Japan Ai: A Tall Girl's Adventures in Japan

AUTHOR: Steinberger, Aimee Major

ARTIST: Aimee Major Steinberger (illustrator)

PUBLISHER: Go! Comi

FIRST BOOK PUBLICATION: 2007

Publication History

In 2002, Aimee Major Steinberger was surfing the World Wide Web when she discovered a Web site for a ball-jointed doll called the “Super Dollfie,” manufactured by Volks, a Japanese company. Each doll is custom-made, and the buyer is provided with an “adoption” certificate. At that time, the dolls were not sold in the United States. Steinberger helped start another Web site dedicated to these dolls and went on to become a part-time staff writer for Haute Doll magazine.

When Steinberger decided to take a vacation in Japan, she contacted the management of Volks, and they agreed to a meeting. Steinberger then persuaded two of her friends to join her for the trip. She kept a diary in the form of drawings, and when she returned to the United States she considered publishing them herself in a book-length format. She mentioned her idea to a friend, an employee of Go! Comi, an American mangapublisher, who then expressed an interest in publishing it. Designer James Dashiell of Go! Comi helped Steinberger edit and lay out the material and shape it into a coherent story, deleting some of the redundant drawings and having her draw additional ones for parts of her trip that he felt she had neglected. The first edition came out in December, 2007.

Plot

The story is a simple, illustrated trip report, and each chapter corresponds to roughly one day of the trip. On their first full day in Japan, Steinberger and her two friends tour Kyoto, the capital of Japan until 1868, and visit its temples, including Kiyomizu, which was founded in 780 c.e. The following day, they visit the Yasaka Shrine (established 656 c.e.) and arrive in the middle of Setsubun, a celebration of the beginning of spring in which people dress in costumes; during this celebration, they watch two geishas perform a traditional dance.

On the third day, Steinberger and her friends visit a photography studio, where they dress in geisha costumes to have their pictures taken. On the fourth day, they take a train to visit an onsen (a hot-springs resort), where they stay in a traditional Japanese inn. On their fifth day, they attend the Takarazuka Revue, an all-female theater group that was founded in 1913. The company performs both Japanese and Western plays, but the cast always ends the show with a Las Vegas-style kick line and wear costumes featuring feathers and sequins. They also visit a costume salon where Steinberger dresses as Marie Antoinette and again has her photograph taken.

On the sixth day, the three are supposed to visit the Volks office but board the wrong train, an express to Tokyo, and have to reschedule. On the seventh day, they return to Tokyo by train, this time on purpose, and rent a small apartment. On days eight and nine, they visit the Tokyo Tower, an Internet café, Nakano Broadway, a mall, a “maid” café where the waitresses dress as maids, and another café called the Lockup, which is decorated like a dungeon and whose patrons are handcuffed. On the tenth day, a Sunday, they visit Harajuku Street, a neighborhood in Tokyo where people dress in costume every Sunday. They had brought “Lolita” costumes from the United States so they could join in. On their last full day in Japan, they finally visit the Volks office, which is located in the same building as the company’s largest store, a doll-themed café, and a doll museum. They also meet the president of Volks, Mr. Shigeta, and, on their last night in Japan they have dinner with him and his daughters at a traditional Japanese restaurant.

Characters

• Aimee Major Steinberger, the narrator, is an American writer, layout artist, and animator. A self-proclaimed “geek,” she likes video games; science-fiction television shows and films; costuming, for which she has won awards at conventions; dolls; and comic books, especially manga. She is also administrator for denofangels.com, an English-language Web site devoted to ball-jointed dolls such as Dollfies. She is 6 feet tall, which causes many Japanese to stare at her. She lives in California with her husband Mitch and is a 2001 graduate of the California Institute of the Arts.

• A. J., one of Aimee’s companions on her trip to Japan, is a Chinese American software engineer who sings in Chinese operas and likes pants with chains. She suffers from narcolepsy and has many tattoos. Since, according to Steinberger, only samurai and members of the yakuza (organized crime) have tattoos in Japan, she is given considerable attention. Like Aimee, she is a costumer and a self-proclaimed geek.

• Judy, Aimee’s other companion on the trip, is a Croatian American estate planner who likes Victorian dresses, making hats, and chain mail. She does not like Japanese teas, finding them too bitter, and finds that her breasts are too large for kimonos to fit her comfortably. Like Aimee and A. J., she is a costumer and a self-proclaimed geek.

