Many Americans have traditionally viewed their culture and others from a Eurocentric viewpoint. So it should come as no surprise that we are completely perplexed by cultural, economic and social exchanges with foreign cultures -- such as that of the Japanese.
While Americans may wonder about the roots of a truly complex culture in which communal bathing and pet renting occur without the bat of an eye, perhaps we should reflect on what they perceive of us.
One recently released work of fiction, "Audrey Hepburn's Neck" by Alan Brown, attempts and successfully turns those stereotypes and cultural distinctions inside out.
In this breathtaking novel, Brown, who lived in Japan for seven years as a Fulbright journalist, turns the tables in the world of contemporary American literature. He presents the protagonist, a charming yet sometimes naive young Japanese man named Toshi and views exotic American culture through his eyes.
The work shifts in time quite often from the present, in which he is a 23-year old illustrator working in Tokyo, to his past -- a very simple life he shared with his two parents in a rural village on a northern Japanese island.
Words in the book flow like those of an elegant haiku. Toshi slept in between his parents on mats on the upper floor in a noodle shop when he was growing up.
"Asleep, his parents rolled toward the middle, toward him, for warmth. His father snored, exhaling tobacco, soy sauce and beer. His mother sweated green tea and miso ... She'd murmur nonsense words he didn't understand, another language. And she wept in her sleep. Dreaming, she'd toss about as if at sea."
Brown reveals his skill in placing these images and intimations in seemingly innocuous terms, which all foreshadow future relationships and events, such as his mother's sudden and unexplained departure from the household.
Toshi's fascination with American culture was sparked when his mother took him to see the film "Roman Holiday," starring Audrey Hepburn on his ninth birthday.
"As they sat in the cold movie theater Toshi gave himself over to the magical being on screen. 'Oh her neck ... Isn't it lovely?' His mother's exclamations barely penetrated Toshi's mind: he was already floating away on a never-ending love affair with Audrey and the culture she so exquisitely personified."
Thus Toshi's interest in American culture finds him trying to learn more about that country, a land so expansive it "spills out into the rest of the world."
His ninth-grade teacher Mrs. Hayashi says to her class, "When we Japanese write personal letters, we write vertically, from top to bottom, and from right to left, don't we?"
She continues, "But in America, where, of course, they write horizontally, left to right, there is no form for writing personal letters. People write anything they please, anything that comes into their heads at all, and in any order ... In America, there is no order."
In the present, Toshi's work and desire to gain a deeper understanding of the world lead him to the bright lights of the capital. With his rural background, many of the practices in Tokyo are as foreign to him as they are to visiting Westerners.
A description of the city reads, "There's an amusement park in the roof of Seibu department store. On a clear night, the twinkling complexity can be seen from as far away as the summit of Mount Fuji ... Tokyo. The night air is tobacco scented. Mercury rises. Neon wraps itself around buildings to define both shape and distance."
But the perceptions of Americans in the eyes of the Japanese can still take twists and turns, even in Tokyo. The book in the present is set against a political backdrop which serves to highlight many differences.
The Crown Prince is dating Brooke Shields, laid-off Toyota workers are proclaiming AMERICA = AIDS and farmers are protesting the importation of American rice.
Yet the Japanese are entranced by much of the American culture that invades their borders. One line reads, "There were English words everywhere, in store windows, on neon signs, on billboards: Women's. Fashion. Spaghetti. Fashion. Pizza. Coffee. Whiskey. American Jeans. Let's Kiosk."
Toshi goes to study English in Tokyo at the Very Romantic English Academy, staffed by teachers with names like California Kathy. He imagines dazzling her with his command of English, saying "I like American movies. Do you eat raw fish. Can you use chopsticks?"
But the novel involves Toshi's interactions with three central Americans -- his English teacher Jane, who entices the innocent young man into bed with her, a gay advertising agent named Paul with a penchant for Japanese boys and Lucy, with whom he finally finds a relationship.
The funniest scenes are those in which Toshi describes his puzzlement over why Americans are so quick to divulge secrets about their family and their past, why they bathe inside the bathtub instead of outside and whether buying lots of material things will truly make one feel less empty, as Paul claims.
Yet while Toshi learns more about Americans in Tokyo, he becomes increasingly drawn back to the past in which he ponders the reason for his parents' separation and discovers a family secret dating back to World War II.
As a quirky and funny novel, "Audrey Hepburn's Neck" is a refreshing change which allows us Americans to step back and reflect on the way others may view us and our culture -- in the graceful and beautiful style of Hepburn herself.
