Sarah Coomber and the Female Experience Teaching in Japan

Sarah Coomber is the author of The Same Moon (Camphor Press, 2020), a memoir about what happened when she traded out her wrecked Minnesota life for two years in rural Japan. The Same Moon is possibly the only book about the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program (JET) experience written from a woman's point of view. Sarah joined the program in 1996, when the government-sponsored program was in its infancy.

In this episode of the Books on Asia Podcast, she talks about being a single woman in Japan at that time, expectations at work, and how things have changed, or not, since then. Finally she gives some advice on what women should consider before moving to Japan to teach English.

At the very end of the podcast, Sarah shares with us her top three books on Japan:

1. Shogun, by James Clavell

2. The Accidental Office Lady: An American Woman in Corporate Japan by Laura Kriska

3. A Half-Step Behind: Japanese Women Today, by Jane Condon

 

Author Bio: Sarah Coomber has  worked in public relations, journalism, science writing and advocacy, and has taught English at the college level. She has an MFA in creative writing from Eastern Washington University, a master’s in mass communication from the University of Minnesota, and level-four certification in the Seiha School of koto. A resident of Minnesota, she writes, manages communications projects, coaches other writers, and teaches yoga.

Find her online at her website or sign up for her newsletter. You'll also find her at the following social media links:

Twitter: @CoomberSarah
Instagram: @sarahcoomberwriter
Facebook: @sarahcoomberwriter
LinkedIn: @sarahcoomber

The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press.

Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.

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