Covers a wide variety of topics to a good level of detail. I couldn't get around the fact that there seemed to be a lot of blanket statements about Japan / Japanese culture. Maybe it was the phrasing (I've also never been to Japan, so I have no first-hand knowledge), but some parts came across as more stereotypical than informative.

This is an interesting book born out of the kirainet.com blog. It covers lots of aspects of Japanese life and culture, and has a surprising amount of detail. Written by a Spanish man living and working in Japan it gives an outsiders perspective, but that of someone living there long term. Lots of information was new to me or I just hadn't thought of while I was there. The translation occasionally feels a little awkward though. ( )

A Geek in Japan is one of those books I saw on the shelf at my local bookstore and just had to have. I love Japan and I love to learn more about it. A Geek in Japan is deceiving though, in that it contains much more information than you think at first glance. Hector Garcia has obviously put a lot of time and effort into researching this book, which delves into many aspects of Japan. It includes history, social structures (I learned more from this book than I did from six years of Japanese), culture, work life, leisure, anime, cosplay, vending machines, zen, Shinto, Buddhism, temples, shrines and walking tours of various places in Tokyo.

What I found very interesting was that according to Hector, the Japanese wish for harmony as a whole over triumph of the individual – which is very different to what occurs in the West. It was also interesting to see repetition given as a way of learning – if you do something hundreds of times, you will end up getting it right. The work structures were also very interesting – the consultation between many levels with the focus on precision. If I wasn’t a gaijin, I think I’d like this!

Hector explains things very clearly in the majority of circumstances but occasionally the English sounded a little ‘off’ to me (for example, a lot of use of the word ‘moreover’). This is a small thing to get used to.

I learnt so much from this book, more than I did over a long period of study and a long trip to Japan. It clarified a lot of things for me. Well done on a great book – this would certainly be of use to those going to Japan or just wanting to know more about it. The pictures are excellent too. ( )

pretty good i mean who cares abt my opnion🤷 ( )

Japan, Travel ( )