A nice mixture of cultures

Toshi Okamoto was born on a Japanese Island. He had a fascination with American things, particularly, movies, the culture and Audrey Hepburn.

As he was taking a course in the spoken English, he was seduced by his teacher. At the time, Toshi was still a teenager and didn't really know what to make of this.

Later, he goes to a city and meets Paul Swift, an American living in Japan. Paul is a homosexual and had recently lost his partner to AIDS.

The author writes in a lyrical manner and tells the story of the relationships between the cultures of the United States and Japan. One segment that was particularly entertaining was when a cab driver exclaimed "look at the foreigners." Although it was only three people from Australia, it was still sufficient to cause a stir.

This is a carefully crafted story that is a pleasure to read and teaches the reader how one culture can relate to another.

The conclusion is somewhat in the Hitchcock mode in that something changes and gives the reader new perspective on preceding events.