Review: "Turning Japanese" by MariNaomi

Turning Japanese (Extended Edition) by MariNaomi
Published June 2023 via Oni
★★★★

It's the 90s, and Mari is up for an adventure—and a challenge. Determination to learn enough Japanese to be able to communicate directly with extended family is the natural impetus for those adventures: a job as a hostess in a Japanese bar and, eventually, an extended trip to Japan to explore and learn and catch up with family.

The art here is black and white, very clean and often spare; it took me a moment to get into it after the explosion of color of the photographs at the beginning of the book. It's the storytelling that sells me, though—the storytelling and the little quips of humor. ("I didn't MEAN to step on its head!" protests child-Mari as the baby sister wails in the background (93).) According to the author's note at the end, this started as a story about an unusual job, and there is indeed plenty about the experience of working as a hostess. I love how matter-of-factly it's approached, neither exoticised nor demonised, just exploring what it was like (good and bad) to work that job for a time, and the other hostesses and customers.

But while the book is more interesting for the hostess job, it's also more interesting for the fact that the hostess job is not what holds it together—what holds the book together is rather this question of language acquisition and, to a lesser extent, identity. Throughout the book, Mari's mother periodically tries and fails to answer the question of why she didn't teach her children Japanese. She never has a satisfactory response, for the reader or for Mari, but gradually some of the complexities of living a multilingual life—and of some surprisingly rebellious choices—start to sink in for Mari. The version I read is an extended edition, with epilogues touching on later years, and although short they're very valuable for a sense of closure.

3.5 stars—3 for the art (well done but not my preferred style) and 4 for the story.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.