At Home in Japan

At Home in Japan

Rarely do people step out of their comfort zone and submerge themselves into an environment so unlike the one they have grown accustomed to, especially one with a 17-hour difference. Rebecca Otowa, however, found herself many time zones later in a place not alike suburban California at all: rural Japan. Her book At Home in Japan tells the story of how she came to call this place “home” and how the Western mindset that accompanied her throughout her journey made it difficult to assimilate to Japan. This book holds the challenges she overcame and the details of life in Japan which successfully helped mold Otowa into the Japanese housewife and chatelaine of a 350-year-old farmhouse she is today.

Fated to meet her husband, Toshiro, Otowa was bound to become the daughter-in-law of the lady of the house during that time who was Toshio’s mother. In her book, Otowa recount back to the struggles when she was not yet knowledgeable and therefore making her mother-in-laws’ teaching seem to never cease. There were certain ways to do things around the house such as the duties in the bathroom and the roles in the kitchen. Unlike the Americans who can choose to shower in the morning in no particular order, the Japanese people take a cleansing bath in the same water at night in a strict order. Not only was the housewife in charge of making sure the bathing process ran smoothly, but prior to everyone’s bath and the last bath being hers, she also had to make sure the water was not dirty by taking out any particles as learnt in class. Being scolded by her mother-in-law when she tried to jump the queue, Otowa was made aware that such behaviors were not tolerated. To an outsider, the mother-in-law, so particular in how she wanted things run, may seem to be a mere annoyance. While a Westerner cannot apprehend the reasons for such complications, Otowa has learnt to wait for the day when she is no longer last in line. She learned that such an order exists to reflect...