Turning Japanese: Memoirs of a Sansei

by David Mura

Award-winning poet David Mura's critically acclaimed memoir Turning Japanese chronicles how a year in Japan transformed his sense of self and pulled into sharp focus his complicated inheritance. Mura is a sansei, a third-generation Japanese-American who grew up on baseball and hot dogs in a Chicago suburb, where he heard more Yiddish than Japanese. Turning Japanese chronicles his quest for identity with honesty, intelligence, and poetic vision and it stands as a classic meditation on difference and assimilation and is a valuable window onto a country that has long fascinated our own. Turning Japanese was a New York Times Notable Book and winner of an Oakland PEN Josephine Miles Book Award. This edition includes a new afterword by the author.

Genres: Japan, Memoir, Nonfiction, Biography, Asian American, Japanese Literature, Autobiography

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

David Mura (born 1952) is a Japanese American author, poet, novelist, playwright, critic and performance artist. He has published two memoirs, Turning Japanese: Memoirs of a Sansei, which won the Josephine Miles Book Award from the Oakland PEN and was listed in the New York Times Notable Books of the Year, and Where the Body Meets Memory: An Odyssey of Race, Sexuality and Identity (1995). His most recent book of poetry is The Last Incantation (2014); his other poetry books include After We Lost Our Way, which won the National Poetry Contest, The Colors of Desire (winner of the Carl Sandburg Literary Award), and Angels for the Burning. His novel is Famous Suicides of the Japanese Empire (Coffee House Press, 2008). His writings explore the themes of race, identity and history. His blog is blog.davidmura.com.

David Mura was born in 1952 and grew up in Chicago, the oldest of four children. He is a third generation Japanese American son of parents interned during World War II. Mura earned his B.A. from Grinnell College and his M.F.A. in creative writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. He has taught at the University of Minnesota, St. Olaf College, The Loft Literary Center, and the University of Oregon. He currently resides in Saint Paul, Minnesota, with his wife Susan Sencer and their three children; Samantha, Nikko and Tomo.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my literature professors gave me this book as a gift when he learned that I am going to teach English in Japan. Author David Mura is a third generation Japanese-American poet and these memoirs chronicle his first trip to Japan, his family history, his experience growing up Asian-American while surrounded by white people in the Midwest, and his quest to make sense of his identity based on cultural perceptions of race and sexuality.

While Mura does describe cultural differences between the U.S. and Japan and does provide an abridged travelogue of his adventures, this is not a traveler’s handbook. The text is primarily about Mura’s struggle to make sense of his upbringing and future path—his nuanced and thought provoking discussions about race weave into delicately spun narratives about relationships, politics, and history. This is not lightweight reading, but Mura’s background as a poet gives his writing a beautiful rhythm that makes even the most difficult and philosophical chapters a delight to read. His honest approach really touched me despite some slow sections, so I give the book four stars.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this chapter in David's life. As a Japanese-American, I can relate to so much of what he shared. It ended rather abruptly for me, as do so many books I read. I guess that's what sequels are for. It was not a fast read for me. I found myself taking my time and really letting the words and shared emotional journey sink in before continuing. I found I would read a few pages or sometimes a chapter and stop and his words would find their way back into my head when I least expected it. I'd reflect on my life past and present and compare and contrast. A few days or a week later I'd pick it up and read some more. It took me quite a while to finish this book. It sounds like it's not a good thing, but I think it is. He definitely got me to think about my own life and about the cultural history of my ancestors and how it relates to me today.

[yo · Rating 1 out of 5]

i found this guy incredibly annoying. one time he remembered to take off his shoes at someone's house while his caucasian wife forgot. this revealed to him how truly japanese he was, even as a "sansei" (3rd generation japanese). he spent only one year in japan and thought he knew everything. i also learned that japanese restaurants serve small glasses of water because japanese people have small bladders.

[Esther · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found Mura's observations of Japan to be very descriptive and nuanced as only a poet could be. I could identify with his struggles and observations as an Asian-American who grew up in Japan, looking the same on the outside but different on the inside. I felt like he put words to many of the things I felt however I did not feel the anger that he felt. I think I have the benefit of being of a later generation with more representation and voice in the American landscape and my gratitude for having been born here. I also feel that he could find identification with the generations of European-American immigrants and their struggles with their first generation parents and their American identity. I remember reading Eugenides and feeling that understanding of being an immigrant child.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Patently insincere memoir about a man who goes to Japan, practices Noh, tries to cheat on his wife, fails, and then takes solace in a hammy scene at his grandfather's grave? Shrine? Can't remember. Some interesting observations about Japan.

