Genres
Description
Kazuo Nakamoto's life in inner-city Tokyo is one of tea and tofu, of American TV and rock 'n' roll. Kazuo is nine. It is the mid-1960s, just after the Japan Olympics, and Kazuo dreams of being a track star. He hangs out with his buddies, goes to school, and helps with household chores. But Kazuo's world is changing. This bittersweet novel is a deft portrait of a year in a boy's life in a land and time far away, filled with universal concerns about fitting in, escaping the past (in this case World War II's lingering devastation), and growing up. J-Boys authorShogo Oketani is a writer and novelist who grew up in Tokyo in the mid-1960s.
Publication
Stone Bridge Press (2012), 212 pages
User reviews
LibraryThing member cammykitty
J-Boys by Shogo Oketani does what it intends to do. It describes what it was like to be a boy in 1965 Japan for a middle grade/young adult audience. There were many interesting cultural details, from tofu shops to bath-houses to prejudice. The writing style is simple to understand. Tab-like entries
J-Boys claims to be a series of linked short stories, but structurally, I'm not sure what it is. It reads like an anecdotal memoir. Many of the pieces would be appropriate for class read-aloud. Each piece has some sort of closure, no cliff hangers here. However, the stories don't have the tight focus of a short story. Nor is there a the plot arch of a novel. There is very little tension. The reader doesn't have a question, like will Kazuo ever be a really fast runner, that pushes them to the end of the book.
If you look at J-Boys as a slice of life piece, it is enjoyable and informative. As short stories or as a novel, it is understated at best. Half-formed might be another way to describe it. There is high interest in Japanese culture at the moment due to anime and manga's popularity, but I'm not sure that a quiet book such as this one will hold the attention of the average pre-teen or teen reader.
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explain concepts in an unobtrusive manner. It reads similar to a text designed for class instruction on reading. J-Boys claims to be a series of linked short stories, but structurally, I'm not sure what it is. It reads like an anecdotal memoir. Many of the pieces would be appropriate for class read-aloud. Each piece has some sort of closure, no cliff hangers here. However, the stories don't have the tight focus of a short story. Nor is there a the plot arch of a novel. There is very little tension. The reader doesn't have a question, like will Kazuo ever be a really fast runner, that pushes them to the end of the book.
If you look at J-Boys as a slice of life piece, it is enjoyable and informative. As short stories or as a novel, it is understated at best. Half-formed might be another way to describe it. There is high interest in Japanese culture at the moment due to anime and manga's popularity, but I'm not sure that a quiet book such as this one will hold the attention of the average pre-teen or teen reader.
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LibraryThing member SusieBookworm
J-Boys is a series of short, anecdotal stories covering Kazuo's life between the October and April of one year. Each story is basically concerned with one or two aspects of Japanese culture and Tokyo life in the 1960s: tofu, public bathhouses, education, New Year's, memories of WWII, etc. Not only
While the information presented in this book is interesting, the plot is not, mostly because with the short stories there is little cohesion between the chapters besides the same setting and characters. Only one story really stood out to me: "Kazuo's Typical Tokyo Saturday," where Kazuo notes the inevitable changes to the city and its culture as it faces the passage of time and incursion of new influences. I think that J-Boys would probably be much more enjoyable as a read-aloud between parents and their children or teachers and young students, reading a story or two a day instead of attempting to plow through the book like it's a novel as older readers (myself included) have a tendency to do.
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is the cultural and historical information interesting, but tracing the melding of traditional Japanese culture with Western influences is fascinating as well.While the information presented in this book is interesting, the plot is not, mostly because with the short stories there is little cohesion between the chapters besides the same setting and characters. Only one story really stood out to me: "Kazuo's Typical Tokyo Saturday," where Kazuo notes the inevitable changes to the city and its culture as it faces the passage of time and incursion of new influences. I think that J-Boys would probably be much more enjoyable as a read-aloud between parents and their children or teachers and young students, reading a story or two a day instead of attempting to plow through the book like it's a novel as older readers (myself included) have a tendency to do.
