This is a graphic novel memoir that recounts MariNaomi's experience trying to learning Japanese and connect with her culture by first working at a hostess bar in San Jose and then traveling to Japan to work in another hostess bar in Tokyo before visiting her grandparents.

I thought her struggles with trying to find a way to learn language and connect were really interesting and about how that affected the relationship she was able to have with her grandparents, who don't speak English.

**I was provided an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.**

Author/illustrator MariNaomi presents their graphic memoir Turning Japanese. In their memoir, MariNaomi describes their experience with being Asian American in the San Jose area and beginning to connect with their Japanese culture as an adult with learning Japanese language and a trip to Japan.

MariNaomi's artwork involves simple line work and clean panels that seems to bring the art and the story to its most basic, raw, and honest parts. I believe that the difficulty of learning a language in adulthood is something that anyone who has tried can relate to. MariNaomi also discusses the difficulties of trying to absorb some of the cultural roots that may have been absent due to familial immigration to a new country.

MariNaomi's open presentation extends to the difficulties of connecting with family and with building a long-term romantic partnership.

Overall, I am pleased to have had the opportunity to read this graphic memoir early and would recommend it to any interested readers.

I enjoy a graphic memoir as much as the next person; however, this one didn't really sink in for me. It was interesting, but not engaging. Rather, I did not feel connected to it. Part of it might be that there were many loose threads and I wanted to grasp at least one of them, but didn't feel able to.

An interesting account of an Asian person connecting with their roots. I found the depictions of the California Asian scene to be authentic and believable (although I haven't been there myself). Not for everyone, but it worked for me.

A beautiful, emotional memoir with moving art to go along with it. Felt real and raw. Learning about yours and other culture and where to go when you know more about yourself. For fans of coming of age and graphic novels like Persepolis.

Turning Japanese by MariNaomi

MariNaomi dives into the exploration of Japanese culture in California and Japan in this striking graphic novel. Many of their experiences revolve around Japanese hostess bars, and this unique lens offers glimpses of characters and attitudes (not all of which are pleasant). As MariNaomi searches to connect with their Japanese heritage, they also navigate family relationships and romance with honesty. Their illustrations clearly express the emotional path they are on. Turning Japanese should appeal to fans of Alison Bechdel and Allie Brosh.

Thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for sending this book for review consideration.

Turning Japananese following Marinaomis search for identity for her place in the world is beautifully written.You can feel her emotions come off the page.Love the cover and enjoyed from beginning to end.#netgalley #turningjapanese

A fun graphic memoir that explores a pivotal time in the author's life., as they search for connection with their mother's native tongue and Japanese ancestry.

Born to an Japanese mother and an American father and raised in California, for years MariNaomi had wanted to learn Japanese and was baffled as to why their mother had refused to teach them over the years. Unable to get a solid reason from their mother as to why, MariNaomi strikes out to learn Japanese themselves while becoming a hostess as a Japanese style bar in San Jose.

Following MariNaomi's adventures and mishaps as a hostess, the evolution of their relationship with their partner at the time, and a long stint in Japan - Turning Japanese is a pleasant memoir of young adulthood and having to come to terms with what it means to be authentic to yourself and others.

Turning Japanese is a graphic memoir about the author's attempts to reconcile her Japanese heritage with her American struggle to learn the Japanese language. The memoir had been published before, and from the author's note, it seems the focus was originally to be on MariNaomi's work in hostess bars. In this new expanded edition with epilogues added to the original story, MariNaomi gives updates on the story threads of the original version. It becomes more about MariNomi’s desire to understand and appreciate the Japanese side of her heritage (as her father is a white American and her mother is Japanese).

The writing and the graphic elements are inviting, and I was invested in most of the story. As someone learning Japanese, I enjoyed the way she relayed her struggles, and how she could be understood in some parts of Japan, and then incomprehensible in others. That is always the way when you're learning a new language. Until you're in conversation with people who speak the language, you'll never know how you'll do.

I wanted more of this, but a significant portion of the memoir is about her relationship with her boyfriend, Giuseppe. I found this story angle less engrossing as MariNaomi is a much more fascinating character than sad sack Giuseppe. The epilogues do a decent job of rectifying this though.
#TurningJapanese #NetGalley #MariNaomi

The first part was a bit hard to get into and follow, the back and forth between the hostess bar and scenes at home were a bit confusing. As a wasian who grew up in the West, not knowing Japanese until I was 22, I related a lot to Mari's experience, specially with the way some westerners who love all things Japan will idolise and even fetishise the culture. Needless to say, I kind of hated Guiseppe.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me a free copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

First of all, the cover is PHENOMENAL. There is a certain way to go about captivating readers' enough through art to truly resonate with the author and hear what they're saying and MariNamoi really hit the nail.

