My Mother is a Tractor: A Life in Rural Japan

Less than six months after throwing in his management job to take up teaching Nicholas Klar finds himself on the 'JET Program' and a plane to Japan - ending up in the far reaches of rural Niigata prefecture teaching English. Never one to be taken too seriously he spends his time far beyond the beaten tourist path in often carousing encounters with Elvis impersonators, love hotels, toilets, train schedules, cults, hostess girls, freezing weather, the local garbage-man and postal workers, plus an awful lot of drinking and the recording of a bizarre incident where a cow falls out of the sky.

Combining humour, wonder, social commentary and a good deal of eclectic research the author veritably crams his pages chock-full of tales of culture shock, humorous anecdotes and insights, reflections upon his own life and cultural baggage, strange facts, plus cultural incongruities and marvels. He inevitably falls in with a motley crew of acquaintances along the way and revealed are many of the personalities he encounters - both Japanese and foreigners.

My Mother is a Tractor is rollicking, fact-filled ride through the Land of the Rising Sun that will both amuse and inform. If you are "signing up" for Japan this book has been rated a "..must read" by Rough Guide Japan and The Crazy Japan Times.