Julie Otsuka's "The Buddha in the Attic": A Story of Japanese Picture Brides in Early 20th Century America

angelina: Essential. Heartbreaking. Unlike anything I've read before. Though the sprawling language can seem too much at places, this book is very well worth our time.

India on Dec 07, 2021

Client d'Amazon: aIt is a book which is easy to understand and read, of an appropriate volume bringing history and the American way of life closer. The form and language are surprising at the beginning but you get quickly used to it. The opinions of both American Japanese women and the White people are expressed. From an psychological point of view the impact of World War II including the American attack on Japan are told and slided in an unwittingly way. It is a story which tells the pain, anger, suffers of the people sent to internment camp inable to express their thoughts and feeling which the author put into words in order that the reader get informed of that event and could share the feelings.

France on Nov 24, 2015

Willkie: This is a brief story of a group of Japanese mail-order brides who came to California with a sense of innocence and hope. Those dreams are soon dashed as they face the reality of the exaggerations and downright deceit of their new husbands. It's written as a group experience rather than a documentary of particular people.

For example, in the boat ride over, Otsuka describes some of the group's high qualifications thus: "We knew how to serve tea and arrange flowers....how to write short, melancholy poems about the passing of autumn that were exactly seventeen syllables long." But , "We often wondered: Will we like them?" And "In the evening, when the hatch was closed , the darkness was filled with whispers. Will it hurt?"

It moves on to the reality of the nuptial nights. "They took us with apologies for their rough, callused hands, and we knew at once they were farmers and not bankers." "They took us leisurely from behind, as we leaned out the window to admire the city lights down below." "They took us frenziedly on top of yellow stained sheets." "They took us in six seconds, and then collapsed on our shoulders with small shuddering sighs, and we thought to ourselves,...

United States on Jul 25, 2013

rhickma: This novel is written in an unusual flowing style, where you hear the collective voice of the Japanese girls travelling to meet husbands they have never seen. Though it was unsettling for the first chapter, the narrative draws you in fast and makes the novel difficult to put down. I enjoyed reading this book because I felt I was learning about a way of life I previously knew nothing about and because I felt it was telling the hidden story of a group of women at a turning point in history. My few criticisms of the book would be that there is a bit of a leap in the middle, where I would have liked more information about how the new Japanese community gradually settled into life in America, especially how their children became more integrated. Also, I hope this book is just a prequel to the next chapter - the ending left me yearning to find out more about what happened next to the women and their families.

United Kingdom on Feb 18, 2013

A. Brown: I found this book fascinating and I expect the facts about the Japanese imigrants would describe the experiences of many imigrant populations throughout the world and throughout time. However, for me it never really got going. The way it was written was great for an introduction but not for a whole book. I wanted it to find a particular person so that I could have a relationship with a character, we didn't actually meet any of the people and therefore didn't mind when they died or even particularly when they were hidden away at the outbreak of war. They were so anonymous. Perhaps this is what the author wanted us to feel and perhaps this is what the Japanese were like to the americans. I don't know but I found it interesting but unfulfilling.

United Kingdom on Jan 21, 2013

Sue M. Nagamoto: A new culture, a new language, strange customs and faces surround you. The new culture must be accepted and become yours, even those of white skinned strangers whose faces are different, whose language is impossible to pronounce, and whose habits of daily living would not gain the approval of your mother. You must accept the loveless labor and back-breaking work never before experienced. How can anyone be deceived into believing the lies and promises of freedom, wealth and easy living in America. How can anyone let the deceiver into her bed at night? The kow-towing Japanese woman born in Japan! The woman who must face the challenges . The Buddha must be stored in the attic, kept in the recesses of the mind but never forgotten.

Otsuka has captured the essence of the Japanese woman's mind during the era of Japanese "picture brides" and the following decades of motherhood and family, up to the beginning of WW2. Her story is well told and well researched. Those readers who could not tolerate the "endless lists" in the book failed to recognize the reasoning and the effectiveness of inclusivity. The lists included all types of people, activities, habits, places,...

United States on Jan 07, 2013

Self Styled Rocker: I think your enjoyment of this book will be determined in part by whether you already have an interest in the issues it covers. The book is quite short and it is poetic too, with a structure which is followed through the whole book based on individual and group experiences of being Japanese picture brides. Contrary to what might be heard the book is about Japanese who went to marry other Japanese in the states.

It is an enjoyable read from the perspective of someone interested in experiences of Japanese people and recent modern history. If you want a good story then this isn't really a novel, but it does bring into mind the number of issues and concerns for this group of people...

United Kingdom on Feb 22, 2012