They experience the rvorld around them ir-r
ways they never could have done had they
stayed in their horne countries. At the sametime, they experience the world around themin rvays tl'rose born ir-rto that rvorld-Japar-r
do not. This islarrd nation can be challenging

amassed ar"r eclectic collection of contacts

but, needless to say, it has its rewards.
For expats in the lvorlcl of business, therewarcls may be largely derived from ourbusiness. And yet there are times when theso-called rat race threatens to consume
us. \\re may even lose sight of the unique

Levinson shares vignettes ofhis
encounters with a number of these people,

perspective of our cross cultural existence,so busy are rve with*-svinsnn'$ hmsk
frannst he cmllnd
an autnhlogrep'?y,''\Vhisper ofgetting on w.ith things.
Edrt'ard Levinsons
autobiographicalcollection of poems andessays are a rvindorv on
what, for many readers,

he,t ftelthen is it

will be a "philosophical"

philoscphy per $e"

experience of long-term

perspective on theresidents in |apan.

Levinsorx bookthe Lend: Visi*ns r:f .$apan"
Bv Vicki L. Beyer

cannot be called anautobiograph,v, butneither is it philosophy
per se. For me, reading
it provided an interesting, entertaining,
and thought provoking respite. The essay

ompared with 40 years ago, many more
foreigners are choosing to make Japantheir long-term home. Even among:nembers of the American Chamber ofCommerce in japan (ACCI), nearly 20'..ercent have lived in the cour-rtry for more
rhar.r 10 years. The lives of sr"rch people
ere aimost ahvays t-ascinating and special.

to |apan to meet "a Zen-styie japanesefarner who practiced rvhat he called'natural farming." Before long he had
across various walks of life, both in Tokvo

and in far-flung corners oflapan.

including his neighbors-who are farmers.
The cross cultural encounters he describes
are both tamiliar and distinctive. For
example, does the woman who's offered him
a room for the night mean to be offeringsomething more? How can he politely
refuse to accept money from the local
granny to rvhom he has given a lift?
For city dwellers, Levinsot"t's interactions
r'r'ith nature may be more significant
and entertaining. Under his pen, plants,animals, and the very earth itself take on
personality and add dimension to his lifehe has a tree for a brother, while dogs, birds,
and even a 1oca1 badger befriend him.
The book is aptly titled. The land truly
seems to r,vhisper to him. He can delineate
ancl describe soil types in a way that even an
urbanite can feel and smell them. His taleof tilling potatoes could be a meditationand rneditalion is an importantaspect ol
Levinsor* lifestyle.
U1timatel,v, we mLlst remember thatfbrmat, each beginning l'ith one olthe
author's poems ancl samples of his insighttul
photographs, made it possible to seamlessly
shift lrom one theme to another without any

Levinson is, at heart, a gardener. Little
wonder then, that his life in lapan has
been one where you "bloom where you'regrinding ofthe gears.

has bloorned. fiK

plantedi'In this book, Levir.rson truly

These collected essays trace Levinson'sinteractions with people in fapan (andelsewhere): old, young, local, foreign,unknown, and tamous. Levinson lirst came\licki L. Beyer s a vrce chair cf tht:
Wo're r ir Busress Llomrrril+e lf the ACC;