The Mad Kyoto Shoe Swapper and Other ..., Rebecca Otowa
The Mad Kyoto Shoe Swapper and Other ..., Rebecca Otowa
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The Mad Kyoto Shoe Swapper and Other Short Stories

Author: Rebecca Otowa

Narrator: David Shih, Cindy Kay

Unabridged: 5 hr 3 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 02/23/2021

Categories: Fiction, Short Stories


Synopsis

From the unique standpoint of an American woman who married into a Japanese family and has lived in Japan for more than thirty years, Rebecca Otowa weaves enchanting tales of her adopted home that portray the perspective of both the Japanese and the foreigner on the universal issues that face us all—love, work, marriage, death, and family conflict. The collection includes:

● "A Year of Coffee and Cake"—A young American wife in the Tokyo suburbs suspects her next-door neighbor of murdering an elderly relative.

● "Rhododendron Valley"—An elderly man decides to commit suicide to deal with his terminal illness and to spare his family pain.

● "The Mad Kyoto Shoe Swapper"—A reclusive young Japanese man enjoys the strange hobby of stealing shoes from temples, but it gradually consumes him.

● "Genbei's Curse"—A downtrodden woman loses her temper with her demanding, sick father-in-law. Years later, old and sick herself, she can now empathize with him.

● And other stories.

About Rebecca Otowa

Rebecca Otowa was born in California, and studied Japanese language and culture at the University of Queensland in Australia. In 1978 she went to Japan, and never left. After graduating from Otani University in Kyoto, with an MA in Buddhism, she married the nineteenth-generation heir to a country estate nearby. In the years since, she has brought up two sons, taught university-level English, played music, acted on stage, and kept a vegetable garden, but she eventually returned to her two great loves-writing and drawing. Besides two books, At Home in Japan and My Awesome Japan Adventure, she has been a translator and columnist and has organized two shows of her paintings.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Ian on April 01, 2020

Looking for a stuck-at-home read? This is a good one for anyone missing Japan. About a dozen short stories, varied in subject, but all centered on Japan and/or Kyoto, and hitting on the themes of aging and generational connection, life and duty, and is reminiscent of Sawako Ariyoshi, in being the be......more

Goodreads review by Alan M on April 06, 2020

I really did want to enjoy this collection of short stories, and whilst some of them were interesting enough to keep me reading, I'm afraid the whole feel of the collection just let it down. Most, if not all, of the stories involve some sort of 'epiphany', where the central character comes to realis......more

Goodreads review by Books on Asia on February 06, 2021

Rebecca Otowa brings touching stories of Japanese life, traditional and modern, and the people who populate them, foreign and Japanese, into our consciousness. Her gift for detail and her observation of the subtle and intricate ways of the Japanese is a treasure. Some of these stories touched me dee......more

Goodreads review by J.L. on January 03, 2021

From the unique standpoint of an American woman who married into a Japanese family and has lived in Japan for more than thirty years, Rebecca Otowa weaves enchanting tales of her adopted home that portray the perspective of both the Japanese and the foreigner on the universal issues that face us all......more

Goodreads review by Manjyot on September 08, 2023

Picked this up on a whim. Collection of short stories all set in Japan. Some I liked, others not so much. On the whole enjoyed it for a change between novels and for easier reading on my way to work and back but wouldn’t really say it’s a memorable read for me.......more