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LibraryThing member lizw9
J-Boys: Kazuo's World, Tokyo, 1965 by Shogo Oketani, and translated from the original Japanese by Avery Fischer Udagawa follows seven months in the life of nine-year-old Kazuo Each chapter is separate from the last, a little like interlinked vignettes. Through Kazuo's eyes, we see Tokyo as it was
Through Kazuo we learn about traditional Japanese holidays and family life, what a typical Japanese elementary school was like, how children occupied themselves after school -- there were no organized extra curricular activities and no playgrounds. Many readers may be surprised that parents didn't monitor their children's every movement, trusting their kids to go home alone after school to do their homework while the parents were still at work. Children also did errands for parents, as Kazuo does daily. He has to get the tofu from a special tofu shop where the tofu maker makes it fresh ever day and stores it substance in freezing cold water. We learn, too, how unjustly Koreans were treated in Japan and how hard life in the country is for Kazuo's relatives and other countryfolk forced to come into the city to do manual labour on a seasonal basis so as to have enough money to survive. Kazuo and Yatsuo are tired of hearing how lucky they are to be eating at all, even if the food is bland, since they didn't have to suffer the way their parents did during the war. One day, however, they learn just how hard things were when their mother tells them how she survived the firebombing of Tokyo. I was quite surprised at how graphic this part was considering the age group the books it targetted to.
The glossary provided at the end and the explanations in sidebars throughout are especially useful for learners young and old who know little about Japan's customs or history.
While this is not a work of great literature -- there is very little in the way of plot and not much character development -- children and teachers will enjoy these nostalgic childhood vignettes about Kazuo and his gang, the "J-Boys", and what the stories teach us about the Japan of the 1960s, a world that, as foreign as it may seem today, reveals childhood hopes and pet peeves much the same as those of children anywhere.
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then, just after the Tokyo Olympics, a quiet city just beginning to rise out of the ashes of World War II. Kazuo's world stands in stark contrast to the one he sees portrayed on some of his favourite American TV shows, like Leave It to Beaver and Lassie. Unlike the families portrayed in these television shows, in most Japanese families, mothers had to work. Kids did not have their own bedrooms, many parents slept in the living, and people did not sleep on tall beds, but instead on bedding that was rolled up during the day. Central heating was rare, so in the winter the only way to get warmed up was by sitting around a low heated table called a "kotatsu". Few Japanese homes had bathtubs in those days as people still went to the local bathhouse. Meat and other basic foods American kids took for granted were scarce, and Kazuo desperately wanted to eat a "hanbaagaa" like Wimpy ate on the show Popeye. And, as much as Kazuo's younger brother, Yasuo, would have loved to have had a dog like Lassie, their company owned apartment was simply too small for any dog.Through Kazuo we learn about traditional Japanese holidays and family life, what a typical Japanese elementary school was like, how children occupied themselves after school -- there were no organized extra curricular activities and no playgrounds. Many readers may be surprised that parents didn't monitor their children's every movement, trusting their kids to go home alone after school to do their homework while the parents were still at work. Children also did errands for parents, as Kazuo does daily. He has to get the tofu from a special tofu shop where the tofu maker makes it fresh ever day and stores it substance in freezing cold water. We learn, too, how unjustly Koreans were treated in Japan and how hard life in the country is for Kazuo's relatives and other countryfolk forced to come into the city to do manual labour on a seasonal basis so as to have enough money to survive. Kazuo and Yatsuo are tired of hearing how lucky they are to be eating at all, even if the food is bland, since they didn't have to suffer the way their parents did during the war. One day, however, they learn just how hard things were when their mother tells them how she survived the firebombing of Tokyo. I was quite surprised at how graphic this part was considering the age group the books it targetted to.
The glossary provided at the end and the explanations in sidebars throughout are especially useful for learners young and old who know little about Japan's customs or history.
