A disabled foreigner in Japan--a society historically hostile to difference--Kenny Fries spins a tale of exciting, bewildering adventure. As he visits Japanese gardens, experiences Noh and butoh, and meets artists and scholars, he also discovers disabledgods, one-eyed samurai, blind chanting priests, and A-bomb survivors. When he is diagnosed as HIV-positive, all his assumptions about Japan, the body, and mortality are shaken, and he must find a way to re-enter life on new terms.
A disabled foreigner in Japan, a society historically hostile to difference, Fries takes a journey of self-discovery, visiting gardens, experiencing Noh and butoh, and meeting artists and scholars. He begins with floating: genkan, fortune, barrier free, foreign affairs, nomo no aware, physical facts, a mountain of skulls and candlelit graves, an infected throat and a healing tree, and borrowing the hills. An interlude on away contrasts before and after. Then he looks at the world from the perspectives of survivals, a pair of one-winged birds, history being created or what the leech child says, rare and uncommon beings, bubbling water, my Japan, before and after, positive effects, and new stories in an ancient land. Annotation ©2017 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
An American's journey of profound self-discovery in Japan, and an exquisite tale of cultural and physical difference, sexuality, love, loss, mortality, and the ephemeral nature of beauty and art.
Kenny Fries embarks on a journey of profound self-discovery as a disabled foreigner in Japan, a society historically hostile to difference. As he visits gardens, experiences Noh and butoh, and meets artists and scholars, he also discovers disabled gods, one-eyed samurai, blind chanting priests, and A-bomb survivors. When he is diagnosed as HIV positive, all his assumptions about Japan, the body, and mortality are shaken, and he must find a way to reenter life on new terms.