This book is everything I ever want to read in a graphic memoir. The artist's style is very clean lines, stark contrast, it reminds me a lot of Marjane Satrapi's style of comix. Loved every bit of it! I really relate to the character's struggle to relate to her mom, wanting to know more while simultaneously needing to distance herself from her. What an incredible memoir!

Absolutely riveting. I could not stop reading until the end. Some of the experiences mentioned resonated with me as a South Indian who doesn't really fit the conventional mould. The art style was beautiful as well, especially the panels depicting the author's perception of their mind's workings.

4/5, I need to go find everything MariNaomi has ever written.

This book is a mixed bag. What I really enjoyed was the glimpse into the culture of hostess bars, both in America and in Japan. The author's struggle with her identity as a Japanese-American both in America and Japan was honest and (I would assume) likely relatable to many. However, the art was just not my style, and while I understand that this is a memoir comic, there didn't seem to be much of a storyline overall. It rambled in a way that was very true to life, but a little hard to put into a narrative. If taken as a series of slice of life intervals with a thematic through-line, it reads better than if you're looking for a storyline.

MariNaomi’s account of being Japanese yet not knowing how to speak the language is a fascinating tale. I really enjoyed her account of working in Japanese bars to practice the language and her chance to finally visit Japan.

An incisive and bittersweet autobiographical account of the author's time working at an American hostess bar and then visiting Japan with their boyfriend, never feeling like, as a biracial person, they fit in anywhere.

Thank you to Oni Press and NetGalley for the advanced reader's copy that I received in exchange for an honest review. The book officially comes out on June 6th.

Turning Japanese is MariNaomi's autobiographical graphic novel about both working at a Japanese-style hostess bar in San Jose, and visiting their family in Japan for the first time as a solo-adult. It's also about language and communication, and communication even when you speak the same language.

As someone who's been familiar with various aspects of Japanese culture for 20+ years now, this one was an immediate request! I had no idea there were hostess bars in San Jose (maybe just the one? Maybe past tense?), and it was neat to see both that plus the dichotomy of a foreign-but-Japanese hostess bar compared to the one Mari worked in during their visit to Tokyo. It was neat also to see places familiar to me in my visits, and the second epilogue in this expanded edition because definitely it is a THING to suddenly remember parts of a second language in unexpected times!

It's always hard to rate an autobiography/memoir, but I think the story was accessible and understandable, and this could speak to a lot of people who grew up with parents not teaching them something important like their native tongue and trying to find yourself in a culture you've been taken out of but is still in your blood.

Thank you to NetGalley and OniPress for approving my borrow request!

I enjoyed the simplicity of the art and the humor. But mostly I found myself in Mari and their journey of getting to know one’s heritage. As a Palestinian-Mexican American who similarly grew up in a predominantly English-speaking household, so many of Mari’s interactions and experiences mirrored my own. I’d definitely recommend this!

I feel like I've been starting all of my reviews this way, but I'm not usually a fan of graphic novels. I'm not here to police what anyone is reading, but for myself, going outside of my comfort zone is an added way to further educate myself.

I greatly enjoyed this one. I will admit I chose this book because MariNaomi is non-binary. I had hoped to see some of that representation in the book.

We do get some mixed race representation, which I think is important. I can't personally speak on this, but from what I've heard secondhand, it's hard for mixed race Asian Americans growing up, because they feel like they have to defend their Asian identity. I can't remember who it was now, but I remember someone once saying that they weren't half of one thing and half of another, but the whole of both. That stuck with me.

This is a curious story about being Japanese American without speaking Japanese, hostess bars, and mediocre boyfriends. The concept of hostess bars has interested me ever since reading and watching the historically incorrect Memoirs of a Geisha. I'm not here to judge. I'm just here to learn.

Another thing I found interesting was that while Mari didn't grow up speaking Japanese, she (mc not author) clearly understood some, because once she moved to Japan she began to pick up bits and pieces faster than her mediocre boyfriend. I'm just going to keep calling him that. It's fine.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

this book felt like a hug!!!! it felt like i was feeling someone else’s nostalgia and the women in this book made me melt. i loved learning about a culture different than mine, and i know the feeling of feeling disconnected with your own history and struggling to learn the language. i really loved this book