While this is not a work of great literature -- there is very little in the way of plot and not much character development -- children and teachers will enjoy these nostalgic childhood vignettes about Kazuo and his gang, the "J-Boys", and what the stories teach us about the Japan of the 1960s, a world that, as foreign as it may seem today, reveals childhood hopes and pet peeves much the same as those of children anywhere.
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LibraryThing member gaijinsue
There are not a lot of novels in translation for children or adults concerning the lives of ordinary people in peace-time Japan. The stories in Shogo Oketani's debut novel are set in the past, but their realistic portrayal of Japanese life is extremely refreshing.
Tokyo, 1965. Kazuo, the main
The chapter entitled "J-Boys" touches upon the discrimination of the descendants of Koreans forcibly sent to Japan, while "Yasuo's Big Mouth" revisits the ravages of war. Other chapters have a lighter tone, such a "Bathing and the Beatles" in which Kazuo and his pals ponder the popularity of Western music.
This novel has an elegiac tone that would appeal to adult readers, but it also clearly depicts Japanese culture, making it accessible for kids. Period photos and copious cultural notes accent the text.
Tokyo, 1965. Kazuo, the main
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character of this episodic novel, has a sense of Japan's tragic past via his mother's memories of the war, which ended 20 years before, and of a shiny, new future, suggested by the American shows broadcast on his family's brand new TV. He tries out hamburgers and miruku (powdered milk mixed with water), dreams about having a room of his own like Beaver, all while flying a bamboo kite, throwing beans to cast out demons, and engaging in other traditional Japanese activities.The chapter entitled "J-Boys" touches upon the discrimination of the descendants of Koreans forcibly sent to Japan, while "Yasuo's Big Mouth" revisits the ravages of war. Other chapters have a lighter tone, such a "Bathing and the Beatles" in which Kazuo and his pals ponder the popularity of Western music.
This novel has an elegiac tone that would appeal to adult readers, but it also clearly depicts Japanese culture, making it accessible for kids. Period photos and copious cultural notes accent the text.
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LibraryThing member PhoenixTerran
When Shogo Oketani's book J-Boys: Kazuo's World, Tokyo, 1965 was offered by Stone Bridge Press for review through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program, I immediately requested a copy. I was very happy when I was matched with the book. Stone Bridge Press published J-Boys in 2011 with a translation
J-Boys is told in a sequence of fourteen stories organized chronologically by month. The individual stories could easily be read separately but are tied together by the same characters. Kazuo Nakamoto is a nine-year-old boy growing up in the city of Tokyo in the 1960s. He lives with his mother and father and his younger brother Yasuo in a small home in the Shinagawa Ward. Kazuo leads a fairly typical life, going to school, hanging out with friends, and helping out at home. But he's old enough now that he's starting to notice that life in Tokyo and in Japan is changing. The nation still lives with memories of World War II while at the same time it is becoming more and more Westernized. In particular is the influence of American pop culture. While Japan is busy reestablishing itself as a world power, Kazuo is busy growing up.
I am not particularly familiar with 1960s Japan, so J-Boys was a treat to read for that reason. J-Boys is semi-autobiographical; Oketani has based the stories off of his own memories of growing up in Japan in the 1960s and some stories were inspired by other kids that he knew. In some ways, Kazuo almost seems to be a stand-in for the author himself. There's certainly a sense of nostalgia that shines through. One of my favorite things about J-Boys was the inclusion of photographs of Japanese schoolchildren from the 1950s and 1960s, many of which depict scenes described in J-Boys. Oketani also includes brief side bars that explain in more detail specific concepts mentioned in J-Boys, everything from tofu, to Japanese terminology, to pop culture references.
