Books by Pauline Hager

Memoirs of an American Housewife in Japan

My husband Randy and I lived in Naka, Japan from July 1994 to December 1996. Randy was invited by the Japanese government to work on a multi-national project, and after much soul-searching, we accepted. We lived in housing designed for Westerners, and our neighbors included people from The European Union, Russia, Canada, Japan and America. Completely ignorant of complicated rules of Japanese social behavior, I committed many faux pas, which I describe humorously in my book.

In addition to visiting several exotic places in Japan, such as Nikko National Park, Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, Hokkaido Island, among others, we also visited Hong Kong, Lantau Island, China, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. When I returned to my home in San Diego, I wrote a book about my fascinating experiences.

Nikko National Park

If you're planning a trip to Japan, or just want to know first hand about Japanese culture, their educational system, their homes, toilets, narrow roads with open trenches, food shopping, and every day life, this book is for you.

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English School in Tokai

By having my own car at my disposal, I was no longer confined to my immediate neighborhood, or dependent on others. By September everyone had returned to Naka. The Europeans were back after their eight weeks summer vacation. I met Betty Lu and her husband Doug, who were from Idaho. Betty Lu is the same person who invited Yana and me to our first Japanese house for tea.

She told me there was an opening in an English language school, where she taught English. It was only one night a week but the money was good. I applied and got the position. An American and his Japanese wife ran the school from their apartment. Actually they rented two apartments, one for his mother-in-law and one for themselves. These apartments could not have been more than five-hundred square feet, if that big. There must have been two bedrooms because one room was set up as a classroom. I enjoyed teaching English to the Japanese. In some classes there were several Japanese men who worked for a branch of the Hitachi Company in Tokai.

The rest came from all walks of life, most were young in their twenties or thirties. It was easy work for me since I majored in Education in college, but sometimes I had problems explaining a concept. Once there was a change in classes for a subsequent week, and I wasn't sure of our schedule. I said, "Well, let's wait and play it by ear for next week." Whew, that really threw them. They couldn't understand "playing something by ear." “How do you play something by ear?” they inquired, scratching their heads and sucking their breath inward between their front teeth, thinking this over. (Sucking in their breath in this way is a common mannerism among the Japanese.) I had some creative explaining to do.

One night, the owner informed me that he and his wife were going on vacation for two weeks. He said that for the next two weeks, I should go to the mother-in-law’s apartment. She lived next door. The mother didn't speak a word of English. The following week I went to her apartment, and although we couldn't communicate very well, everything went smoothly, until break time. The first group of students had all gone home and the other students hadn't as yet arrived for their eight o'clock class. I thought this was a good time to go to the bathroom. I removed the slippers that the school provided when I first entered the apartment. I put on slippers that read "toilet" and went inside the toilet room.

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The commode was low to the floor, but at least it was Western style, not the kind where the bowl is in a hole in the floor over which you must squat. This obviously was a modern apartment. I came out of the toilet room and walked over to the sink to wash my hands. The wash area was open to the hallway. The mother was standing by, and this tiny, little woman who could not have been more than four feet, nine inches tall let out a shriek. I looked at her to see what was wrong. She pointed to my feet. When I looked down, I discovered to my horror that I had forgotten to take off my "toilet" slippers. I was just as horrified as she was. I covered my mouth and let out a long moan.

I quickly ran to my other slippers, which were still sitting outside the toilet room door, and changed into them, all the while exclaiming, "Sumimasen, sumimasen," (I'm sorry, I'm sorry) and bowing humbly to her. I had really pulled a "no no." This was a serious faux pas in the eyes of an old, tradition-minded Japanese woman.

By then it was time for the eight o'clock students. Thankfully they were starting to arrive. As custom dictated, they all took off their shoes in the genkan and put on slippers before stepping into the hallway. When I left that evening and said good night to the mother, she had a very disapproving look on her face.

Apparently she forgave me, because a month later, JAERI had a barbecue for the employees and their families. She was there with her daughter, who works for JAERI. The mother came over, smiled and bowed to me. She looked as if she was glad to see me. I smiled and bowed in return. I guess all was forgiven.

Rice farming

Mt. Fuji

Ginza Area

Tokyo at night