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nuhafariha 's review for:
Gaijin
by Sarah Z. Sleeper
Thank you to Running Wild Press and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!
Available August 6th 2020
Set in modern day Okinawa, Japan, 20 something year old blonde haired wide eyed Lucy is taken for the adventure of her lifetime when she sets off to be a foreign correspondent and uncover the mystery behind her ephemeral love affair with Owen Ota, a rich Japanese exchange student at NorthWestern. When she arrives in Japan, however, Lucy is in for a rude awakening as the people of Okinawa are in the middle of a protest against a US Solider accused of brutally raping a local Okinawan resident. Unwittingly thrust into the middle of racial tensions in her small town, Lucy starts to question her own motives in coming to Japan.
What strikes me the most is Lucy's constant claim to victimhood. She is always "misunderstood" by the Ota family, by her peers at the local newspaper, by the general public. She inherently believes that as an American citizen, she would be welcomed anywhere with open arms and cannot believe it when she isn't.
I did more reading on the history of sexually violent crimes by US military in Okinawa. In the 1950s, when occupation of Okinawa just began, conservative Japanese historians estimates that there were 330 sexual assault incidents per day by US military forces in the Far East. Since 2015, 65 US Marines have been charged with sexual assault crimes, though many more go unreported. 46 of those targeted children. In most of these trials, the US military members are given significant considerations due to their status. In light of these facts, Sleeper's portrayal of the court case seems almost superficial and pallid.
What is disappointing about this book is that Sleeper had a real chance at creating a cohesive work that explores the underside of US military occupation, that creates solidarity between Okinawans and the US. But she instead chooses to focus on the plight and naivety of a single, class and racially privileged white woman.
Available August 6th 2020
Set in modern day Okinawa, Japan, 20 something year old blonde haired wide eyed Lucy is taken for the adventure of her lifetime when she sets off to be a foreign correspondent and uncover the mystery behind her ephemeral love affair with Owen Ota, a rich Japanese exchange student at NorthWestern. When she arrives in Japan, however, Lucy is in for a rude awakening as the people of Okinawa are in the middle of a protest against a US Solider accused of brutally raping a local Okinawan resident. Unwittingly thrust into the middle of racial tensions in her small town, Lucy starts to question her own motives in coming to Japan.
What strikes me the most is Lucy's constant claim to victimhood. She is always "misunderstood" by the Ota family, by her peers at the local newspaper, by the general public. She inherently believes that as an American citizen, she would be welcomed anywhere with open arms and cannot believe it when she isn't.
I did more reading on the history of sexually violent crimes by US military in Okinawa. In the 1950s, when occupation of Okinawa just began, conservative Japanese historians estimates that there were 330 sexual assault incidents per day by US military forces in the Far East. Since 2015, 65 US Marines have been charged with sexual assault crimes, though many more go unreported. 46 of those targeted children. In most of these trials, the US military members are given significant considerations due to their status. In light of these facts, Sleeper's portrayal of the court case seems almost superficial and pallid.
What is disappointing about this book is that Sleeper had a real chance at creating a cohesive work that explores the underside of US military occupation, that creates solidarity between Okinawans and the US. But she instead chooses to focus on the plight and naivety of a single, class and racially privileged white woman.