"Anyone who believes that Japanese society is a homogeneous, well-oiled machine--a stereotype often sounded in American media--would do well to read this gritty, firsthand account of life for day-laborers in Tokyo's shunned ghetto district, San'ya. . . . [Fowler's] descriptive powers and cultural understanding offer a vivid context for the oral accounts of San'ya inhabitants describing their personal histories and daily lives. . . . A vivid, if depressing, account of an urban Japanese underclass that bears a surprising resemblance to America's own inner-city population."--Publishers Weekly
"Accepted [by the day-laborers], Fowler was able to gain a confidence that . . . allows him to present life-stories in ways both informative and surprising. . . . Fowler's unabashedly personal approach guarantees not only that the book's subject come refreshingly alive, but that its author does as well."--Times Literary Supplement
"This book offers a vivid personal tour of the [San'ya] district and its denizens, culled from many repeated visits by Fowler which culminated in a six-week stint as a day laborer. . . . [He] came to realize that . . . '[San'ya's] inhabitants collectively give the lie to so much of what is being said and written about Japan.'"--Japan Quarterly
