At Home in Japan

At Home in Japan: A Foreign Woman's Journey of Discovery is the title of a recent book I read by Rebecca Otawa, a California-born, then Australia-raised woman who married a Japanese farmer near Kyoto, as well as his 350 year-old farmhouse.  She goes through her trials and tribulations fitting into a Japanese household and community, especially dealing with the subservient role of women in Japanese society.  For instance, the young wife is the very last person to use the bath water...  And yet this Western woman does survive and thrives in her new surroundings.

A very similar story is that of Nancy Singleton Hachisu, a Californian who also married a Japanese farmer near Kyoto and has published two recent cookbooks: Japanese Farm Food and Preserving the Japanese Way: Traditions of Salting, Fermenting, and Pickling for the Modern Kitchen.  You can meet her in a Begin Japanology episode: Japanophiles - Nancy Singleton Hachisu.  Obviously both women had very supportive and understanding Japanese husbands.