Pallavi Aiyar might just become my favourite author from now. Oh the way she has written this book! It is so coherent and full of so many information that I am bursting with knowledge. Let’s get two things out of the way. She has acknowledged her privilege background and so her experience of living in Japan is based on her living in better conditions and she also compares the country of her birth against the country she is currently living in and she has written this in the most honest way a journalist can write something. Japan is a country I have long been interested in. My interest in Japanese culture has started from anime and then I went on to read a lot of Japanese fiction, which has allowed me to gain insights into Japanese culture, but nothing Pallavi Aiyer has written hand me prepared to know Japan in this way. Having lived in various countries and being a Journalist, she knows best on how to read a country and its culture. She has picked up the essence of Japanese culture & the raw materials that makes this country. The book has a lot of info dumping sure but if you read it with patience, you will be gaining so much insights and be able to retain knowledge in the most easy way. Her book is coherent and structured. She might have wanted to say a lot more but she has touched on the most important topics that will appeal to a wider audience. My favourite has been the Indian-Japanese ties of the past of which I was totally unaware of. Aiyer has balanced the good & the bad of Japan and intelligently drew comparisons with India in some areas to throw light on customs we can adapt to grow ourselves not just as a nation but as human beings also. 

Pallavi Aiyer has made me realise that there is so much to know about any country and her books are a perfect way to start with.