Might I start off by saying I am a huge fan of your work. I have never been so immersed in a novel as I have in The Last Concubine. In fact, your exquisite portrayals of the Edo Period inspired me to recreate that era for my International Baccalaureate Theatre arts project. I have decided to create a play centered on a concubine’s crumbling sense of identity in the oppressive walls of the women’s palace.
I just wanted you to know that you are responsible for my obsession with Japanese culture! I have you to thank for that, and am very grateful that I stumbled upon your book. I would like to thank you for writing these novels, and in future I’m hoping to publish one of my own stories about Japan’s history.
Best wishes,
Julija

Firstly let me congratulate you on your amazing, captivating writing skills. I’ll happily admit I was hooked from those first few words!

For me, who’s is half Japanese half Russian-American, I was really glad to read all about my mother’s homeland’s history. I’ve not been to japan yet, but i wish to do so, as i long to visit my grandmother who lives there. It was enlightening to read about the world in which my great-great grandparents would have lived in.

It was originally my Grandmother, who was visiting for my 18th birthday, who introduced me to your stories. She found them enjoyable and full of creative passion, something I craved for in novels.

I would like to thank you deeply for writing these novels, as i feel like they bring me closer to the country my mother was born in.

Kind regards
Hikari Katarina Nickolavich

Just a message to thank you for your wonderful books, which I absolutly adored and read over and over. I am a college student at the momment and I did my AS English coursework on the geisha Okichi who I created a diary for from the time while she allegedly became Harrison’s mistress to her death years later. I found “Geisha: The Secret of a Vanishing World” really helpful to help me achieve this and it helped me get an A grade combined with the other half of my coursework which is fantastic.

I love Japanese culture and history and your books gave me a great insight into this especially your novel, The Last concubine as it gave me access into other aspects of the history, particuarily of women’s lives which I had not originally thought about. I really hope to visit Japan one days and gain more knowledge on the subject of geisha, cortesans and concubines as the subject is fasinating yet undoubtedly tragic.

Thank you for your books and I hope you keep producting.
Thanks very much

Anna Young

I think that the Japanese have always accepted love, though they may be to proud/embarrassed to express it vocally. Their actions show their affection.