Orienting : An Indian in Japan

By Pallavi Aiyar

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About the book

How is Tokyo, a city of thirty million people, so safe that six-year-old children commute to school on their own? Why are there no trashcans in Japanese cities? Why are Ganesha idols in Japanese temples hidden from public view? Globe-trotting journalist Pallavi Aiyar moves to Japan and takes an in-depth look at the island country including its culinary, sanitary and floral idiosyncrasies. Steering through the many (mis)adventures that come from learning a new language, imbibing new cultural etiquette, and asking difficult questions about race, Aiyar explores why Japan and India find it hard to work together despite sharing a long civilizational history. Part travelogue, part reportage, Orienting answers questions that have long confounded the rest of the world with Aiyar’s trademark humour. Tackling both the significant and the trivial, the quirky and the quotidian, here is an Indian’s account of Japan that is as thought-provoking as it is charming.

Pages: 304

Available in: Paperback

Language: English

Pallavi Aiyar

Award-winning journalist Pallavi Aiyar has spent several years reporting from, and parenting in, China, Europe and Indonesia. She is the author of Smoke and Mirrors, Chinese Whiskers and Punjabi Parmesan. Pallavi is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, and a former Reuters Fellow at Oxford University.

Pallavi Aiyar has written, especially for Indians, but not only, a revealing, witty, sensitive, empathetic, insightful and highly readable book on understanding the inscrutable Japanese and their opaque society. It is equal to a dozen learned books on this subject. - Pavan Varma

Japan has long fascinated Indian political leaders, cultural personalities, administrators and scholars … Pallavi Aiyar’s perspective is, however, distinctive. She is an intrepid globe-trotter and a delightful storyteller. Having written earlier about her stints in China, Europe and Indonesia, she now turns her sharp eye for the unusual on Japan. Orienting will be of great value to the serious reader. But it is written in a most engaging manner, making it accessible to anyone seeking to understand the many complexities of Japanese society. - Jairam Ramesh

I was enchanted. There is a delightful surprise in every chapter of this charming, highly readable book about the weft and warp of daily life in inscrutable Japan, especially its moral complexity. - Gurcharan Das