This text, with a personal narrative, provides insights into many elements of Japanese life. Joy Hendry tells the story of a nine-month period of fieldwork in a Japanese seaside town. She originally set out to study politeness, but a variety of unpredictable events occurred and dramatically change the direction of her research. The anthropologist has to deal with a suicide, a volcanic eruption, and the problem of her young son's friendship with the son of a powerful local gangster.