"In A Japanese House" tells the true story of a foreign woman who has been, for nearly 30 years, the housewife, custodian, and chatelaine of a 350-year-old farmhouse in rural Japan. The book traces a circular path, from the basic physical details of life in the house and village, through relationships with family, neighbours, and the natural and supernatural entities with whom the author shares the house. The author 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, and the ways in which she has been changed by living in Japan. The book contains approximately 40 original illustrations and 20 photographs.

Author Biography

Rebecca Otowa has lived in Japan for thirty years, leaving her original home in California in 1967, and her adopted home of Brisbane, Australia in 1978, to strike out in this new life direction. She and her husband Toshiro have raised two sons and now live in a rural area near Kyoto, in a 350-year-old farmhouse that has been in the family since its construction (or perhaps more accurately, the family has been in the house). As well as writing and teaching English, Rebecca loves growing vegetables and roses, reading (with one of her four cats on her lap), sewing, cooking, and voraciously watching English-language movies. Her social life is divided between local volunteer groups and the stage - music, amateur theatricals and country line dancing. Her happiest days are when her sons return home with their families and everyone is together again.