Chapter 1 – Chapter 1 – “A Less Than Stellar Beginning” 「出だしは芳しくない」
Chapter 2 – “I Teach Japanese in a Small U.S. Town” 「フレドニアの田舎大学生に日本語を教える」
Chapter 3 – “Second Trip to the U.S., Again Less Than Stellar Beginning” 「二度目の渡米、出だしはやはり芳しくない
Chapter 4 – “From Fredonia to Toronto to Chicago”「フレドニア－トロント－シカゴ」
Chapter 5 – “Job Hunt – Bizarre Law Firm” 「職探し、奇怪な弁護士事務所」
Chapter 6 – “Job and a Place to Live, Undecided” 「仕事も住居も確定せず」
Chapter 7 – “Semi-Loafer George” 「半浮浪人ジョージ」
Chapter 8 – “Enter Jim” 「ジム登場」
Chapter 9 – “Moon Over the John Hancock Building” 「ジョン・ハンコックビルの宵の月」
Chapter 10 – “I start to work at a Japanese American Law Firm” 「日系弁護士事務所で働き出す」
Chapter 11 – “A Movie is Only as Good as Your Company” 「映画の面白味は誰と見るかで決まる」
Chapter 12 – “Jim’s Youthful and Spirited Mother” 「あくまで若く、逞しいジムのお母さん」
Chapter 13 – “Jim is Easy-going, but Hard to Figure Out” 「一筋縄で行かぬジム」
Chapter 14 – “Jim doesn’t like Shimazaki Tōson” 「ジム、島崎藤村を見くだす」
Chapter 15 – “Jim’s Eyes, So Gentle, So Soft…” 「ジムの瞳の優しさ、、」
Chapter 16 – “Ryoko, Move Onward!” 「亮子、前進！」
Chapter 17 – “Jim Passes the Bar Exam”「ジム司法試験に合格」
Chapter 18 – “Jim Visits My Family, Then My Father Passes Away” 「ジムの訪日、そして父の死」
Chapter 19 – “From Japan with Love”
Chapter 20 – “I’m Arrested at the Airport”「米国再入国、ちょっくら待った」
Chapter 21 – “My Mother’s First Letter After My Father’s Death”「父の死後、初めての母の手紙」
Chapter 22 – “Do You Want to Become a Catholic?”「カトリック信者になってくれ」
January 1973 – My Mother’s original letter 母の手紙、原本の全文
March 22, 1973 – My Mother’s original letter 母の手紙、原本の全文
Chapter 23 – “My Mother’s Letters” 「母の手紙」
Chapter 24 – “I am La Petite Fadette, for I married a man with whom I was madly in love”「私はファンション・ファデット、恋焦がれたひとと結婚する」
Chapter 25 – “My Brother Weds, and Jim Visits Tokyo Again”「兄の結婚、次いでジム二度目の訪日」
December 11, 1973 – My Mother’s original letter 母の手紙、原本の全文
December 30, 1973 – My Mother’s original letter 母の手紙、原本の全文
February 29, 1974 – My Mother’s original letter 母の手紙、原本の全文
Chapter 26 – “One of My Writer Sister’s Rare Letters”「珍しや、姉からの手紙」
Chapter 27 – “Back to the Lawyers”「日系弁護士事務所に舞い戻る」
Asahi Newspaper clipping dated Dec. 15, 1974 朝日新聞記事の切抜き
Chapter 28 – “My Mother Writes After Six Month”「ほぼ６ヶ月振りの母の手紙」
Chapter 29 – Part 1 – “We Invite My Mother to Chicago” – Part 1 「母をシカゴへ招ぶ その一」
Chapter 29 – Part 2 – “We Invite My Mother to Chicago” – Part 2 「母をシカゴへ招ぶ その二」
Chapter 30 – “Final Chapter”「最終章」
Ryoko's World 
リョウコサン
Omedeto gozaimasu !!
This is a great starting!! I have read the 2 chapters you posted so far. I enjoyed them. They read easily, your story interesting, entertaining and well written.
Gambate kudasai ! Keep writing and posting new chapters. How can I subscribe to your blog so that I get informed of updates? As you get familiar with blog posting and get http://ryokowalnut.com polished you should start building your base of friends/readers /subscribers. Is it on your schedule publishing your memoirs when it is all done? If it isn’t , it should be.
I like the picture of the home page. Japanese sakura blossoms?
I think that you and Jim will likely enjoy very much There is a play “Sex with Strangers” at Steppenwolf till May 15. One of the very interesting subjects of the script is literature, writers and blog posting.
http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/the_theater_loop/2011/01/generations-collide-in-steppenwolfs-smart-strangers.html
Congratulations again!
ルイス
I know books are not about the person who wrote them-but this sounds like you Ryoko-or did you just make this up? It is a GREAT book I hope you have it publish one day-you will be rich haha Barb
Comment させて頂きます。
Ryoko sensei 素晴らしいです。しかも英語と日本語の併記は大変に素晴らしいです。英語を勉強している方にはとても良いブログです。
以前私が読ませて頂いたのは、Chapter Xまででしたので、まだJIMさんは登場していませんでした。Chapter XI, XII, XIIIはまだ読んでいませんが、このGW期間にゆっくり読ませて頂き、後日感想を記載させて頂きます。
Konichiwa Ryoko!
I am a friend of Chizuko’s. I developed and administrates the Carlock Book Cafe for her. I look forward to reading your story as Chziuko has praised your talent the last time I saw her.
What did your sister mean by “Behold! There is a licensed villain in this family!” I just love the words, but I don’t get it.
Ryokowalnut! I just read the 16th chapter of your narrative and loved it, especially the pics! By the way, by Japanese standards isn’t your parents’ home on the luxury item side? I mean it looks to me like a treasure.
Sorry! 18th chapter. I’m going on to the 17th now …
Ryoko, I have just finished the chapters you have written so far. They are very interesting and I am so glad you have taken the time to write your experiences down. The have given me great insight into the Japanes culture and to you. Knowing you and Jim has made them ever more enjoyable.
Eleanor Langton (choir alto)
Hello, Ryoko! I just absorbed Chapter XXVIII. Every once in awhile I sense in your mother the traditional, centuries old beliefs of Japan that people like my own mom, born in Yamaguchi-ken in 1918, held. Otherwise, Ryoko, your mom was amazingly insightful, keenly aware not only of the realities of life around her but of the universe outside. You mom writes as though she believes herself to be an insular person but even her chatty observations tell me she was a sponge for current events and progress. What a woman!
亮子さん ご無沙汰しています。先日高校の同窓会でお会いした吉原です。
西山さんから送られてきました文章を、時間がかかりましたが全部読ませていただきました。
亮子さんがいろいろ苦労しながら自分の道を見つけたことや、お母さんが異国に住む娘を思いやる気遣いや、何にもましてジムとの出会いや感情が手に取るようにわかりました。
これからもお幸せに。ジムさんによろしく。
Ryoko,Your story is amazing. I have always been happy to be your sister-in-law and I really admire your Mom and Dad for the letters they wrote. I am happy to have had the opportunity to go to Japan with you and remember some of the people you talked about. Jim made the right decision to marry you. Love you both.
Ryoko,
I read your story yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed it. I think the way you interweave your parents’ letters with your life in the states gives the picture an added perspective or dimension. Your story makes me remember the halcyon days when Karen and I were courting; and now I am the age that your parents were when the story is taking place so I can appreciate their concerns as well.
Thank you for sharing.
Larry P.