• Mr. Shigeta is thepresident of Volks, which is owned by his family.

Artistic Style

The simplest way to describe Steinberger’s Artistic style is “cute.” Her style in the narrative sections is minimalist, casual, clean, simple, and cartoonish, occasionally showing the influence of old Disney cartoons. The drawings are mostly black against a plain white background and are done using pencils, not pens or brushes. Her style is so minimal that in her drawings people do not have noses. Nonetheless, her characters express a wide range of emotion. Her emphasis is on character and action, and she only shows those backgrounds that are absolutely necessary to tell her story. Even though she mentions crowds frequently, she rarely depicts one. The sections explaining Japanese culture and showing Japanese landscapes are more detailed, but her transitions between the two styles are smooth.

Only some of the illustrations are in color, and even these are drawn in Steinberger’s minimalist style; examples include the pages in which she introduces herself, her husband, and her companions. Among the costumes illustrated in color are traditional geisha and maiko (a geisha’s apprentice) wardrobes, the ones worn at the Takarazuka Revue, Lolita costumes, and ones worn by cross-dressing male rock-and-roll singers. One scene that is not drawn in color depicts Steinberger inadvertently wandering into an S and M shop.

The book has a sparkling pink cover, which some readers may find too feminine. There is even some controversy over whether Japan Ai should really be considered a graphic novel. While every page is illustrated, it is not broken down into panels and, in fact, some pages are mostly text with one small illustration. Other pages consist of maps or diagrams.

Themes

In Japanese, ai means “love,” which describes Steinberger’s feelings for and enthusiasm toward Japanese popular culture. As with most personal-trip reports, the author focuses on the parts of the places she visits that interest her rather than trying to be comprehensive, as in a formal travel guide. It is not a voyage of self-discovery, as Steinberger is the same person before and after the trip, so to call the book “travel literature” would be rather pretentious. It is light in its tone and definitely oriented toward women and fans of manga and anime. It would be more accurate to call the work an illustrated travel journal.

The conflict of cultures occurs many times, such as when Aimee, A. J., and Judy insist on wearing bathing suits at the communal bath where everyone else is naked. The author also comments on the small bathrooms and crowded trains. Because she is 6 feet tall, she has a hard time fitting into some restrooms and is never comfortable having to squat to urinate, as opposed to sitting, since few toilets have seats. The vending machines sell teas, coffees, and hot chocolate, but rarely soft drinks. The three friends did like the idea of women-only train cars, a policy implemented because sexual harassment is a problem on trains in Japan.

There are also comparisons between older Japan, represented by Kyoto, and the newer Japan, represented by Tokyo. In Kyoto, they visit temples and shrines that are more than one thousand years old and see geishas perform a traditional dance. In Tokyo, they visit stores, malls, and themed cafés. They dress in geisha costumes for one day in Kyoto and in Lolita costumes for one day in Tokyo.

Impact

In 2009, the Young Adult Library Service Association selected Japan Ai for its list of “Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens,” and its list of “2009 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers.” Japan Ai was the only book to make both lists. With those kinds of endorsements, Japan Ai gained considerable respectability among librarians, and copies can be found in many libraries around the country. Since the book comes with a glossary, it can also serve as an introduction to manga and animefor people not familiar with those art forms.Examples of manga and anime given within the text and in the glossary are Bleach (2002- ), Chobits (2001-2002), Fruits Basket (1999-2007), InuYasha (1996-2008), and Revolution Girl Utena (1996-1997).

Further Reading

Cleveland, Ann. It’s Better with Your Shoes Off (1955).

Steinberger, Aimee Major. Cosplay Ai (2009).

Williamson, Kate T. A Year in Japan (2006).

Bibliography

Goldsmith, Francisca. “Japan Ai: A Tall Girl’s Adventures in Japan.” Review of Japan Ai: A Tall Girl’s Adventures in Japan, by Aimee Major Steinberger. Booklist 104, no. 15 (April 1, 2008): 39.

“Japan Ai: A Tall Girl’s Adventures in Japan.” Review of Japan Ai: A Tall Girl’s Adventures in Japan, by Aimee Major Steinberger. Publisher’s Weekly 254, no. 50 (December 17, 2007): 40.

Kan, Kat. “Pirates, Zombies, Racing, and Being a Stranger in a Strange Land.” Voice of Youth Advocates 31, no. 1 (April, 2008): 36.