I Live in Tokyo

by Mari Takabayashi

Have you ever been to Tokyo, Japan? Far away, in the Pacific Ocean, Tokyo is a busy city of color, activity, celebrations, super gigantic buildings, and much, much more. In this city lives a seven-year-old girl named Mimiko. Here you can follow a year’s worth of fun, food, and festivities in Mimiko’s life, month by month. You’ll learn about the Doll’s Festival, riding the bullet train, the right way to put on a kimono, and Mimiko’s top ten favorite meals—just try not to eat the pages displaying the delicious wagashi!

Mari Takabayashi evokes the flurry and enchantment of daily life in Tokyo with exquisitely detailed illustrations and descriptions. Her love for the city of her birth blooms in every last glowing vignette.

Genres: Picture Books, Japan, Childrens, Travel, Geography, Cultural, Nonfiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 24, 2001

Reviews

[Darcel Anastasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a cute and fun read! I'm excited to talk about this book at an upcoming storytelling session of mine. It is a Japanese-themed session and I am sure that the children will enjoy it as much as I did.

[FM Family · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book completely appeals to my sensibilities of like, showing the everyday in someone's life, having a seasonal element and a representation of various traditions, and being a bit too long but still just somehow working for me. This shows all of these things in the life of a young Japanese girl living in Tokyo, right down to the illustrations of the different foods she eats at different times of year. I wish somehow that something with this degree of intimacy could be available for places around the world, but it comes from it being this specific author sharing about her specific circumstances.

My three year old seemed to enjoy it well enough, but it's of course intended for an older audience - will definitely pick it up again when she's older though.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how information-packed this book is! I feel like I learned a lot about how people in Tokyo lived, from food to their education, to marriage ceremonies to festivals. It is very wordy and I would not do this book as a read a lot, but it would be a great classroom library book and reference book for learning about other cultures.

[Aladdin Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book if you are an educator and have a couple of Japanese students in your classroom...incorporating the concept of diversity awareness within the environment. This simple book provides just a glimpse of what it's like to live in Japan. The narrator of the story takes on the role of a young child talking about the key things they do on a monthly basis. They also go into small detail about Tokyo's clothing, culinary, and hobbies. Throughout the book, the readers can learn certain Japanese vocabulary and have pictures that correlate along with those words. Overall, this book allows the opportunity for "traditional" English speaking students to befriend their Japanese peers. Likewise, if a foreign student is a bit shy or standoff-ish, this book could provide them with a sense of comfort and relatability with their educator.

[Pretend City Children's Museum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this was such a fun and colorful book! We learned all kinds of cool facts and traditions about Japan! On this journey with Mimiko, we encouraged children to point out items that are the same or different from those at home.
This cognitive milestone is generally reached by 5-years-old and is super exciting!

[Jenefer Pasqua · Rating 4 out of 5]

This picture book is a great example of an introduction to Japanese city culture. The buildings and city life depicted in this book are great conversation starters for young students. The illustrations provide great examples of what buildings and businesses look like in Tokyo. The depiction of the child's home is interesting because many Japanese people who live in the city, live in apartment buildings. However, this distinction provides an opportunity for a good conversation about the cost of living in a Japanese city. I did enjoy the illustrations and information about how many Japanese people celebrate the Chinese New Year. This section gives the reader the opportunity to see images of food and decorations from the Japanese perspective.
Although the intent of the book is to introduce the reader to the Japanese life in Tokyo, older readers may find the book demonstrating only one story- a single story. If younger readers read this book I would definitely recommend engaging in conversations about Japanese culture in & outside of the city. Also, it would be important to include information about famous Japanese buildings & significant Japanese cultural practices.

[Rebekah Stuckey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a picture book written for ages four to ten. This book follows through a year in the life of a seven year old boy living in a Tokyo. He discusses specific holiday’s (Setsubun, Children's Day, and a fireworks festival) and talks about how his family celebrates them. I learned that they celebrate New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, and Christmas very similar to the United States. This book explains wedding celebrations, meals, school settings, community and temple festivals, and family celebrations. This book was published in 2001 and the author is Japanese and was born in Japan. I really like how this book highlights the similarities of Japanese culture with America. This I believe would be beneficial in a teaching setting to help children see how we may all be different in some ways but children around the world have many things in common. This book is very informational. The illustrations are clear and the author beautifully intertwined her Japanese background in a way to keep her readers engaged.

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This lovely description of Tokyo is based on the twelve months of the year, with activities relevant to the seasonal changes most of the time.

It includes aspects of daily life that are derived from old traditions and holidays, as well as things anybody might observe in the city life - like mothers doing errands with two children loaded onto her bicycle, for example.

In the United States, it would be a great introduction to a child's first trip to Japan, or if they know an immigrant from Japan, it might help them learn a few aspects of Japanese culture.

The illustrations are detailed, colorful, and legible.

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seven year old Mimiko introduces readers to cultural celebrations of Japan along with some everyday events/items.

A cute way to learn about the holidays of Japan and some common Japanese things. The illustration looks like a child might have done it, so it fits the book very well. Recommended for kids wanting to learn about Japan or world celebrations.