[Teri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is poet David Mura's memoir recounting his year in Japan on a grant to write a novel based on his grandparents' lives. Mura, a third-generation Japanese American (Sansei), grew up in the suburbs of Chicago in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood. Although he is Asian, he identified more with the Jewish culture than the culture of his heritage. The memoir begins when the author and his wife, Susie, arrive in Japan for a year-long residency in the late 1980s, during which he plans to immerse himself in Japanese culture and visit his grandparents' homeland. As his story unfolds, the reader is introduced to the many locals that Mura and his wife meet, and learns about the various cultural activities they engage in, such as Butoh and Noh dance, tea ceremonies, and political protests.

The author also delves into the issues he faced growing up in America as a third-generation Asian. Mura was somewhat estranged from his parents and identified more with his American heritage than with his Japanese roots. His trip to Japan initially seemed foreign to him, but during the year, he began to identify with Japanese culture and, in the process, learned more about himself and the dynamics of his strained familial relationships. In a way, he "turned Japanese" during the year-long visit.

Mura's story is at times raw and was certainly revelatory to him. The author struggled at times with his relationships, including his consideration of an open relationship with his wife and his strained relationship with his parents, who visited during his residency. He also delved into a bit of a rabbit hole, discussing Japanese philosophy and politics, as well as his involvement in political protests.

The book was well-written, but ultimately, I felt it was too long, and I became bored with some of the political and philosophical discussions. I certainly understood the premise of his memoir, which focused on his evolving identity as an American who happened to be of Japanese heritage to his feelings of being Japanese living in America. There was definitely a shift, and Mura clearly shows this evolution. His relationships and discussions with locals and visiting expatriots helped inform his changing sense of identity, but the key was likely the visit with his parents. It is a memoir worth reading with some skimming throughout.

[Ian Martyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Mura presents a really interesting take on the nikkei visitor to Japan. As a nikkei myself (yonsei hapa here), I've been in this position before too, although my stays in Japan are not nearly as long as Mura's was, nor were they for the same purpose. I would recommend this book especially to the younger generation of Japanese-Americans (yonsei, gosei, and beyond).

I really appreciated Mura's evolution of his identity and his place in society. It is interesting to see how his interactions with a variety of different Japanese people in different contexts help him to understand not only the Japanese but his relationship to them. I actually learned a lot about myself and some of the ways that I act and think from seeing Mura going through similar experiences during his time in Japan. I think that Mura gains a lot of insight from his time in Japan, growing both as a Japanese-American and as a person in general.

However, I do wish he had focused a bit less on what I tend to think of as the generic PhD canon of writers such as Benjamin and Levi-Strauss. I think that they're brought up a lot in this book, but Mura doesn't seem to apply them directly to what he's experiencing, so I wonder if there's any point in that.

Another issue I noted is that there are various issues with the way that the Romaji is written from odd spacing to spelling errors. I'm surprised that these have now survived into the second edition of the book.

[Selena · Rating 3 out of 5]

1st book I've read from a Japanese-American perspective of finding oneself in Japan. As a Nisei, I related to many of his experiences, but others, such as the sexism in Japan were things I had never really thought too much about, having only lived there briefly as a child and now, having only superficial association with Japanese culture, living in the US. But, this, like other biographies of Nisei and Sansei I have read, re-inforces the idea that Japanese-Americans can never quite fit in to America or Japan.

The brevity and tangential-ness of his chapters was a bit annoying, and I skimmed the bits about his foray into the arts and politics, but otherwise a good read.

[Richard O. · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was curious to read David Mura's memoir in 1991 when I was teaching Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley. There had been an Asian American movement two decades before, galvanized by the civil rights struggle and the Vietnam War. Many Asians made sojourns to their ancestral homelands to teach English or study traditional arts. Asian American poets like Mura and Garrett Hongo wrote memoirs at a time when presumably half their lives were undone. Mura's poetry was informed by transgressive poet-filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini. I say this not to scold Mura but to suggest that our ethnic and national identities are more hybrid than we may realize.

