Eric Paul Shaffer Reverses the Question

So, Eric, you lived in Okinawa the same years I lived in Shizuoka City, the setting for American Fuji. What did you find in American Fuji that corresponded with your life on the island?

The difficulties that Gaby and Alex, as gaijin, have in acquiring solid information were familiar to me. Many times I wondered why I was unable to get answers to what seemed to be basic and simple questions, such as how I should acquire a parking space at my apartment complex. I am very glad I didn’t have to research the sorts of questions Gaby and Alex were faced with. My faculty meetings, like Gaby's, lasted countless hours, and it was difficult to get an answer to what I was voting for even though I was told which way to vote. I also found the same juxtapositions jarring that Alex does. For example, I found a nation that values individual reputation as highly as Japan does somewhat in contradiction with the high incidence of drinking and driving I actually witnessed there.

A few readers get upset when I point out aspects of Japan such as the 10,000 yen fine for vomiting in a taxi or my description of drunk businessmen puking on the sidewalk. I witnessed these signs of rampant alcoholism and it is real, but I have been accused of being mean-spirited to include it (and other details people regard as "negative") in my novel. Do you experience the same backlash? The notion that it's our duty, as fiction writers, to make sure readers have a good impression of the culture?

When I am faced with a question based on a notion like this, I find it exceedingly instructive to reverse the question. How likely is it that Japanese will promote this attitude: "we, as Japanese, should only write about positive features of America and make sure readers have a good impression of the culture." My experience indicates that this is not the case. Many are the justified and accurate and incisive critiques of America that I have heard from Japanese people who were resident aliens of the USA. As a result, I portray the Japan and Okinawa I "knew" in my writing, always from the "inside-outsider" perspective, which acknowledges its inherent limitations, and employ what I saw to tell stories about what appeared to be happening. What other choice do we have?

Could you explain the baffling juxtapositions of this photo?

The name of the business is “Misuta Sain” (Mister Sign) and he is advertising his Christmas sale. It struck me as odd that it was okay with our security forces and military bases that a perimeter fence be adorned with advertising. It also struck me as odd that the American and Japanese flags are flying side by side on Okinawan soil WITHOUT AN OKINAWAN FLAG.

Next up: Shaffer on climbing Mt. Fuji

Eric Paul Shaffer's Favorite Japanese Novelists

Which Japanese novelists would you recommend to our readers?

Dazai (especially The Setting Sun and No Longer Human, both of which acknowledge a side of Japanese culture I glimpsed but that is often unacknowledged and for his stark lyricality) Öe (for the same reasons), Sōseki (for his crazy inventiveness, humor, and honest portrayal of Japanese culture), and Akutagawa (for Kappa, a charming novel). Oddly, I find the work of H. Murakami, the popular contemporary Japanese author, interesting but a bit plodding compared to the more intricate yet lighter, though deeper, work of these others.

Eric Paul Shaffer on Living in Okinawa

I noticed that living in Japan changed the way I related to my native English language. I spoke, wrote, read, and even thought differently. Did living in Japan change the way you wrote poetry and fiction?

Absolutely. Not only did living in Japan supply entirely new subject matter for my writing, but Japan provided me a completely different perspective as a writer. Because of my new location, I began reading more and more about the history of Japan and America, two nations whose histories are so inter-twined that they will never be free of each other again. Because I am a student of literature, I read novels, non-fiction, and poetry by Okinawan and Japanese authors. In another way, living in Japan broadened me as a writer in ways that I might never have experienced in the USA. If we are each the sum of our experiences, then I was most definitely changed, and I hope it was for the better, by living on Okinawa and in Japan.

Care to explain the visual pun in your photo?

It’s a Japanese crane and cherry blossoms: symbols of longevity and transience side by side.

Interview with Eric Paul Shaffer

My next few posts will feature an interview with poet and novelist Eric Paul Shaffer. He's a good friend of mine who taught English at a national Japanese university on the tropical island of Okinawa the same years I taught in Shizuoka on mainland Japan.

Eric Paul Shaffer is the author of five books of poetry, including Lāhaina Noon; Living at the Monastery, Working in the Kitchen; and (my favorite) Portable Planet. His poetry appears in Ploughshares, Slate, North American Review, Threepenny Review, and reviews in Australia, Canada, England, Iran, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, and Scotland. Shaffer received the 2002 Elliot Cades Award for Literature, a 2006 Ka Palapala Po'okela Book Award for Lāhaina Noon, and the 2009 James M. Vaughan Award for Poetry. Burn & Learn, his first novel, was published in November 2009. After living on Okinawa and Maui, he now lives on O'ahu and teaches at Honolulu Community College.

