J-Boys: Kazuo's World, Tokyo, 1965, Paperback/Avery Fischer Udagawa

Descriere

Description In Japan, preparations for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics are underway, and adults wax nostalgic about the first Tokyo Olympics in 1964, as well as the economic boom years of the 1960s. The younger generation is curious about the first Olympics and how things changed in Japan then. What was it like to be a child at that time, and why should we care now? "J-Boys, Kazuo's World, Tokyo, 1965" follows the adventures of a third-grade student named Kazuo and his friends. Obsessed with U. S. sprinter Bob Hayes, American TV shows, and tasting a "real" American hamburger, Kazuo also bathes in public baths, buys tofu for his family, and looks forward to flying New Year's kites. As he grows, he observes the lingering effects of World War II on his changing world. As you read "J-Boys," you'll see Kazuo train to race like Hayes, help his brother Yasuo check on a stray dog, guess the school lunch menu, worry about grades, and spend time with friends. You'll see him toss beans for the Setsubun holiday, meet a yakuza, and get nervous about girls. You'll discover stories about his parents, who were children when Japan was at war. In one chapter, Kazuo meets a bereaved woman who lost her son in a battle. In another, he ponders Japan's actions against Korea, which lead to school bullying. And Kazuo wonders about the smog that fills the Tokyo sky as Japan grows, and about how TV has eclipsed the local movie theater that showed Godzilla. He even finds out about foreign places-home of Christmas, the Beatles, Popeye the Sailor and the Vietnam War. As you explore Kazuo's world of Tokyo in the mid-1960s, you may find it different than-or surprisingly similar to-your own. Set in West Ito, a fictional working-class district of downtown Tokyo, the stories in "J-Boys" illuminate various aspects of daily life early in the period of postwar economic growth, including a widespread fascination with Western culture among youth and the economic and psychological repercussions of World War II. "J-B