The Secrets of Mariko: A Year in the Life of a Japanese Woman and Her Family [Paperback]

Elisabeth Bumiller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 29, 1996

As it follows a Japanese housewife named Mariko Tanaka over the course of a year, The Secrets of Mariko transcends reportage to yield the kind of human insights we expect from literature. Meet Mariko, a cheerful, overscheduled woman who cares for three children, two aging parents, and an unresponsive husband. As readers watch Mariko take part in PTA meetings, bicker with her teenagers, and pursue independence through her part-time job, they come to see Mariko as someone whose dreams and disappointments mirror our own.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An examination of contemporary Japanese society as seen through a year in the life of a middle-class woman.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

While interviewing in Japan for the Washington Post in 1991-92, journalist Bumiller chronicled through an interpreter a year in the life of Mariko, "an ordinary Japanese woman," and her family and neighborhood. Her struggle to balance her own needs with those of her family is a "reminder that certain universalities transcend borders." Like the author's May You Be the Mother of a Hundred Sons (LJ 5/1/90), about Indian women, Mariko is best suited to young adults despite its occaisional cliches. In 1910 Makiko Nakano (1890-1978) was a newlywed daughter-in-law with responsibilities in a busy family community that functioned both as a residence and as a store. Likable, assiduous Makiko detailed changes taking place in her early-20th-century Japanese town and domestic life in her diary. Nakano Takashi's 1981 publication of his mother's record is in Japanese-language collections of many university libraries. Translator Smith (Japanese, Cornell Univ., ret.), who is associated with the creation of The Diary of a Japanese Innkeeper's Daughter (Cornell Univ. East Asia Program, 1984), provides all the relevant explication, notes, maps, and illustrations a researcher of modern Japanese social history could desire. Both works offer insights into the daily lives of 20th-century Japanese women and help dispel the mythology; both are recommended for public library and women's studies collections, though Makiko's Diary is essential for academic and scholarly libraries.?Helen Rippier Wheeler, formerly with SLIS, Univ. of California-Berkeley,
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (October 29, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679772626
• ISBN-13: 978-0679772620
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.8 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #82,539 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #25 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Ethnic & National > Japanese
  • #79 in Books > History > Asia > Japan

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great look at the grass-roots..., November 4, 2003

By 

Michael Valdivielso (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Secrets of Mariko: A Year in the Life of a Japanese Woman and Her Family (Paperback)

The best books about other cultures are those that start at the bottom and work up. In this book Elisabeth Bumiller interviews a Japanese women and her family, friends and others linked to the family to give a very detailed picture of a Japanese family from 1991 to 1992. We get to join festivals, sit in at PTA meetings, visit mobsters, learn about local politics, find out what family issues the Japanese have and even the family's view on America and international events.
NOTE: The author has very strong views of her own and will state them, but don't let that get in the way of the rest of the book. She digs up a LOT of information and makes it clear that while the Japanese might have different ways of thinking or doing stuff, they do have some of the same goals, dreams and fears.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful look at Japanese family life and interaction, August 4, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Secrets of Mariko: A Year in the Life of a Japanese Woman and Her Family (Paperback)

This book takes a personal look at Mariko, who is a wife, mother, and daughter in modern-day Japan. This book cuts through typical Japan-bashing rhetoric, and provides an intimate look at Japanese family life during a time when familial roles are being challenged and re-defined almost daily. This behind-the-scenes view of family life is one that few non-Japanese get to experience. I particularly enjoyed how the book illustrated the rhythm of Mariko's daily life over a year's time. The book shows how Japanese women have much more freedom of expression and independence than men which is quite contrary to what most westerners believe.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Window into another lifestyle, December 13, 2002

By 

Erika Mitchell (E. Calais, VT USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Secrets of Mariko: A Year in the Life of a Japanese Woman and Her Family (Paperback)

This book provides glimpses of the lifestyle of an average Japanese housewife. Written by a journalist rather than an anthropologist, the author explores the life and important events of Mariko over the course of a year. Through the author's interviews, we learn the history of the family and the views of Mariko, her husband and children on such topics as family life, parenting, and work. As a journalist, Bumiller is quite interested in Japanese opinions and attitudes about current events, so Mariko and her family explain some of their complex feelings about the U.S. We visit the children's schools and work places, and see where they go on vacation. Along the way, Bumiller also interviews prominent Japanese who are in some way connected to aspects of Mariko's life, such as politicians, the head of the mob, and a talk show host. By the end of the book, readers are familiar with many details of average Japanese family life, something that would be unattainable unless one were to either grow up in Japan or live for long enough in Japan to develop close friendships with locals. But even Bumiller points out that she has only scratched the surface, and there is much about Mariko's life that we can never comprehend just by reading a book.