Rating: 
Summary: A glimpse into Japan of the late 1980's
Review: The primary strength of this book is the writing style. Unlike many books about Japanese culture, this book is funny and "living." The book contains a series of anecdotes, each one focusing on a particular experience that Bruce S. Feiler had during his stay. The stories are written as first-person memoirs, and cover such broad topics as Hiroshima and Nagasaki to how to date a Japanese girl. The writing is clever and engaging. The only thing I felt this book was lacking was an update of some sort. Written about 11 years ago, "Learning to Bow" is about Japan during the "bubble economy." Japan has gone through severe economic and societal changes since then, and I wonder how much of the information is still current. Surely, with the JET program in full swing for several decades now, the presence of foreigners is not such a surprise anymore. Also, the place of women has gone through some significant changes since this book was written. Still, anyone planning a long-term stay in Japan should read this book. It is fun, insightful and has great tips for climbing Mt. Fuji.
Rating:
Summary: A glimpse into Japan of the late 1980's
Review: The primary strength of this book is the writing style. Unlike many books about Japanese culture, this book is funny and "living." The book contains a series of anecdotes, each one focusing on a particular experience that Bruce S. Feiler had during his stay. The stories are written as first-person memoirs, and cover such broad topics as Hiroshima and Nagasaki to how to date a Japanese girl. The writing is clever and engaging. The only thing I felt this book was lacking was an update of some sort. Written about 11 years ago, "Learning to Bow" is about Japan during the "bubble economy." Japan has gone through severe economic and societal changes since then, and I wonder how much of the information is still current. Surely, with the JET program in full swing for several decades now, the presence of foreigners is not such a surprise anymore. Also, the place of women has gone through some significant changes since this book was written. Still, anyone planning a long-term stay in Japan should read this book. It is fun, insightful and has great tips for climbing Mt. Fuji.
Rating: 
Summary: A waste of paper.
Review: This book is one of many written during the "Bubble Era" by "gaijin" (primarily Americans) who really knew next to nothing about Japan, yet somehow found a publisher, usually Japanese. Another of this quickie genre published about the same time was a book for teaching profanity to Japanese studying English. "Learning to Bow" may by an accurate account of the author's experience living in Japan and teaching in the JET program. However, that's all it is. It's full of cliches, sweeping generalizations, and offers no insight into living in Japan or understanding the culture. What could the writer possibly know after only two years?
Rating:
Summary: Useful Information For Any Gaijin in Japan
Review: This book is useful for anyone moving to Japan, either as part of the JET Programme or any other reason. After living in Japan for a few years (not on the JET Programme) I recognized a lot of truth to what Feiler had to say. This book also provided me with an inside look at and the pros and cons of the Japanese school system. Through my own experience, I honestly am amazed at the amount of pressure placed on students to do well in school in Japan. For the most part, the students' effort pays off when they are accepted into a great high school or college, regardless of the two-hour-one-way commute some of them endure. At the same time, however, I wish the school system in Japan encouraged students to be more creative and that the environment allowed them to learn more about the world around them. Despite that, though, the Japanese people make great students and are some of the nicest people you'll meet in your life. This book, through the author's experiences in Tochigi Prefecture, show this and more, all in an entertaining, well-written way. And if for that reason alone, this book is worth reading once for anyone interested in Japan.
Rating:
Summary: It's realistic, funny and has perspective
Review: This book is very good. Having lived in Japan for a year and a half, I knew some of the realities of school life. This book de-mythologizes the educational system and shows you not only its impressive strengths, but also its fatal flaws. I thought it had a very balanced approach. It would be great to read whenever you feel that the American educational system is being left in the dust. It will raise your spirits.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting at least
Review: This book is well-written and flows very well. However, some of the events in the book and the way that they are described are too "black and white" for my tastes. A good read, but if you are considering teaching or living in Japan, take this book with a grain of salt.
Rating: 
Summary: Insightful, entertaining adventures of an American teacher
Review: _Learning to Bow_ is an engaging, very readable, incisive but affectionate memoir of an American teacher's sojourn in rural Japan. Especially hilarious is Feiler's account of preparations for a junior high school fieldtrip to Disneyland that included setting up chairs and practicing getting on and off the bus efficiently. (Japanese tour groups seem to me to spend a lot of time hovering around outside their busses.) Assembling for group photos at every stop is another activity I have noticed preoccupying Japanese tour groups in Hawai'i and California.. Japanese ritualism and indirect speech make more sense here than in, say, in James Kirkup's condscending memoirs . Feiler does not overklook Japanese ethnocentrism (not just we're best but we are so totally unique), nor does he recognize some of his own. Cho, a friend, tells Feiler: "Everybody says our students have to learn to live in a world that is larger than Japan. But, first, our teachers have to learn that such a world exists" The rural Japanese are continually astounded that an alien can speak Japanese, use chopsticks, and in some ways seems more traditionally Japanese than they are -- though such statements are probably more formulaic than Feiler notices. Nevertheless, he mostly deserves the tributes he receives for trying to understand and respect Japanese lifeways -- and for writing so engagingly about his experiences and feelings there. Along with Lydia Minatoya's _Talking to High Monks_ (only partly about Japan), and John Treat's _Great Mirror Shattered_, this is my favorite book of Americans recounting extended visits to Japan.
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