Everyone wants to escape their boring, stagnant lives full of inertia and regret. But so few people actually have the bravery to run – run away from everything and selflessly seek out personal fulfillment on the other side of the world where they don’t understand anything and won’t be expected to. The world is full of cowards. Tim Anderson was pushing thirty and working a string of dead-end jobs … jobs when he made the spontaneous decision to pack his bags and move to Japan. It was a gutsy move, especially for a tall, white, gay Southerner who didn’t speak a lick of Japanese. But his life desperately needed a shot of adrenaline, and what better way to get one than to leave behind his boyfriend, his cat, and his Siouxsie and the Banshees box set to move to “a tiny, overcrowded island heaving with clever, sensibly proportioned people who make him look fat”? In Tokyo, Tim became a “gaijin,” an outsider whose stumbling progression through Japanese culture is minutely chronicled in these sixteen hilarious stories. Despite the steep learning curve and the seemingly constant humiliation, the gaijin from North Carolina gradually begins to find his way. Whether playing drums on the fly in an otherwise all-Japanese noise band or attempting to keep his English classroom clean when it’s invaded by an older female student with a dirty mind, Tim comes to realize that living a meaningful life is about expecting the unexpected…right when he least expects it.
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Hums with warmth and life-looks.
Tim Anderson is a gay southerner who finds himself drifting after college and decides the cure for his ennui is a stint in Japan. A former English major, Tune-In Tokyo is the resulting memoir documenting his time teaching English in and around Tokyo.
This is not the finest book about Japan I’ve ever read, but it provides a unique perspective on life there, and particularly on the business of the ubiquitous English schools. (I know of ex-pats who’ve made a veritable fortune teaching English, so the demand is certainly there!) Anderson has no desire to go full-native, a la Jake Adelston and Tokyo Vice, but anyone who is familiar with the in, outs, and many quirks of Tokyo will find much to relate to in Anderson’s work.
3.5 stars
(This review was originally published at https://www.thisyearinbooks.com/2019/10/tune-in-tokyothe-gaijin-diaries.html)
I lived in Japan almost 50 years ago. The comment “”Japan is like America on Opposite Day is so true. Love Japan and the Japanese
This has unexpected twists to it but was informative of Japan culture and lifestyle. Didn’t necessarily make me want to go there.
Silly premise, went nowhere!
Outrageous
I deleted this book after reading the first chapter. It wasn’t what I expected.
I thoroughly enjoyed this Book. It was fun, funny, interesting and well written with a ride along vibe. It was a perfect counter point to some of the heavy political thinks I have recently been reading and I recommend it, without reservation, to anyone who loves to travel but can’t always get away.
I gave up on this book after only a few pages.
This was not what I was expecting but it was an interesting view of Japan, as well as a view as a gay man. I enjoyed reading how energetically the Japanese want to learn English so that they can come here with ease… and his fun comments on the various people who come to teach: they too give a broad understanding of how diverse America is. The more I read about Japan the more I learn how different it is. Currently I am reading 10 Views of Mount Fuji, written by a woman who went there in 1998 to teach at a University… A fascinating read.
Jim Anderson’s recount of his time in Tokyo is hilarious. He immerced himself in the culture and people, not soley hanging out with other westerners. However, I found his generalizations about Americans overly simplistic and thin.
The author seemed to be a good enough writer, but was so focused on his gayness that it was difficult to see the story behind it. I’m very interested in Japan, and it was pretty disappointing expecting to read about that and instead finding yourself knee deep in a rather narcissistic examination of the author’s lifestyle.
A bit ridiculous. Kind of a stream of consciousness. Disappointing
Very thin on details of the country, but cute as a story “selfie”.
I thought it might be like Tony James Slater’s travel books on his (mis) adventures.
Too much about the author’s getting ‘high’. He did change jobs a lot and live different place which he describes well.
This guy is hilarious! Even if you can’t relate to the culture shock and language problems, the writing is so good it offers excellent entertainment for anyone with a sense of humor.
It’s been a few years since I read this book, but I remember that I loved it. In fact, I ended up reading it twice. The gist of it is that a young gay man decides to shake up his hum-drum life by moving to Japan to teach English to people that only speak Japanese. No big deal if you’ve ever taught before, lived aboard or can speak a foreign language, however, if all these things are new to you and you have absolutely no inkling of the culture or language, well you can really shake up your life in some very interesting ways.
Next time you get bored with your same old 9-5 life, read this before you make any great leaps of faith. If just might give you an appreciation of the life you already live, and you’ll get some major laughs too.
This was a great read! Our author is certainly not afraid to poke fun at himself, while imparting some really neat facts about life in Japan! His physical size (fit, trim by American standards, but large and scary by Japan’s certainly makes him stand out in a crowd and makes everyday life (such as trying to find clothes that fit!) a challenge, his travels and descriptions of the wonderful (and not so wonderful), people he meets carried the reader along at a pace much like Japan’s famous bullet trains! I fell in love with Japan along side the author and I want to thank him for painting vivid scenes I really enjoyed!!!
I only read 30 or 40 pages. I couldn’t relate to it at all. What a waste of my money!
Being interested in Japan, I downloaded this “trash”. Full of sophomoric attempts at humor, crammed packed with profanity. Anyone looking for interesting aspects of one teaching in Japan will be sorely disappointed in this book.