[Giuliana Barrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Considering I haven’t read a memoir in a while, David Mura curated a fascinating perspective on his year long experience of living in Japan. Perhaps it’s because of my previous interest in Japanese culture, but I felt interested the entire time. It was like hearing your friend tell a story: comfortable and compelling.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author’s kind of a jerk. Why his wife didn’t leave him we’ll never know. It was also hard to identify with him because he hates to travel, and has anger management issues.

[Maybelle Patterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

very well written but a bit pretentious

[Kazuri Grant · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't finish. Can't read about the POV of a serial cheater. Enraged me.

[Allan · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a good and interesting book, and I read a library copy. Read on recommendation of lots of other books that recommended it, and they're not wrong at all. On my wish list because even though it's already been read I would still like to own a copy, too,.

Premise a sansei (third generation Japanese born American) poet, chooses Japan for a oversees travel grant he is awarded and hijinks follow. HIs parents grew up in Japanese speaking houses, but David and his sisters never spoke Japanese in their Evanston, IL home. So during his time in Japan he meets radical political activists, modern dancers, a few other poets and maybe finds a heritage he never knew he had. One advantage to text is that Japan is just a foreign to David as it would be almost any average American. In the text he has several expository sections about how in America he does quite fit in because he looks different, and in Japan he does not fit in because even though everyone looks like him he doesn't really think or speak like them.

It's a good book go to library and read now.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm fascinated by modern Japanese culture, so I was interested in reading this from the viewpoint of a fellow American. Whilst it began promisingly, it soon turned into a pin-pricking tale of an overseas marital bitchfest between the author and his (apparently) slightly bigoted wife. The cuisine, living quarters, transportation and the author's idea of cultural learning weren't good enough for the wife, while the author entertained the idea of a fling with women in their inner circle. Makes the Japanese out to sound like a bunch of weirdos. Three-quarters of the way through I had to give up.

[Laurie]

Chapter One: Jet lag? Perhaps. But the vertigo I felt seemed to come not just from the spinning of the earth but from a sense of hovering above the earth, from the very unreality of the country I had thought was my home.
...The sunlight off the lawn was blinding, the spaces between the houses immense, the sky an unbelievably wide expanse of blue. Where were the crowds, the small, cramped spaces of Tokyo?
...The thing is, I did not want to get over it. This disequilibrium was like a cold you caught from a brief affair, the only proof of your passion."

[Anagha Uppal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each time I read a book about culture, race, and identity, I come a little bit closer to solving my own identity crisis. I have met few Japanese, and often couldn't identify Mura's search for identity, but I can see much more clearly now what he accomplished and what I am searching for. I need to visit India!

[Byron Kawaichi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A memoir of a Sansei poet and novelist who, in the midst of uncertainty about how "American" he is, visits the land of his grandparents. He comes away with mixed feelings and the book itself is a bit mixed between vivid description and the author's internal processes.
Definitely worth reading, though.

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was interesting to read about a Japanese-American's experience with living in Japan for a year. The whole concept of going back to the country where everyone looks the same, but you don't quite fit in made for interesting reading.

[Ceci · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read this book during undergrad for a class but I'm glad I did. I likely wouldn't have picked it up otherwise but it was definitely worth the read. This book is great for anyone who has ever wondered how they can connect or reconnect with their roots.

[Jeff · Rating 1 out of 5]

Interesting, but much, much too long (couldn't the publisher hire an editor?), and full of Japanese-language errors and misplaced geography. Mr. Mura seems to be interesting from afar, but, as the books plods along, up close his vanity outshines his path to self-awareness.

[Ruth]

I enjoyed this when I read it, in part because of the fond memories of Tokyo that the book brought back.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

St. Paul poet's memoir of his year in Japan as a third generation Japanese American [a sansei]. In Japan, he visibly fits in, but wrestles with identity and assimilation...a quest for identity.

[Daniel]

Thorough, though he even says that some parts were exaggerated to make the sociocultural reality look harsher than it actually was for him. Very enjoyable.

[Chelsea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not for me. Mura has some beautifully poetic passages and good ideas sifted throughout the book, but I spent about 90% of the book bored out of my mind.

[Benjamin · Rating 3 out of 5]

My edition is signed by author, we saw him do a reading. This is before I was to go to Japan for a three-year JET Programme contract. He wished me best wishes and to enjoy my "sojourn to Japan".