interested in Japan or just interested in following the maturation of a modern woman with unique perspectives would find Expatriate Heart a great read.

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Veteran Career and retired Missionary to Japan Calvin Parker has gone to be with the Lord.

MARS HILL, NC: Rev. Franklin Calvin Parker, 84 left this life and entered heaven on Wednesday, December 22, 2010 after a long battle with cancer. He is survived by his beloved wife and best friend, Harriett Hale Parker. Calvin Parker was preceded in death by his youngest son, Andrew Calvin Parker.

By age thirteen Rev. Parker, a native of Florida, had decided upon Christian ministry as a profession. His studies at Carson-Newman College were interrupted in 1945, when he was drafted into the U.S. Army and sent to Yale University for a Specialized Training Program in Japanese. In 1947 he was ordained as a Southern Baptist minister and continued his education, earning a B.A. from Carson-Newman College (1948), a B. D. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (1951), and a Th. M. from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (1957), with additional studies at Harvard, Vanderbilt Divinity School and University of Tennessee.

From 1951 until 1989 he and his wife served as missionaries in Japan under the auspices of the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. His assignments there included service as Field Evangelist, pastor of Shibuya Baptist church in Tokyo, editor of the JAPAN CHRISTIAN QUARTERLY, President of the Fellowship of Christian Missionaries to Japan and a score of articles of Journals and reference works. His publications included a biography of Jonathan Goble, the first Baptist missionary to Japan. Upon his retirement to Mars Hill the couple became active members of Mars Hill Baptist Church where he continued his scholarly pursuits as teacher of Bible-study classes and writing eleven other books.

A memorial service was held at 11:00 AM Thursday, December 30, 2010 at Mars Hill Baptist Church. Memorial gifts can be made to: CarePartners Hospice, PO Box 25338, Asheville, NC 28813.

Some of you know this influential family from your life in Japan; please visit the Blue Ridge Funeral Service to leave your condolence message. Still others of you will want to get to know more by reading some of the accumulated works of F. Calvin Parker.

F. Calvin Parker’s List of Books

Christ in a Kimono

by Calvin F. Parker (Paperback - Sep 2003)

Southern Baptist Missions in Japan: A centennial history

by F. Calvin Parker(Unknown Binding - 1989)

Precious Mother, Precious Crown: The Life & Mission of Elizabeth Taylor Watkins

by F. Calvin Parker (Paperback - Aug 1997)

Sentaro, Japan's Sam Patch: Cook, Castaway, Christian

by F. Calvin Parker(Paperback - Jan 27, 2010)

In All Respects A Model: The Life And Ministry Of A. W. Mathis

by F. Calvin Parker(Paperback - Jul 16, 2008)

Jonathan Goble of Japan: Marine, Missionary, Maverick

by F. Calvin Parker(Paperback - Jul 2001)

The Japanese Sam Patch: Saga of a Servant

by F. Calvin Parker (Paperback - May 2001) – Illustrated

The Southern Baptist Mission in Japan, 1889-1989

by F. Calvin Parker (Hardcover- Dec 29, 1990)

Icon and Outcast: The Life of Jonathan Goble

by F. Calvin Parker (Paperback - Aug 30, 2007)

The Good Book Is Better Than It Used to Be: Eighty Years with the Bible

by F. Calvin Parker (Paperback - Aug 4, 2009)

Jonathan Goble, missionary extraordinary: A paper read to the Asiatic Society of Japan on October 8, 1979

by F. Calvin Parker (Unknown Binding - 1979)

TWO FEET IN THREE WORLDS Glimpses of My Pilgrim Journey

by F. Calvin Parker (Unknown Binding- 2003)

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Your Ultimate Guide to Success!

Coming Soon!
When: September 30, 2010
Reserve Your Discount Copy Now
by signing up to our Newsletter!
http://www.doingbusinessinjapan.org/

Welcome to “Doing Business in Japan – The Successful Way!”

Wow! What a topic!

Before you go on to the blog, let me just say a few things.

I know what your concerns are, and I want to share the solutions with you. From experience!

You are here because you want to be successful in Japan. But you have also heard that doing business with Japan can be a challenge. Japan has a unique culture – you want to know how to handle it.

So, you looked for a solution by searching for information. Information that will help you be the success you want to be, in Japan. You might be new to this thing. Or, you might already be involved but need to improve.

You have come to the right place!
You will find what you need…..right on these pages.

You will learn from a man who has done what you are hoping to do. He has 35 years of experience under his belt to prove it. A lot of success….and some mistakes. You have the benefit of learning from both.

Allow me to let you in on a secret!

There are only 4 fundamental value systems that will help you. Master them, and you will have the success you want.

It’s ALL about understanding, appreciating and absorbing – in other words, mastering:

Japanese business etiquette
Japanese business customs
Japanese business protocols
Japanese business culture.

These four value systems are symbiotic, but they are NOT the same. You will soon understand why.

What about?

Your great product or service? Secondary.
Your competitiveness? Secondary.
Your corporate strength and prowess? Secondary.

Secondary to what?

Anata!

That’s Japanese for “you!”

More than any other country in the world, you have to sell yourself; everything else is secondary because:

You have to earn their respect, before the product is credible.
You have to earn credibility, because the product can’t.
You have to earn their trust; if you don’t, the product won’t sell.
They have to like you! They won’t touch it with a ten-foot pole if they don’t.

Grasp this, and you will be okay – you will get their respect; earn credibility; get their trust. And they will like you.

Then, and only then, will they sign on the dotted line.

And BOTH your Japanese counterparts AND your boss ( not to mention your shareholders) will love you for it.

Smart people recognize that there is an established order to things in Japan:

Building “the relationship” first
Delivering the “information” second
Getting meaningful “dialogue” third
Closing the “deal” last!

In the “western” world (particularly for the English-speaking countries), things are done in a different order. We don’t have much time for relationships, at least in the beginning. We live in a world of “mutually-agreed targets,” 15-second sound bytes, quick closure and “bugger everything else.” Sell. Sell. Sell!

It won’t happen in Japan!

The people who understand this most are the Japanese themselves.

Their obsession with “relationships” is not something they invented for you.

No! It is a part of their culture that was, and is, intended for them. It builds continuity and stability in their own world. It’s what drives the mechanisms that make them successful.

Our “Doing Business in Japan – The Successful Way!” website is all about….

Showing you the way around an amazing world – called Japan. And from an American that happened to have lived and worked among his Japanese friends, colleagues and customers. For 45 years.

Only a “foreigner,” who did what you aim to do, can truly show you what needs to be done.

No Japanese will; they are too polite and are not presumptuous enough to tell you why you should do it their way.

But I will.

Don’t let yourself stumble around Japan. Only to be left later scratching your head, thinking “What went wrong?”

“The convergence of Preparation with Opportunity generates the offspring we call luck.”(Anthony Robbins)

There are vast opportunities in Japan; you already know this. It is the “preparation” that is vital.

Together, we will get you prepared!

I hope to see you often, right here on these pages.

And by frequently posting your comments and questions, we can tailor the experience to your needs!

Yokoso irasshai mase
A Cordial Welcome!

Jonathan

P.S. The real, unique benefits of this blog are simple: other sites will tell you what you can do, and what you can’t do. They are just lists; maybe with a bit of explanation.

But as for this blog, we believe that it will make more sense to you if you understand all of the “do’s” and “don’ts” within a context of “what, why, when, where and how” together will a lot of real-life episodes, anecdotes and examples.

If it makes more sense to you, you will remember it – and it will come natural to you when you have to apply it.