Book Review: Grace Mineta’s “My Japanese Husband Thinks I’m Crazy”

I used to own a blog through high school to early college and my blog address was “crazyvinny”, so when I know about this book I don’t feel that it’s weird at all. Somehow I feel so much related to the author. It’s good to admit you have a little craziness inside you, isn’t it?

This book is about an American girl named Grace being married to a Japanese guy named Ryosuke. This is not a romantic novel of interracial marriage. It’s a comic book about their daily life in Japan, which I think mostly contains each other’s misunderstood because of the cultural differences that somehow comes up really cute. Even though it’s racial; something that people usually avoid or just don’t talk about, Grace can put it up in a funny way in her comics. If I were Japanese, I guess I wouldn’t feel offended at all.

Not just comic, Grace also writes about how she sees Japan culture from American point of view; which apparently represent how people from other country mostly see Japan too.  I found these writings pretty deep, especially when Grace talks about onsen (public bath) in Japan and how it can boost a girl’s self-esteem about their body. I’ve never been to an onsen, but to think that you have to be completely naked already shivers me. However, after reading it, I think I’m scared because I’ve never been to one. If I give it a try, I probably can see her point in her writing (maybe, let’s see).

What I like the most of this book is that Grace makes interracial marriage sounds very fun, despite of all the stereotypes. Getting married with someone who doesn’t have the same mother language is already hard, let alone moving across the country where most of the people don’t speak her first language. Her ability to see a problem not as a problem is somewhat amazed me. She just doesn’t seem to make it as a big deal, although sometimes I can sense the anxiety in her writings. Ryosuke manages to calm her down and it makes me wish that in the future I could marry my own Ryosuke too.

If you’re about to go to Japan, studying Japanese culture, having a relationship with a Japanese guy, or just love something to do with Japan, I suggest to read this book. Grace is on her way to publish the second book “My Japanese Husband Still Thinks I’m Crazy” *gasp*. Cool, right? You can check out her website www.howibecametexan.com (not sure if I’m doing her any favor because this blog is new and don’t have a lot of visitor).