Please feel free to post your own questions for Eric as we go along!

Obligation Chocolate

In American Fuji, I mentioned the ongoing "invisible obligation game" that Americans find baffling. To oversimplify, you owe every person who does you a favor or gives you a present. But paying back your social debt can be nerve-wrecking as it's nearly impossible to match an action or gift with the one you received. To be safe, you usually overdo it, which then puts the burden on the recipient to come back with another favor or gift, and the obligation ledger goes back and forth, adding and subtracting perceived value for a lifetime. Valentine's Day is an obligation day in Japan which requires women to give chocolate (giri-choco) to their male co-workers and acquaintances. They may also choose to give honmei-choco to their sweethearts. Most Japanese women I knew resented the holiday because buying small boxes of chocolate for 30-40 men put a dent in their budgets. Perhaps these days there is less pressure to conform to this tradition. Mieji, a popular Japanese chocolatier, makes many ingenious chocolates, such as this Tetris puzzle chocolate bar.

Year of the Tiger 2010

Here's a lovely tiger I photographed at Sengen Jinja Shrine in Shizuoka City. In Japan, the year of the Tiger began Feb. 4, but in China it starts Feb. 14 this year. The astrology is far more complex than assigning 12 animals to 12 personality types. Concurrent 5-year cycles of elements (earth, fire, water, wood, and metal) create 60 basic types, modified by the month, day, and hour of one's birth and all of their corresponding animals and elements. Your "lucky" element is the one you most lack--reinforcing Eastern ideas of the rightness of balance. If you're curious, click here to see what your luck will be for 2010.

Thoughts on American Fuji

This new blog, Two Bowls of Ramen, featured an unusual review of American Fuji with a sensitive exploration of Gaby Stanton's character. Check it out and leave a comment!

How Readers Can Help Writers

When I visited a local book club this month, a question I hadn’t heard before came up: “How can we help writers whose books we like?”

I was impressed that these kind readers were aware that writers need help. With more titles competing in a declining overall market, books--especially fiction--no longer sell themselves on their own merit. Many fiction writers fade out of sight after their debut novel. Advances, smaller than ever, no longer allow new writers the reward of quitting their day jobs. The stolen weekends and evenings newly-published authors used to spend writing are now required to service vastly increased PR responsibilities such as maintaining a web site, blogging, and networking, in addition to constantly scrounging for whatever reviews, radio interviews, conference talks, or readings they can get. No matter how much work the author puts into book promotion, though, it doesn’t necessarily result in sales. Let’s face it: any author telling the world how wonderful his own book is comes across as being biased! And if his first book doesn’t sell, the publisher won’t print a second.

What’s needed is the elusive word-of-mouth from readers who liked the book. So, next time you read a good book, here’s what you can do to help sales and perhaps have a chance to read another book by the same writer.

First, buy the book. Publishers don’t care how many people read a book: only how many pay for it. Most people know that writers make nothing if you check out their work from the library, but many don’t realize writers get no royalties from used book or remaindered book purchases. If your budget is tight, buy discounted new books, which still provide the writers with a small percentage. Royalties for e-books are higher than print, so choosing to go green will help your favorite authors as well as the environment.

Second, don’t be silent! There are ways to speak up, and all are free.

You may already be speaking up without saying a word. Every time you read in public, you are providing a subtle ad for the book. So, take your book to work, read in the subway, read in the cafe or mall, and hold that cover high.

Writing to authors to let them know you enjoyed their books provides valuable encouragement in a lonely profession. You don’t need to be careful with your grammar or craft an elaborate letter. One sentence such as “hey, I really liked reading your book” is as welcome as an elegant essay.

Post comments on author’s blogs. Comments make a blog seem livelier and generate more interest. If you’re shy, use only your first name or be anonymous.

Post reader “reviews” on online booksellers’ sites. Keep in mind there are always disgruntled or jealous crackpots posting 1-star reviews out of pure spite, so give the highest star rating you can. 5 stars means you liked it a lot, not that it’s a masterwork of literature. Don’t stress about reviewing. Keep it short and either mention a few details you particularly enjoyed, or that it kept you reading from start to finish. While Indie Bound, Amazon and Barnes & Noble are the primary online sources, also visit book groups and independent book stores and post reviews there. With less traffic, your positive review will get more attention and mean more. Some Indie bookstores, such as Powell’s of Portland, Oregon offer a chance to win free books for posting the first review.

