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Dave Barry Does Japan Hardcover – October 20, 1992

by Dave Barry (Author)

141 ratings

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The best-selling author of Dave Barry Talks Back provides a look at the follies and quirks of the Japanese--and Americans--in a collection of observations on sumo wrestling, sushi, geisha girls, and more. 150,000 first printing. $150,000 ad/promo. Tour.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A first-class all-expenses-paid three-week vacation in Japan, underwritten by his publisher, provides Miami Herald columnist and humorist Barry with material for some tired gags about language problems, kowtowing, eating and other quick-take visitor befuddlements in the land of the rising sun. Dutifully covering the standard tourist attractions, including Hiroshima, Mount Fiji and the pearl factories, he presents himself as a sort of Everyman-in-Japan-for-the-first-time, fueling his jokes with his ignorance of the language, history and culture. Although much of the humor is strained or tasteless, on occasion readers can laugh without embarrassment. Nevertheless this made-to-order book will likely find a made-to-order audience among fans of such previous titles as Dave Barry Slept Here.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

Item Weight : 1 pounds
Hardcover : 210 pages
ISBN-10 : 0679404856
ISBN-13 : 978-0679404859
Product Dimensions : 5.75 x 1 x 8.5 inches
Publisher : Random House; 1st Edition (October 20, 1992)
Language: : English

Best-sellers rank #1,851,273 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
#4,236 in Humor Essays (Books)
#5,409 in Humorous American Literature
#6,276 in American Literature Criticism

Customer Reviews:
141 ratings

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Laugh-out-loud funny for Americans

Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2015

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This is a great book for anyone who has spent a week or more in Japan (a layover at Narita for a few hours doesn't count). Sure, the cover looks really dopey and not even close to a close representation of real Japan, but the contents hit Japanese and American culture right on. I can't guarantee Kiwis, Canucks, Aussies or other English speakers will relate to it. If you like Dave Barry's dumb jokes, cheap shots, and self-deprecating humor and have been to Japan before, you'll probably love this book. If you parse his words and look for literal accuracy regarding Japanese culture you'll miss the point.

Note to fellow Nikkei: Don't get too defensive. Some of the things he finds weird about Japanese people may apply to us as well, but keep in mind he makes as much fun of himself and other Americans as he does of the people he observed in Japan.

3 people found this helpful

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Dave Barry does it again!

Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2018

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This book is absolutely hilarious! It does not matter if you have been to Japan, are planning to go, or just want a funny funny read. Barry does not make light of the population of Japan:
he uses the experiences of his family to create a bit of a travelogue in a country so different from the US that it is almost impossible to relate to the customs, population and scenery. Read this book for a most entertaining trip to a far far away country.

One person found this helpful

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Great for teens and adults!

Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2015

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My kids ages 14 and 17 are very much into Anime and all things Japanese right now. We still have stories together at night as a family time. Dave Barry is one of those fantastic writers whose writing is talented enough to engage the teenagers and adults in the family. We all laughed so hard as we read it, multiple times I had to stop reading because our laughter was drowning out the story!

You don't have to be a fan of Japanese to find it funny but if you are it adds more layers to the humor.

There is also a serious and informative and sobering chapter on Hiroshima, not my kids favorite but educational

I think this would be an ideal book for a family trip for the family to read together.

One person found this helpful

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Insightful while somehow Not Being Insulting

Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2012

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This review originally posted at [...]

This book contains one of the definitively best passages of Dave Barry's Oeuvre. I would love to retype it here in full, but instead I will let you read the entire book (which you must do RIGHT NOW regardless of your prior commitments) so that you don't miss any of the laughs.

Dave Barry is a comedic Genius. We already know this. In Dave Barry Does Japan, he also flexes his journalistic chops, showing us that he is as shrewd, insightful and (while sometimes hyperbolic) honest as he is hilarious. He highlights some of the best things that an outsider would notice about Japan. The not so great things? Presented with humility and grace, if at all.

It's certainly not a textbook on Japan, but it was still informative. Even if you don't learn anything, it is still a great read because it is simply so funny!

