The Transplantable Roots of Catharine Huws Nagashima: Encounters with the Welsh in Japan

Foreword by Lord Gregory Mostyn. Since the first ’ Welch’ sailor set foot on Japanese shores in the seventeenth century to the present-day presence of high-tech Japanese companies in the Valleys, Wales and Japan are two nations with deeply entwined roots. Captured in this groundbreaking book is a chorus of modern-day Welsh migrants to Japan. There is Catharine who, in 1965, followed her Japanese husband to an ’ out of kilter’ house in the seaside town of Zushi; Jack, the ’ capitalist ski bum’, who guides tourists through the bear-infested wilds of snowy Hokkaido, while on a volcanic island in the Seto Inland Sea, Simon clears jungle vines to develop his vegan farm. There are also actors, writers, teachers, an ex-bouncer turned martial artist, a filmmaker, a games localiser, and many more. There are even Japanese fans who promote Welsh culture in their homeland. Together they form a polyphonic group portrait based on oral-history techniques, mixing travel writing, character study and reportage, while proving an ear for natural speech.

Susan Karen Burton is an oral historian with an interest in creative nonfiction. She was born in Scotland, raised in New Zealand and spent most of her working life in Japan. There, like many of the interviewees in this book, she began her career as a Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme assistant language teacher (ALT) in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka prefecture. She was later a Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) scholar at Tsuda Juku University in Tokyo.