While you’re visiting Amazon.com, take a moment to “tag” the book. Sign in as a customer, then scroll down to “Tags Customers Associate with This Product” and check 15 boxes. Check the popular tags to build numbers and whatever other tags you think apply. This is not a small thing, as tagging will help the title show up in customer searches.

You can help several books with one post by creating a customer "list" on any book retailer's site which includes the titles and authors of books you like. All of this can be done anonymously or with a pseudonym. Your list can be books you recommend for reading groups, or books to read on an airplane, or books set in other countries--anything you can imagine.

Tell your friends about the book on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Goodreads, and any other social sites you use. Be sure to include the title and author’s full name. Add a link to the author’s web site or blog and get a photo of the book jacket to accompany your post. If you blog, please, oh, please mention the title and author in a post! Include links or photos whenever you can. To kick it up a level, invite the author to do an interview on your blog. Ask questions you genuinely want to know about the book, the author, or the subject. It's perfectly all right to ask just one question.

These ideas are not as much work as they seem. The same review can be posted on multiple web sites. Tagging takes only a few seconds, and commenting on blogs can be fun, even addictive. If your time is limited, keep in mind the best selling authors will do well without your help; focus on new authors and the books you’ve found off the beaten path. Usually, these authors will thank you with personal responses.

Writing is a difficult profession and success is haphazard. Spreading the word about a good book is a way to give back to the person whose writing reached you.

Sara Backer copyright 2010

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Lost Decade Culvert, Part 2

I took this photograph from the same spot as the other one, looking upstream toward the mountains. Here, you can see my local nuclear power plant and, to its right, the "hook" described in American Fuji (p.277-8): "A long-legged bird picked its way through construction gravel blocking the trickle of the stream. Alex looked up the scaffolding of the mechanical crane to the bright white sky, in which a giant hook balanced, poised and ready." (The birds I saw were herons; the only Japanese cranes I saw were the man-made kind.)

Lost Decade Culvert, Part 1

I was in Japan in the early part of its now-famous "lost decade" when the government was funding unnecessary public works projects to stimulate employment. My neighborhood project (about two blocks from my apartment) was turning a natural creek into a concrete culvert. I described it from Alex's point of view in American Fuji (p.277): "The chain-link fence on either side of the culvert was coated in toothpaste-blue plastic. Natural mud banks covered with grasses and hydrangeas stopped abruptly at new concrete walls flanking the stony stream." This photo almost shows the mud banks. I'm facing the ocean, looking downstream.

Wednesday Is Water Day

Here is the lovely kanji for water, which is mizu in Japanese or sui in combination with other characters, such as suiyoubi for Wednesday. In American Fuji, Gaby notes (as I did) how delicious plain tap water was in Shizuoka City. I had never thought about the taste of water much (except when I lived where the water was harsh--yes, I mean Davis, California) but in Shizuoka the difference is striking. I learned Shizuoka is famous for its water within Japan. I wonder if the proximity to volcanic mountains has something to do with this. Do layers of obsidian and pumice help filter water? Does anyone know?

Lost in Shizuoka

Oshika Street was the "shopping" street in my neighborhood which I described on p.187 of American Fuji: "Alex came to a diagonal street crowded with small shops. Sidewalk bins, telephone poles, pedestrians, and parked cars all competed for space on each side of the road, narrowing traffic to one lane. Alex stood under the red-and-yellow striped awning of a candy stores and opened his map, looking for any street that cut a hypotenuse through the typical grid. He'd never take named streets for granted again." When I ventured out exploring on my red bicycle (looking much like the man in this photo) I learned to look backward every so often to help orient myself in new parts of the city. I was happy to find any landmarks--like a diagonal street--to find my way home.

A Review from a Portland JET

This review (like American Fuji itself) is not what you'd expect, but I was charmed by Brittany Holman's direct, impassioned style. It's so rewarding to get support from others who have lived in Japan.

Cold Sunrise

The Japanese New Year's Day tradition is to wake early (3-4 a.m.) and go to the nearest ocean to watch the sun rise. (It's not called "the land of the rising sun" for nothing.) I'm sorry to report I never observed that tradition, despite my best intentions. I set my alarm, but each year, the warmth of my futon won out over riding my trusty red bicycle to the coast in the dark and freezing night.