Customer Reviews

Clueless In Tokyo: Explorer's Sketchbook Of Weird And Wonderful Things In Japan

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a newcomer to Japan from the U.S., I really thought this book was adorable. I kept turning the pages and exclaiming over everything I'd actually seen here. I've perused lots of books about Japan and its culture, and this one was by far the most entertaining and humorously factual one I've seen. Betty's funny illustrations and clever captions make this very light reading. I sent a copy to my in-laws for Christmas because they're visiting us in the Spring and they LOVE it!

The artist of this book has summed up some of the strange things that Americans will discover when visiting Japan. With headings like "Toire : Terrifying Toilets " and " Venerable Vending Machines " you can't help but chuckle along with the artist as she sees some of the strange differences between East and West. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone with a hearty interest in visiting Japan as it will serve as a 'cultural buffer' and ready them mentally for some of the strange sights they'll be treated to!

I purchased this book before traveling to Japan with my 12 year old son. The pictures in this book were humerous and helpful allowing both of us to understand more of the culture that we were seeing at every turn in Tokyo and indeed all over Japan. It also helped my 6 year old daughter, who did not travel to Japan with us, to imagine what we were seeing. When I speak of a Japanese toilet she can see exactly what I mean.

Cute illustrations and some useful Japanese words make this an enjoyable book to read but I finished it in 10 minutes so don't expect anything more than an amusing introduction to some of the unusual things a visitor would encounter. When I go to Tokyo I will bring this with me for some light reading on the plane.
It is a clever idea though and a good supplememt to some of the drier guidebooks out there.

Clueless in Tokyo is an INVALUABLE book for anyone visiting Japan, especially for the first time!! The book is beautifully illustrated by the author herself, and is full of clever and humourous comments. Do yourself a favour and replace your boring old tour guide 2 Japan w/ this fascinating and extremely interesting book!! You're guaranteed 2 laugh!

I didn't know what I was getting when I bought this book, but it's gotten much love at my house. It's short but very, very sweet. The illustrations (It's mostly illustrations with captions) are very charming and beautifully colored. My toddlers also love it, and we ofter read it together. A very quirky, cute, interesting book. I recommend it.

I loved this book... It brought back so many memories of my time in Japan.

When I was in Japan with my family, looking at relocation 6 or 7 years ago, one of my dad's co-workers suggested this book for all of the fun things around Tokyo. This book is the reason I have a garden-size Tanuki that I lugged from Japan to Ohio to New York. It's not going to teach you what to say to find the restroom, but it'll explain what you're seeing when you get there in a way that's...well...funny. I have a friend moving to Japan and this will be the first thing he gets from me!

Clueless in Tokyo is a delightful way to learn about a wide variety of common things found in Japanese Culture. Keeps you laughing while you learn.

I discovered this book while shopping on Amazon for children's nonfiction picture books about Japan and Japanese culture. It was included by Amazon in with children's books in the preview of "people who bought this book also bought these books". (I had trouble finding in-print nonfiction books for children about Japanese culture.)

Betty Reynolds is a children's book author and illustrator, who has some books about Japanese culture published for children aged 4-8. However this is NOT a children's book, I realized after reading it.

I purchased the book from Amazon, sight unseen, with the intention of reading it to my children. When it arrived I saw that it looked like a children's book due to the size of the book being a common size of children's picture books and the page count (48 pages) and because it has lively illustrations and simple text so much like nonfiction children's books on the market. But what this is, is an artist's sketchbook and travel journal written by an adult for adults. It is about the author's travels to Japan and the things she noticed that are unique or very different from Japan.

Our family was preparing to accept a Japanese foreign exchange student into our home and my kids were excited. Unfortunately my son, age ten, asked that we sit and read it together as soon as it was delivered. I had no clue that there might be something problematic in the book. It is fine for kids except for three entries that I discovered `too late' while reading the book alongside my older son. Here are the issues. One spread features vending machines selling unusual things (compared to American vending machines). One item is "schoolgirls used panties". I didn't quite know how to discuss that with my son so after we exchanged odd looks I flipped the page and moved on. Another entry shows a woman wearing a bra that looks like naked breasts that holds "generous servings of body warmed sake", okey-dokey. The last mature themed item is a man holding a sign to advertise sex shows.

From an adult's perspective I can say I did enjoy this book overall. I also love to read artist's journals and travel journal books and travel sketch books. If you are an adult and enjoy travel books and artists sketch books you will like this. The illustrations are done in bright watercolor paints (just like the cover illustration). I enjoyed reading the author's thoughts as well, they were entertaining and interesting.

I am rating the book based on what it is: a travel book, an artist's sketchbook, the genre is nonfiction and it is for adults, so I am giving it 5 stars.

However a main reason I'm writing this review is to underscore that although this author writes and illustrates picture books for children aged 4-8 this book is NOT A CHILDREN'S BOOK. If she had left out those three adult themed items this would be also GREAT for kids to read to themselves or have read aloud to them.

If you enjoyed or think you will enjoy this book, Reynolds has written a second book "Still Clueless in Tokyo".