Notes on content: There's a minimalist drawing of a naked woman on the page about kanji. Easily covered up if you would like to do so.

[Janica · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a cute book illustrating the busy but laid-back lifestyle in bustling Tokyo! Ever since I came to Japan to live and work, I've been to and fro Tokyo countless of times; and yet, it still fascinates me everytime. From the kawaii shops to the tiniest quaint restaurant around the corner, Tokyo never fails to charm you with its beauty. That's how the book made me feel - to directly transport you from where you're sitting down going to the lively streets of Ginza or lively Shinjuku.

[Cheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is a great tour of holidays and every day life in Tokyo as seen through the eyes of a young girl. I like the pronunciation guide and glossary in the back. This would be good for students to learn about life in Japan.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A girl from Tokyo introduces holidays and cultural events from Japan that happen throughout the calendar year. Very cute and very educational. Recommended for third-grade social studies unit on Japan.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My sister-in-law is Japanese and she and my brother live in Tokyo with their family so this book was super fun for our family to read and learn about Japan and its language, food, culture, and traditions. Fun format and cute illustrations!

[Auna · Rating 5 out of 5]

The drawings in this book are amazing. The detail is so small and precise. There are little tiny sushi drawn and they are so adorable! This is a good book for talking about Japanese culture.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple book about Japanese culture and a few simple words and phrases to learn.

[John Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book that takes kids through the year as a kid in Japan.

[Emma Vargo · Rating 3 out of 5]

K-2nd fiction
A good story to teach about the Japanese culture for young children. It explains the city, lifestyle and traditions that the people of Japan have. Very informative

[Maggie Panning · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book included lots of good information for our Japan studies.

[Rosalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had such lively pictures and was super cute! I think this would be a nice book to introduce to children to learn about different countries such as Japan!

[Empanadani · Rating 5 out of 5]

I felt like I took a quick, colorful, and fun trip to Japan. There was so much to look at in the illustrations and you learn a little bit about Japanese culture.

[Ananya Garg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book feels like a collection of little postcards

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book we learn about a little girl who lives in Tokyo with her family. We learn about different holidays, celebrations, food, traditions, and lots of Japanese words.

[Regine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pleasant description of traditional events, but with illustrations that don’t appeal to me.

[M Aghazarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't that into the art style but I liked the calendar approach to the format

[Isabella · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful little journey this book was! Follow along for a year in the life of a little girl in Toyko.

[L12_sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains a lot of information on Japanese culture, particularly Japanese holidays. It describes everything from the city of Tokyo, to calligraphy writing, Valentine's Day, Hinamatsuri (the Doll's Festival), Tango no Sekku (Boy's Festival), the tea ceremony, how to wear a kimono, and Omisoka (New Year's Eve). Its use of Japanese words and colorful, detailed pictures makes reading about this culture interesting and fun!

This would be an invaluable resources during a unit on Asian cultures, or modern day Japan in particular. The back of the book contains a glossary of all Japanese terms learned, which makes the book a valuable resource for students learning to speak Japanese.

Appropriate for read-alouds for grades 1-2, or guided reading/independent reading for grades 3-5, the book's content also makes it recommended for those learning to speak Japanese.

[Jose Juan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mari Takabayashi really capture the Japanese culture through her main character Mimiko's full year activities. The water color illustrations capture daily life in Japan. Takabayashi does a great job introducing Japanese language by giving the reader context clues for language acquisition. Many important celebrations as well as different types of Japanese foods are introduce through the book as Takabayashi takes us on a year journey through Mikiko's life.
I have had the opportunity to have traveled 30 cities in Japan. After reading this book, many memories surfaced as I saw the illustrations,like riding the bullet train, the children in the school play ground, and the traditional Japanese weddings.

[Harrison Yates · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great multi-cultural informational book. The author, Mari Takabayashi, takes the reader through what a citizen of Japan would celebrate each month of the year that lines up with their culture. There are also pictures drawn of certain dishes or traditional outfits that are celebrated during each month. The author also provides the reader with the phrases of certain objects or even traditional phrases in both Japanese and English which is valuable to introducing young students to a new language. This book is overall a great book for a 2nd-4th grade class. I am not sure how a kindergarten or 1st grade class would respond to some of the language and even the japanese located throughout the book.

[Brittany Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genre- International
Grade Level- K-2
Awards- None
This was a book that demonstrated many informational facts on Tokyo, Japan. It discussed the culture and holidays that happen all throughout the year. This would be a good book to read to my class right before an important holiday to discuss the differences in our holidays and cultural experiences. This would be a great way for the students to understand that not every country celebrates things the same way that we do. As a follow up activity, my students would draw a picture. They would draw a cultural difference of their choice that they learned from the book between the United States and Tokyo.

[Jessy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book follows the life of a young girl named Mimiko. This book does a terrific job of identifying the Japanese culture, language, and words.

I would use this book to show students the wonderful culture that the Japanese live and how very different lives they live. I really enjoyed the book and I think that students would stay very interested in the story. I also believe that this is one of those books that have the ability to teach students without them even knowing that they are learning.