One person found this helpful

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Dave Barry does Japan as only he can

Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2013

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Dave is one of my favorite people- I read his newspaper column from the beginning of his time at the Miami Herald. He is extraordinarily funny and in his description of his visit to Japan he pokes good natured fun at himself, his wife and son, Americans and Japanese alike, while still giving the reader a view of a different culture. His visit occurred in the 90's before Japan was struck by the earthquake/tsunami so some geography may be different now. Still, it is a wonderful and funny study of the differences in our two societies, descriptions that will make you laugh out loud. If you have never read Dave Barry you need to start, and this book is a good place to do just that.

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Fun, short and irreverent look at Japan

Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2002

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This book kept popping up on my recommendations, and I finally gave in and bought it. I have recently been wading through a series of Japan-orientated intercultural texts, and this book was a breath of fresh air. It is equal parts funny and insightful.
The book takes an irreverent, realistic look at Japan. This is the point of view of the tourist. Some things, like plastic squid and Sumo, really are strange to us. Dave Barry is not afraid to call a spade a spade. He does not attempt to cross-examine his own cultural biases, but just is happy to say "Look at that. Weird." Also, he is a very funny writer. I have not read any Dave Barry books before this one. The chapter on Hiroshima shows that he can be respectful as well as silly. That chapter really made the book for me.
My only real complaint with the book is that it is "thin." It is a short book, with a large font. Unlike humorous travelogues by Bill Bryson, this book has very little depth and is no more than a "surface glance" at a small part (Tokyo and Kyoto) of Japan. However, Dave Barry is honest about this and says so straight out. Still, it is lots of fun.

9 people found this helpful

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Brenda L. Pizzo

Dave Barry may be the funniest man on the planet!

Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2014

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My travels have brought me all over the world but not yet to Japan. After reading "Dave Barry Does Japan" I have an idea of what an adventure lies in store for me, when I do get there. This book is laugh out loud funny, even if you are all by yourself. My husband disagrees with me that laughing out loud can be a solitary activity...but for me it is especially when reading Dave Barry taking his family on a trip to Japan. From the look of it, Japan is like going to another planet according to Mr. Barry. I look forward to rereading this book many times.

Comment

Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2014

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I read this book very quickly. It is typical Dave Barry, in line with many of his other books. It is very funny, and he has a good grasp of what is strange/funny/usual in Japan. As an American who has lived in Japan for more than 7 years, I recognize that his book gives a very nice view of what a tourist visiting for a short time will take away. As expected, his insights are far different from my own, simply based on length of time. I would recommend it to anyone planning a vacation here, although I disagree with him that learning any Japanese prior to a visit will make the slightest difference.

One person found this helpful

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Top international reviews

CSH

Folks, he isn't a travel writer, he is a humor columnist and THIS is a great read.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 16, 2012

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Dave Barry is probably not well-known (or known at all) outside the U.S. where he spent decades of his life writing for the Miami Tropic as a humor columnist. He was always the first to admit his sense of humor was fairly juvenile and of the "booger-joke" variety, but he is also a Pulitzer Prize winning humorist. If you go into his works knowing he is a humorist, a columnist (specializing in a weekly, brief, pithy but funny take on something topical) and a "guy", you will have a blast. If you think he is a serious travel writer, yes you will find this unhelpful. Again, know your source.

I've read his books for years. Some are better than others (some are brilliant) and this is one of the funnier ones. I love Japan. I've spent the better part of my childhood and adult life partaking of many aspects of their culture and media and am the richer for it. But I can still laugh at a book of a bumbling American journalist and his family trying to make sense of a VERY foreign culture, a culture where Westerners (especially at the time this was written, pre-internet, etc) are treated politely but with a reserve that reminds you "you are not one of us." Again, if you are aware of the source and that he is a humorist and don't go into this without a sense of humor, you'll enjoy it and should check out his other works (Guide to Men, Greatest Hits, etc. I might not be remembering the titles perfectly but I'm too far from my bookshelf to see them in the dark...just look 'em up if you're interested).

2 people found this helpful

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G. Simon

Love this book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 19, 2017

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Love this book. Even though over 20 years old, still captures essential characteristics in way that has you rolling in laughter. Tend to give it away. Happy to have replenished my stock.

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Mrs H Hornsby

Two Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 9, 2017

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Not my cup of tea

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