Reviews

A Kickboxing Geishas: How Modern Japanese Women Are Changing Their Nation by Veronica Chambers

nattyg's review against another edition

4.0

I know it might be naive of me, but in a weird way I was looking for actual kickboxing geishas. But that is a metaphor for the stereotypical Japanese woman (geisha) breaking out of that role and re-defining it.

It was a fascinating read about a culture I knew little of. I liked it and recommend it for anyone interested in the culture, women, and/or changing roles.

The only thing I wish was addressed was the choice of women choosing to be wives/mothers. In presenting all the choices women are choosing (politics, business, not being a mother) I felt the author took the role of housewife as the default and not a choice. Maybe I don't know enough of the culture to know different, or maybe I'm enforcing my "western viewpoint" but having the ability and freedom to choose and choosing to be a housewife is just as important as choosing to not be one.

ejmiddleton's review against another edition

4.0

I really liked this book. Maybe it's because I can't actually visit another country in real life, so I'm stuck with armchair traveling. Regardless, I really liked her choice of giving in-depth information on a few people rather than reading generic statistics about all Japanese.

mariederohan's review against another edition

3.0

Fun to read with some interesting stories about successful women in Japan that have been able to break the rules and go for their dreams. However, the author talked too much about herself, and I wanted to read about japanese women, not about Americans in Japan.
The effort is appreciated, though.

akagingerk's review against another edition

4.0

This is an interesting collection of interviews with women throughout Japan. The women are artists and performers, housewives and corporate managers, small business owners and office ladies. The interviews are organized around various themes, and the women are thereby presented as facing a number of issues both specifically Japanese and universal. Chambers provides a great glimpse behind the Western stereotypes of what it means to be female in Japan.

geriatricgretch's review against another edition

2.0

2.5 stars? I don't know - I'm really glad this book exists but I wanted it to be a slightly different book. It is extremely readable and accessible (except for the repeated and labored metaphor introductions to topics and typos), and I was so excited to finally find a book on this subject before going to Japan. Lots of the information was interesting, but it just...fell flat for me. So many of the interviews are still reported through the lens of the author, which is interesting up to a point, but it felt like I was losing some of the voices of the interviewees. The conversational style did not always work for me on paper, either.

Also, this is not at all the fault of the book or author, but it was frustrating that it was so old (2007) but used contemporary references so prevalently. I also want to know what's changed since then, especially laws and policies.

Lastly, many of the interviews were great, but I really loved the interview with the lesbian politician - learning both about LGBTQ culture and attitudes as well as how politics works in Japan was fascinating. I wish there had been more.