In a recent manga review by Cristoph Mark for the Daily Yomiuri, Mark wrote, “Every year, thousands of English-speakers flock to Japan to teach their native language, many of them on the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program. For better or worse, working on the program and living outside of their own countries provide various life lessons. Scattered from one end of Japan to the other, JET participants all share the same mantra: “Every situation is different.””
“Except that so many of the situations seem to be basically identical, as shown in the painfully familiar story of Daniel Wells, the protagonist of Lars Martinson’s graphic novel Tonoharu: Part One. He shows up in his new, rural town, with no Japanese skills and no friends, faced with a largely unresponsive and uninformative staff of English teachers whom he is assigned to assist.”
“Each day of his life is boring as he struggles to figure out his job, figure out the Japanese language and figure out how to make friends (or, better yet, find a girlfriend). He spends his time alone watching TV or trying to connect with the other local assistant English teacher, who seems to have a built-in social life and language ability.”
“For many JETs, this may already sound too familiar. For non-JETs, the storyline may just sound too dull. And they would both be right. Though Tonoharu–named after the Kyushu town where Dan lives and works–is planned as a four-part series, with Part Two slated for next year, I can’t imagine why people would want to subject themselves to the subject matter.”