Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
2020 Challenge - Advanced
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04 - A book set in Japan (host of the 2020 Olympics)


So far I will read The Way of the 88 Temples: Journeys on the Shikoku Pilgrimage


I've been so looking forward to her next book, but didn't know it would take place in Japan. Can't wait to read it.

As I said in the thread for the Olympic host prompt, Tokyo Ueno Station deals with both the 1964 and 2020 Olympics and takes place in Tokyo.

The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn is also a great read if you enjoy young adult mysteries.

³§³óŲµ³Ü²Ô is historical fiction set in Japan.


I am pretty sure the Japanese wouldn't appreciate being called "people of color", as it sounds racist even to me... It's very much a US term and not exactly politically correct in most other countries, I believe. And I wouldn't use it for Africans or Latin Americans, either, or anyone else really, except maybe for US Americans.

Silence and Beauty: Hidden Faith Born of Suffering
xxxHolic, Vol. 1 if manga counts. Actually this would work for the Olympics prompt too since it's set in modern-day Tokyo.

My understanding is that persons of colour are anyone who isn't white. Japan has a long history of racism in and of itself although things are changing there now, but I suspect it would depend on who you ask and where they live. AND here is an article by an East Asian woman who is angry when people don't call East Asians people of colour .

The Usagi Yojimbo series is another great choice for this challenge.

You’re not wrong"
Maybe that's true in the US where people are still categorized by "race" (which says a lot about the country...) but I doubt that a Japanese author living in Japan defines herself by a term invented and used almost solely by Americans and one that probably doesn't actually mean anything to her (not to mention that her skin looks about as white as mine). She isn't American so could you please keep your racist labels to yourself and not apply them to the rest of the world that doesn't agree with them? (And where a Caucasian means a person from the Caucasus region, not a racial definition that, ironically, probably doesn't include the real Caucasians.)
Also that article seems to have been written by an Asian American and she only writes about issues concerning USA, so I doubt she is talking for all the Asian people living in Asia, only (maybe) for those living in the US. It's still an US American perspective, not an Asian one.


Cece wrote: "The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley takes place in Japan. It's the sequel to The Watchmaker of Filigree Street and comes out in February 2020."
Oh yay I didn't know it was going to be a series! I'm so excited now. Loved the first one so much.

Tytti wrote: "Nadine wrote: "Drakeryn wrote: "I thought Asians count as persons of color. Is that wrong?"
You’re not wrong"
Maybe that's true in the US where people are still categorized by "race" (which says..."
Tytti - You've made it clear that you don't like the term. But you know that neither I nor anyone else in this group created the term, nor did we create this list, so arguing about its offensiveness is not productive here. You are free to interpret it in a way that works for you, or to ignore it entirely and make a new category for yourself.
You’re not wrong"
Maybe that's true in the US where people are still categorized by "race" (which says..."
Tytti - You've made it clear that you don't like the term. But you know that neither I nor anyone else in this group created the term, nor did we create this list, so arguing about its offensiveness is not productive here. You are free to interpret it in a way that works for you, or to ignore it entirely and make a new category for yourself.

I agree it's a great book I read it recently and loved it so much I plann to read all the books my library has as soon as possible.
So my books for this propt will be either Das Museum der Stille lit. transl: The Museum of Silence or Schwimmen mit Elefanten lit. transl: Swimming With Elephant(s)


I LOVED this book. I'm going to try her book Real World for this prompt. The ratings aren't quite as high but it sounds interesting anyway.



You’re not wrong"
Maybe that's true in the US where people are still categorized by "race" (which says..."
Someone in Japan might not, but there are many people of Japanese descent her who do, so the question is, since this is an American challenge, to we go by the American definition of the definition in the country of the author?
My mother's family comes from the very first country in the world to outlaw slavery back in 1117 AD (Iceland, whose history has been wrongly stereotyped as primarily pillaging Vikings--easy to google this) and my dad from a religion that has been both abolitionist and pacifistic since its inception about 500 years ago, and his family on both sides comes from generations of this. Since coming to Canada both sides of my family have been becoming more multi-racial through marriage and partnership and my entire family is accepting of this When one of my adopted brothers came out as gay in 1984 almost everyone was immediately accepting, plus my dad already knew but waited for him to come out). BUT I do have one aunt on my dad's side who was very mean to my brother about that, so I am not saying my family has all been accepting.
SO, what I find since coming to live in the US is that I am stereotyped before even opening my mouth, and so is almost everyone else.



/places/25-j...

A book that focuses on the female body & revolves around the stories of three women in Japan.
Will be published April 17, 2020

Books mentioned in this topic
Brilliance of the Moon (other topics)Convenience Store Woman (other topics)
Japanese Fairy Tales (other topics)
Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Vol. 1 (other topics)
What's Left of Me Is Yours (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Yei Theodora Ozaki (other topics)Yūto Tsukuda (other topics)
Clarissa Goenawan (other topics)
Kenneth Rexroth (other topics)
Hiro Arikawa (other topics)
More...
³§³óŲµ³Ü²Ô
Memoirs of a Geisha
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption
The Samurai's Garden
Listopia link: /list/show/1...