While I found J-Boys to be interesting and informative, as an adult reader I didn't find it to be particularly engaging as a collection of short stories. However, I could easily see the book being incorporated into an educational unit for middle grade social studies. It almost seems that J-Boys was written with that very purpose in mind and the reading level is appropriate for younger readers. The individual chapters are very straightforward and there is very little narrative tension or embellishment. Although the stories feature recurring characters, there isn't really any overarching plot. Oketani is simply relating what it was like to be a kid in 1960s Tokyo. So, while J-Boys may not have readers hurriedly turning pages to discover what happens next, I still think that the book is valuable if approached within an appropriate context. I know that I learned some interesting things about what it was like to live in Japan in the 1960s, which is something I knew very little about before.
Experiments in Manga
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by Avery Fischer Udagawa. Some of the individual chapters and stories had previously been published in various journals and anthologies, but as far as I can tell this is the first time they've been released as a collection. I also believe this is Oketani's first full-length work of fiction. Oketani has previously written a collection of poetry called Cold River and frequently works with his wife Leza Lowitz as a co-author and co-translator. I have never read any of Oketani's previous works, but because of my interest in Japan and because I've enjoyed other books released by Stone Bridge Press, I was glad to have the opportunity to read J-Boys.J-Boys is told in a sequence of fourteen stories organized chronologically by month. The individual stories could easily be read separately but are tied together by the same characters. Kazuo Nakamoto is a nine-year-old boy growing up in the city of Tokyo in the 1960s. He lives with his mother and father and his younger brother Yasuo in a small home in the Shinagawa Ward. Kazuo leads a fairly typical life, going to school, hanging out with friends, and helping out at home. But he's old enough now that he's starting to notice that life in Tokyo and in Japan is changing. The nation still lives with memories of World War II while at the same time it is becoming more and more Westernized. In particular is the influence of American pop culture. While Japan is busy reestablishing itself as a world power, Kazuo is busy growing up.
I am not particularly familiar with 1960s Japan, so J-Boys was a treat to read for that reason. J-Boys is semi-autobiographical; Oketani has based the stories off of his own memories of growing up in Japan in the 1960s and some stories were inspired by other kids that he knew. In some ways, Kazuo almost seems to be a stand-in for the author himself. There's certainly a sense of nostalgia that shines through. One of my favorite things about J-Boys was the inclusion of photographs of Japanese schoolchildren from the 1950s and 1960s, many of which depict scenes described in J-Boys. Oketani also includes brief side bars that explain in more detail specific concepts mentioned in J-Boys, everything from tofu, to Japanese terminology, to pop culture references.
While I found J-Boys to be interesting and informative, as an adult reader I didn't find it to be particularly engaging as a collection of short stories. However, I could easily see the book being incorporated into an educational unit for middle grade social studies. It almost seems that J-Boys was written with that very purpose in mind and the reading level is appropriate for younger readers. The individual chapters are very straightforward and there is very little narrative tension or embellishment. Although the stories feature recurring characters, there isn't really any overarching plot. Oketani is simply relating what it was like to be a kid in 1960s Tokyo. So, while J-Boys may not have readers hurriedly turning pages to discover what happens next, I still think that the book is valuable if approached within an appropriate context. I know that I learned some interesting things about what it was like to live in Japan in the 1960s, which is something I knew very little about before.
Experiments in Manga
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LibraryThing member AshtonAnne
I enjoyed this book. However, I am not the intended audience. This would probably be a very hard sell to any kid except those that are super-interested in Japan and Japanese culture. Also, the translation doesn't help any- much of the vocabulary/phrasing feels unnecessarily outdated. It feels a lot
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like a grandfather relating stories from his youth to his grandkids. Show Less
LibraryThing member guyalice
This is a very sweet autobiographical novel about a young boy growing up in Tokyo in the 1960s. The book does well in balancing both a pleasant narrative and an informative peak into a Japanese child's school and home life. It captures the mood of Japan shortly after Tokyo hosted the 1964 Olympics,
J-Boys also does well in giving insight to Japanese society at the time, such as their school system, bath houses, and cooking. The book includes many sidenotes throughout and has a glossary with cultural and historical information to fill in the reader, especially the younger readers this books is aimed at.
