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February 29, 2016

Book Review The Ark Sakura by Kobo Abe


Book Review – The Ark Sakura by Kobo Abe



Author: Kobo Abe

Translator: Juliet Winters Carpenter

Publisher: Martin Secker and Warburg Limited, London.1988

ISBN: 0436000237 



Pages: 336




The gaze of a girl changes everything



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JapaneseCustomer.com, 2016. All rights reserved, 



A classic novel by Kobo Abe who uses a range of techniques to inform, entertain and educate the reader. Set in the 1960’s in Japan we meet the man character Mole (a self-given nickname) who goes to a department store roof top sale to find a bargain. Little did he know that his life was about to change and his long term plan about to come into play?

A range of characters are introduced including the insect seller, the shill and his companion, a young woman who seems to captivate everyman who meets her. The Broom Brigade and the sweet potato pie maker.

Set by the coast we learn the Moles plan for the end of the world and how he will survive. The harsh environment in which he was raised has set him on a path to preserve life not to harm it.

The writer of Woman in the Dunes, shares a story of hope, relationships and loneliness.













Book Review – The Ark Sakura by Kobo Abe






















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the ark sakura, book review

February 25, 2016

"Australia's high wages are not supported by an equally high productivity" Mitsui Australia boss

Streetview of a Japanese city Copyright JapaneseCustomer.com2005
Title: Streetview of a Japanese city 



" Mitsui ..has ploughed $14 billion into investments in Australia in the past decade...."Australia's high wages are not supported by an equally high productivity" 

Yasushi Takahashi (Mitsui Australia boss)


Source: Mining wages too high, says Mitsui 
By Amanda Saunders,
Australian Financial Review
Friday 26th September 2014, page 13

February 11, 2016

The number of non regular workers in Japan estimated at 38 percent of the workforce in 2014


Workers commute in Tokyo Copyright JapaneseCUstomer.com 2007
Picture: Workers commute in Tokyo




" A Japanese government survey last year found that the number of non-regular workers - including those working temporary or part-time schedules - had risen to more than 20 million, or 38 per cent of the workforce, up by 1.5 million from the previous report in 2007"




Source: Ambitious Recruit plans $1.96 billion IPO
By Atsuko Fukase and Eric Pfanner
The WSJ
The Australian Newspaper, 
Friday 12th September 2014, page 24