The Secrets of Mariko:: A Year in the Life of a Japanese Woman and Her Family

Author of a kaleidoscopic portrayal of women in India (May You Be the Mother of One Hundred Sons), Bumiller here chronicles the complex and sometimes surprising life of a seemingly typical middle-aged Japanese woman in what ``seems to be a nation of maddening conformists.'' The book is consistently interesting, even if at times the author can't bridge a cultural gap (she used an interpreter). Mariko initially seems comfortable with her life--distant from her hard-drinking husband, devoted to her three children, gaining relief from part-time jobs, playing traditional music and dabbling in karaoke. Along the way, Bumiller digresses to discuss Japanese education practices, the mobsters known as yakuza, even Japanese TV. And her diligence pays off, as Mariko's salaryman husband, Takeshi, spills his sorrows, and Mariko herself divulges her own struggles with the life she has fashioned. The author concludes that Takeshi is ``trapped by his society,'' whereas Mariko and other married Japanese women, ``for all their secondary status, are ultimately more free than the men.'' Author tour. (Nov.)