Customer Reviews

Looking Beyond the Mask: When American Women Marry Japanese Men

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

 

 

I just finished reading this book. It may not be for everyone but speaks very well to my situation. I live in Japan and am thinking about marrying a Japanese natioonal. This book brought our some points which we need to consider. The points were also backed up with real stories. He is reading parts of the book now and finds it very interesting to see Japan through the eyes of an American woman.

Actually, Diggs did interview at least one Jewish-American woman, she interviewed only one Japanese-American woman. In a sense this book, as I think the reader from Japan was trying to emphasize, was LARGELY based on the views of middle-class white women... The diversity was largely in hair color, ideals and personality. The only other person of color to be quoted in this book about her experiences in Japan was Karen Hill-Anton, who is an African American woman married to a Jewish man who has lived in Japan for over 20 years. Diggs only quoted her about child birth, but not about her other experiences. I don't even think she actually talked to her (she was a syndicated columnist in the Japan Times for a while). Since this book is about American women marrying Japanese men, it's a little hard to ask her the same questions as she did the other participants.

I think that this book was being unfair in its portrayals of *American* women marrying Japanese men. It was not completely representational of "American women" so I think the book was misleading. Many of the experiences the white wives had in their husband's country are not so different from what minorities experience in the US. People stare, ideas about health care are different, etc. for women of color in the US. It would have been interesting to see the experiences of Latina, African American, or non-Japanese Asian American women recorded. What would their experiences be like as 'double-minorities'? Anyone who knows about the intercultural conflicts among Asians will understand why this would make a big difference in the way she presented her research. I also agree with the reviewer from Japan on another point. The only time she really talked about minorities (with the acceptions above) was when she was making assumptions.

Diggs could get away with using the term "American" by sprinkling a minute number of ethnic and religious minorities though the pages of her book. In this sense, I agree with the reviewer from Japan that her research was rushed. For example an article was written about African American women married to Japanese men about ten years ago in a major publication. There have been books published before this one and documentaries containing the stories of Latinas and African American women who are married to Japanese men. The material is easy to get and their experiences and issues with their marriage differed quite a bit from the women in this book. One of the women is very much open to interviews (I've seen her story featured in a few articles)!

It's also interesting that Diggs didn't seem to get any interviews with women who's family may have been completely against their marriage to a Japanese man or the man's family being completely against his marriage to the American woman. It just sounded a little too utopian to me. I mean I was left to wonder how couples with dispproving parents handled their situation. I have also read articles about this that are also very easy to find.

Yes, the point of the book was that marriages work even though there are differences. One does not need to write a book to come to this conclusion. If one is to write a book, the argument must be strong enough to back up the point. Diggs left a lot of holes.

I guess I found this book a bit frustrating because I happen to be a woman of color married to a Japanese man. I was scratching my head the whole time while saying "Duh! You had to go all the way to Japan to realize that?" at almost every other thing that was said. I wish she could've interviewed me!

This book offers an easy way to learn about Japanese culture. I found it encouraging that, in spite of all the problems in such marriages, the couples learn how to get along.

I think the reader in Japan who furnished a review did not read this book carefully. There are indeed interviews with nonCaucasian women. The point of the book was that the couples do quite well in spite of great cultural differences, which I find very encouraging.

I strongly disagree with the reviewer from Japan. Dr. Diggs interviewed American women from many different backgrounds, and the interviews were in-depth and enlightening.
I enjoyed this book tremendously. It was well-written, thorough and timely. I have recommended it to many friends.

The first thing I want to say is thank GOODNESS I got a used copy of this book and didn't waste all of my money on this one sided book.

This book is about Caucasian women from predominantly Christian backgrounds marrying Japanese men and their "hardships" living in another culture with a person of a different race. Most of these interviews were about priviledged women complaining about life in a country where they had to give up their priviledges (especially as far as race and culture are concerned). There is not ONE interview in this whole book about Japanese men marrying African-, Asian-, Latina-, Arab- or even Jewish-American women. She completely ignored a LARGE segment of the United States as if marriages between Japanese men and women of these backgrounds do not exist.--Believe me they happen and they are becoming more common every year.

I have no idea how much time Nancy spent researching this topic, but it must have been pretty quick and a little sloppy. She makes assumptions that the hardships these women go through are equivalent to the discrimination of minorities in the US. It would have been nice to see interviews with Asian-American women who married Japanese men. What would it be like for them LOOKING Japanese, but not able to understand all the workings of Japanese society? What would be some similarities between them? I would have also liked to see some interviews with African American women who married Japanese men. What is it like to be a minority in one country and go to Japan and still be a minority there? Is it easier or more difficult to live? And comparing their experiences to Caucasian women instead of just assuming things.

You CAN'T be a respected scholar if your work is based on assumptions if the answers are available. That's just plain laziness.