A fascination with Japan leads an American woman to accept a teaching position in a rural village where she experiences Japanese culture.

A little girl seen a painting of a Japanese teahouse in her grandmother's house. It was bought by her grandfather when he was in Japan. This house influenced the little girl so much that she wanted to learn everything she could about the Japanese culture. She started to learn the language. After she graduated school, she got a teaching job in Japan. She moved around from city to city until she finally settled down on a secluded island. She married a man there and made that small part in Japan her home. She had a dream and made it come true. That small part in Japan resonated with the little girl and was already a part of her future or destiny.

What do you want to be when you go up, and what steps do you have to take in order to achieve it?

Where you ever scared to do something for the first time? How did you overcome that fear? ( )

I really enjoyed this book for several reasons. I really enjoyed the meaning I got from the book which was to always set out to reach your goals, always strive for your dreams. Never stop trying for what you really want. I enjoyed the illustrations because they are very detailed and colorful. They are very enjoyable to look at while reading the story. I enjoyed how the author wrote the story, it all began with a dream and ended with the main character getting what she always dreamed of but also included achieving her goals in between. The author write a very compelling story. The story is very believable and the author makes the main character very believable in achieving dreams and reaching for goals. This can be a very helpful book for students who are struggling with achieving goals or striving for them. It can teach children a very valuable lesson in never giving up. ( )

Erika-San is about a girl who grew up with her grandparents and showed a great interest in Japan. Her grandfather died when she was young so it was her and her grandmother. Erika-San's grandparents were Japanese and grew up in Japan. Her grandfather isolated and her grandmother in a smaller village. Anyway Erika-San studied Japanese and many things about the culture, so when she graduated she took the first flight to Japan, and arrived in the city. The first day she didn't like it so she called her job hunter (you could say) and asked for a more isolated place, so she took it. When she arrived there everyone was at a festival and everyone was pushing and shoving her. She didn't like it there so she called and asked for another place more isolated then the one he had given her, and she took it. She would be a teacher there. And so the story goes on where she meets a man and they become good friends, he took her on a bike ride and she saw the place she wanted to live when she was younger. Her friend said that only tea ceremonies were held there so she took lessons to host a tea ceremony, and her friend joined her. They were married two years later and the end.

I liked this book a lot. As I said in my other review for the other Allen Say book Allen Say is an amazing author. I thought he brought life to Japanese culture in this book. He described every little thing with perfect detail. It could be that I'm moving to Japan, but I showed a great interest in this book. I would recommend this for every age group, and I hope they would enjoy it as much as I did.

I really liked this book. It was about how an American woman wanted to live in Japan because she loved their culture and traditions. She respected a culture that she didn't grow up in and she wanted to be a part of it. She found her own happiness.