Geneva Cobb Iijima

The Way We Do It in Japan was an interesting book. The book compared life from America to Japan. The little boy, Gregory, and his parents moved from America to Japan. During this transition Gregory learned different things they do in the Japanese culture. For example they eat with chopsticks instead of forks and they use yen piece for money instead of dollars. One day for lunch, Gregory ate a peanut butter sandwich and the other children looked at him weird because he was not eating the traditional food which was fish and rice. Towards the end of the story the Japanese children rolled out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch. This was special to Gregory because it made him feel like his new friends were including a par of his background into their lives.
This story can give children or anyone an insight to a totally different culture. I think it is good to read books like this with children because it shows them the entire world is not like us and they do things differently than we do.… (más)

In this book, a young boy moves from America to Japan. His father is Japanese but his mother is American. Once they are there, his father begins to tell him about all the things they do differently in Japan. He begins to adjust to the language with the help of his teacher (sensei). This book is great because it gives translations fro words like teacher and domo arigatoo, which means thank you. They also give pronunciation for Japanese words.Once the young boy starts school, he begins to notice that his lunch, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, is different from every one else's. The next day, they boy does not take a lunch to school because he is worried about adapting to the Japanese way. He is shocked when he sees all of the other kids pull out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The young boy is relieved when he realizes that the kids are learning as much from him as he is from them. This is a great example of the main message of the book, which is people can always learn something new from someone else, no matter how different.… (más)

In my opinion, this is a good book for all students. The illustrations, context clues to help learn the meanings of Japanese words and culture, and descriptions help the reader to better understand being in the characters' mind. For example, when talking about materials needed for school, he talked about how all boys gave black backpacks and all girls have red, and there is an illustration to accompany the text. The author uses Japanese words and includes context clues and Japanese pronunciation to help understand the meaning. For example, there are no chairs, but a "zabuton is used for visiting". With this page in the book there is an illustration of Gregory kneeling on a zabuton. Descriptions are given about all the lunches students have and how Gregory feels different with his peanut butter and jelly. However, more description is given about the "carts of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches" that are brought in to help Gregory feel welcome. This book helps to show the importance of making others feel welcome and helps readers to understand some Japanese culture through context clues.… (más)

The book, The Way We Do It in Japan, was incredibly interesting to read, especially if you want to learn about Japanese culture. I loved the entire book, but one of my favorite aspects of the book is their use of multi-cultural language. The author added phrases in Japanese throughout the book, along with a pronunciation and the meaning. For example, the author wrote "'Do itashimashite'** replied his dad. **(you're welcome): doh ee-tahsh-ee-ma-she-te" Upon reading this, I could now add a new Japanese phrase to my knowledge of different phrases. Even a simple phrase like this could make students feel connected to possible Japanese students in their classroom. Another example was, "Dad pointed to some pillows around a low table. 'Those are zabuton,'* he said. 'They're to sit or kneel on while eating or visiting.' *zah-boo-tohn" In this case, the author interwove the definition into the dialogue where that dad is explaining to his son what zabuton is used for. This also showed unfamiliar words in asterisks to draw attention to them. In this case, the author is not only exposing readers to new words through language, but also exposing them to the Japanese culture.
The characters shown in this book were very strong in helping give off the overall message of the story. The dad played a huge role in getting his son adapted to the Japanese lifestyle by showing his son how to shower or bath and informing him that it is culturally appropriate to leave your shoes at the door and wear slippers around the house. He also showed the differences between American culture and Japanese culture when talking about the monetary unit, the yen, used in Japan. The son's teacher, Teacher Inoue-sensei, also helped him get adapted to life in Japan by speaking English to him during lessons and teaching him how to write Japanese letters outside of class. This character showed dedication to all of his students, especially those unfamiliar with Japanese education. The student's friend, Yuuki, played a key part in the boy's socialization process at school. Yuuki became a close friend who shared a love of soccer. This similarity was something that they both were able to quickly bond over. The central message of the story is that cultures can be integrated together and that all people should show an appreciation for multiple different cultures. This was shown when the Japanese school decided to have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch instead of their usual rice and fish.… (más)