MariNaomi is a terrific graphic memoirist, and Turning Japanese is probably her most well written to date. The story she tells spans her time working in Japanese hostess bars in San Jose and working and vacationing Japan, with the goal of getting in touch with her Japanese roots. Though this is a big story with a number of events as well as changes in the thoughts and feelings of a young adult about herself, her relationships, and her family and culture, MariNaomi deftly navigates the storytelling and gives the reader an immersive perspective into this period in her life. Though I have few similarities in my life to draw comparisons to this time in hers, I felt the certain universalities in her story and found myself reflecting on my own life, which to me is an exciting part of a thought provoking memoir.