A wonderful starter book for those not quite familiar with Japanese customs and cuisines. The author writes mainly of her experiences, as to be expected usually of one writing such a book as this. My opinion of this book is neither negative nor extremely positive, but leaning more towards neutral. Seeing as I was already quite a bit familiar with some Japanese cuisine and the statistics she shared, much of the book wasn't anything I had not already heard before. I did glean some tid-bits from it, however. It has made me think more about my place in the world and help me self-examine myself. It's also helped me solidify some of my goals. Also, I do very much agree with eating more fish and green leafy vegetables and fruits. In all, the effort she took to write this book is certainly appreciated and the book makes a nice contribution to help fight off obesity in the world. ( )