Books, etc. About Bubble-Era and Post-Bubble Japan?
Jun 16, 2019, 6:58 pm
#16
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Boston, Jo'burg, HK
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Lifetime Diamond, CX Gold, Mrs. Pickles travels for free
Posts: 13,186
I read the book, I have to say it's a pretty solid tale, once you get started it's hard to put down. James Joyce it isn't, but it does capture bubble-era Tokyo in nostalgic details. I think you should have had a scene set at the Homework's in the Hiroo Shotengai, that would have been the coup de grace.
Couple of things: you consistently misspell 仕方がない. It's shikata ga nai, not shigata ga nai. Also, you misspell 居酒屋 once as izakya. And April 1st (when they are in Ueno Park celebrating hanami) is the first day of the fiscal year, not the first day of the second fiscal quarter.
Jun 17, 2019, 7:06 pm
#17
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2004
Programs: NW Gold, '06. Good times.
Posts: 7,363
Well, the review is by somebody who you thank in your acknowledgments at the end of the book...
I read the book, I have to say it's a pretty solid tale, once you get started it's hard to put down. James Joyce it isn't, but it does capture bubble-era Tokyo in nostalgic details. I think you should have had a scene set at the Homework's in the Hiroo Shotengai, that would have been the coup de grace.
Couple of things: you consistently misspell 仕方がない. It's shikata ga nai, not shigata ga nai. Also, you misspell 居酒屋 once as izakya. And April 1st (when they are in Ueno Park celebrating hanami) is the first day of the fiscal year, not the first day of the second fiscal quarter.
I read the book, I have to say it's a pretty solid tale, once you get started it's hard to put down. James Joyce it isn't, but it does capture bubble-era Tokyo in nostalgic details. I think you should have had a scene set at the Homework's in the Hiroo Shotengai, that would have been the coup de grace.
Couple of things: you consistently misspell 仕方がない. It's shikata ga nai, not shigata ga nai. Also, you misspell 居酒屋 once as izakya. And April 1st (when they are in Ueno Park celebrating hanami) is the first day of the fiscal year, not the first day of the second fiscal quarter.
Excellent catches. Thank you. The beauty of e-publishing is the ability to make instant fixes. I'll double-check everything.
I spent much of my childhood with family in a blue-collar section of Yokohama, near Kawasaki. I guess I absorbed more of the accent than I thought.
Edit: I've never heard of Homework's. I never lived there as an adult, only through high school in the early 90s with visits back since. If it was a bar or nightclub, despite my classmates' taking advantage of those places' unwillingness to card guests, I wouldn't have set foot in it.
Last edited by hoyateach; Jun 17, 2019 at 7:14 pm
Jun 18, 2019, 7:13 am
#18
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Boston, Jo'burg, HK
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Lifetime Diamond, CX Gold, Mrs. Pickles travels for free
Posts: 13,186
Edit: I've never heard of Homework's. I never lived there as an adult, only through high school in the early 90s with visits back since. If it was a bar or nightclub, despite my classmates' taking advantage of those places' unwillingness to card guests, I wouldn't have set foot in it.
Jun 18, 2019, 9:05 am
#20
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2004
Programs: NW Gold, '06. Good times.
Posts: 7,363
I am surprised, it's been there since 1985 and in the early 1990s it was seriously popular, as the only place to get what they sold: https://homeworks-1.com/ Prices are the same since then.
Jun 18, 2019, 10:13 am
#21
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: London
Posts: 18,478
Took a double take with this comment, got me remembering that they have a really well priced child’s menu. I’ve never eaten here but my daughter has.
Jun 18, 2019, 10:28 am
#22
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2004
Programs: NW Gold, '06. Good times.
Posts: 7,363
Jun 18, 2019, 11:53 am
#23
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Cape Cod
Programs: Free agent
Posts: 1,535
Jan 8, 2021, 11:27 pm
#24
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Pacific Wonderland
Programs: ʙᴏɴᴠo̱ʏ Au, IHG Au, HH Dia, Nexus, Pilot FlyingJ Preferred
Posts: 5,336
Finally got around to starting hoyateach's book which has been sitting in my kindle library for, well, a while. Third chapter in, wow! Love the little details in there.
Jan 28, 2021, 8:13 am
#26
Join Date: Sep 2009
Programs: UA GS>1K>Nothing; DL DM 2MM; AS 75K>Nothing>MVP
Posts: 9,344
Just finished it. Very enjoyable and a great story (read it in two sittings.) If you’re interested, a few comments.
1. Started too slow and ended too fast.
2. The prose could be enlivened and tightened up a bit.
3. It kind of missed the banking ethos of that era, but that probably made it a better story.
4. It didn’t really feel like the Tokyo I knew at the time. Could be a generational thing, but I feel like it lacked the intense sensual elements that were everywhere present in Tokyo. (Nailed it though on your Moti Butter Chicken description.)
Finally, thanks! A wonderful gift, which I really enjoyed.
1. Started too slow and ended too fast.
2. The prose could be enlivened and tightened up a bit.
3. It kind of missed the banking ethos of that era, but that probably made it a better story.
4. It didn’t really feel like the Tokyo I knew at the time. Could be a generational thing, but I feel like it lacked the intense sensual elements that were everywhere present in Tokyo. (Nailed it though on your Moti Butter Chicken description.)
Finally, thanks! A wonderful gift, which I really enjoyed.
Jan 29, 2021, 12:35 pm
#27
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Boston, Jo'burg, HK
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Lifetime Diamond, CX Gold, Mrs. Pickles travels for free
Posts: 13,186
Feb 13, 2021, 4:48 pm
#28
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2004
Programs: NW Gold, '06. Good times.
Posts: 7,363
Just finished it. Very enjoyable and a great story (read it in two sittings.) If you’re interested, a few comments.
1. Started too slow and ended too fast.
2. The prose could be enlivened and tightened up a bit.
3. It kind of missed the banking ethos of that era, but that probably made it a better story.
4. It didn’t really feel like the Tokyo I knew at the time. Could be a generational thing, but I feel like it lacked the intense sensual elements that were everywhere present in Tokyo. (Nailed it though on your Moti Butter Chicken description.)
Finally, thanks! A wonderful gift, which I really enjoyed.
1. Started too slow and ended too fast.
2. The prose could be enlivened and tightened up a bit.
3. It kind of missed the banking ethos of that era, but that probably made it a better story.
4. It didn’t really feel like the Tokyo I knew at the time. Could be a generational thing, but I feel like it lacked the intense sensual elements that were everywhere present in Tokyo. (Nailed it though on your Moti Butter Chicken description.)
Finally, thanks! A wonderful gift, which I really enjoyed.
In response to your post, 5khours, pacing has always been my weakest point and I know I spent a fair bit of time scene-setting. Probably too much.
As for the banking, I had to make most of it up, hence the research. Found some old recruitment videos from Goldman, etc., from the 1980s which gave some fascinating insights into the office layouts and tech use at the time. What a difference from today.
I lived in Tokyo as a teenager in the early 90s and still go back when I can to visit my folks. I suppose I was too wrapped up in my teenage drama to pay much attention to the little things immersive details back then. I really wanted to add details like the incessant wailing of cicadas at parks in the summer or the rich green moss that grows in the narrow old street-side ditches but those weren't right for the season.
Oh, well.
But I'm glad you enjoyed it for what it was. I hope others do, too. My thanks again.