While this book is educational about a point of time in the recent past, it also has the universal appeal of being about a young boy and his friendships and relationships, as he grows up in a time of transition for himself, Japan, and the world.
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and how a child would feel being raised in the shadow of World War II while Western influences began to soak through. While Kazuo and his family celebrate distinctly Japanese holidays and live in a home typical of their county, he loves American television and wonders what hamburgers taste like. J-Boys also does well in giving insight to Japanese society at the time, such as their school system, bath houses, and cooking. The book includes many sidenotes throughout and has a glossary with cultural and historical information to fill in the reader, especially the younger readers this books is aimed at.
While this book is educational about a point of time in the recent past, it also has the universal appeal of being about a young boy and his friendships and relationships, as he grows up in a time of transition for himself, Japan, and the world.
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LibraryThing member mikitchenlady
In J-Boys, we experience life in Japan in 1965 through the eyes of a young boy, coming of age as life begins to change with the influence of American culture on a place that is very different. This book is a series of stories, varying adventures in Kazuo's life, which show us how Japanese life is
I selected this as an Early Reviewer choice, thinking it would be appropriate for my 11th grade students who read world literature selections. However, despite the cover suggesting it would fit for middle grades and up, it seemed a young book, particularly with the definitions/asides included to explain Japanese culture. A good read, just not a good fit for my students.
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unique, with bath houses, different foods, houses, neighborhoods, even places to sleep. It seems honest in its portrayal of this time and place, and one feels the excitement, frustration, sadness, fear and happiness of Kazuo as the book progresses. I selected this as an Early Reviewer choice, thinking it would be appropriate for my 11th grade students who read world literature selections. However, despite the cover suggesting it would fit for middle grades and up, it seemed a young book, particularly with the definitions/asides included to explain Japanese culture. A good read, just not a good fit for my students.
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LibraryThing member jackiewark
In 1965, Kazuo Nakamoto is living in Toyko with his family which is still recovering from WWII and its aftermath. American culture, TV, and a changing face of Toyko are all influential on Kazuo's family.
J-Boys: Kazuo's World, Tokyo, 1965 is a realistic glimpse into the daily activities of this
A delightful story with historical notes and cultural snippets.
Thank you to LibraryThing and Stone Bridge Press for this giveaway copy.
J-Boys: Kazuo's World, Tokyo, 1965 is a realistic glimpse into the daily activities of this
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Japanese family in the mid-60's. Yet, for a 9 year-old boy, many things remain the same...growing up, fitting in, teachers, girls, in short, growing up and coming of age. A delightful story with historical notes and cultural snippets.
Thank you to LibraryThing and Stone Bridge Press for this giveaway copy.
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LibraryThing member LauraEnos
J-Boys is a fictional piece based on some real-life experiences of the author growing up as a young boy, in Japan, in 1965. The book is a great learning experience about this part of the world and culture. The facts, summaries, definitions, and nonfiction explanations in the margins does a nice job
I found the lifestyle, traditions, and day-to-day activities of this culture during this decade to be very interesting. I did learn a lot of new information. For a reader looking for a moving plot, they're not going to find it here, but if a reader is looking for a "fly on the wall" experience during this time period through the eyes of someone else, I think the reader can feel more educated from reading this novel.
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of helping the reader better visualize certain Japanese words, customs, and ways of life. A lot of the American pop culture explanations I already knew, but to today's young adult audience, its a great tool to help them not get lost in the 1960s references that are made throughout the book.I found the lifestyle, traditions, and day-to-day activities of this culture during this decade to be very interesting. I did learn a lot of new information. For a reader looking for a moving plot, they're not going to find it here, but if a reader is looking for a "fly on the wall" experience during this time period through the eyes of someone else, I think the reader can feel more educated from reading this novel.
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Language
Original language
Japanese
Physical description
212 p.; 7.9 inches
ISBN
1933330929 / 9781933330921