In the early 1970s, Professor Gail Lee Bernstein lived with a rural farming family on Shikoku Island, Japan. There, she recorded the actions, words, thoughts, ideas, and struggles of her host family. As she overcame the initial resistance of her host family, and then eventually, that of the community in which she lived, Dr. Bernstein was exposed to a life that few foreigners had ever had a chance to write about.

Haruko (the matron of Bernstein's host family) helped, at and the same time, hindered, the ability of the author to record a true snapshot of the community. However, Bernstein's gift to cut through this tangle into the true hearts of her subjects allows her to understand what drives the residents of this community. In turn, Berstein is able to connect her community to the changes in Japan as a whole.

A must read for students of Japanese History and/or Cultural Anthropology, and a great-if-read by anyone else.

I think this is a good book for anyone who would like to know more about the Japanese families, and their culture. The writer went to Japan in the 80s and lived with a Japanese family and through them, she wrote this book. It deals especially with the relationship between a mother and her husband and children. The mother assumed the more traditional role of Asian women as she took care of everything and everyone in the household.

Besides that, most of the time, when we think of Japan, we usually have in mind, skyscrappers, the hectic life....but this book deals with the agriculture side of Japan.

It is a must read book as the author did a fantasic job of describing life in Japan as a foreigner, and the interaction she had with the villagers who had never or seldom met a foreigner.