At Home in Japan

At Home in Japantells the true story of a foreign woman who has been, for 30 years, the housewife, custodian and chatelaine of a 350-year-old farmhouse in rural Japan. This astonishing book traces a circular path, from the basic physical details of life in the house and village, through relationships with family, neighbors and the natural and supernatural entities with whom the family shares the house. Rebecca Otowa then focuses on her inner life, touching on some of the pivotal memories of her time in Japan, the lessons in perception that Japan has taught her and, finally, the ways in which she has been changed by living in Japan. An insightful and compelling read,At Home in Japanis a beautifully written and illustrated reminiscence of a simple life made extraordinary.

Rebecca Otowa has lived in Japan for thirty years, leaving her California home in 1967, and her adopted home of Brisbane, Australia in 1978, to strike out in this new life direction. She and her husband Toshiro live in a rural area near Kyoto, in a farmhouse that has been in her husband's family since it was built in the 1600's. This is her first book.