Hannah's mother, who is a horticulturist, takes Hannah on a business trip to Japan, and leaves Hannah with the family of an old friend, who owns a curiosity shop in the town of Kanazawa. A mysterious box is delivered to the shop and Hannah decides to investigate the contents, leading to a string of mysterious clues hinting at the existence of a ghost.

As interesting as this premise sounds, the story itself is very hard to like. Everybody in the house seems to be exited to discover that there may be a ghost living there, which might be because their lives are so boring that they are looking for anything to liven things up a little. In addition, the reader must wade through pages of description of Japanese culture as well as differentiate between several characters, all with names difficult to pronounce or remember. Also, the main character, Hannah, is from Australia, making it even more difficult to understand the story told from her perspective. Overall, this just wasn't a very enjoyable story. ( )

I wish I could remember why I wanted to read this. I'm pretty sure I came across it when researching books to add to the summer reading lists, and I wanted to make sure it was OK for 5th/6th graders. It is.

If you're going to read this book, you should know that it's not a fantasy adventure, no matter what anyone else says. It took me half the book to get over the fact that *nothing happens*. Once I realized that it is a realistic story with a ghost and a (small) mystery, I was fine.

This book made me want to take a class in Australian literature. A few Margaret Mahy books does not make me an expert. It was shortlisted for big Australian awards, so I guess people over there liked it.

I liked the main character and her observations of the people around her. I wish there had been a glossary of the Japanese terms in the back, because I wasn't engaged enough to remember them, and when I could be bothered to wonder what they meant, there wasn't anywhere to look, except for textual references in previous chapters.

The fantasy element seemed rather, um, fated. Through no fault of their own, they fulfilled a prophecy. All in all, it had a twilight-zone feel to it. Also, I don't think it's a real good sign when you need a 200-year-old letter to explain the story at the end.

Despite all that, I didn't stop reading it. So it was a bit compelling. I guess. ( )

Year after reading this book I cannot recall much about the book other than I thought it was worth reading and the cover doesn't do it justice.. ( )

The cover and title imply a sort of intensity or at least reverence, and given that expectation, the book disappoints.  But even if it had been Katie's Japanese Adventure" and had the donuts and ghost on the cover, I would not have been impressed.  The author's purpose is obviously to teach Australian children about snow and about Japanese culture, both modern and traditional.  The characters simply fill roles and the mystery is silly.  The next morning after finishing the book, I'm working hard to find enough to say about it for this review.  Too bad; it could have been a much better book." ( )

I really enjoyed this a lot, mainly for the evocation of ordinary life in modern day Japan, and the wonderful descriptions of the weather and the place and the people going about their business. The grandmother who makes sure Hannah remembers to switch between street shoes and house slippers and bathroom slippers, and the aunt with the donut shop and the dark snowy streets and the festivals. The ghost story is fun and not too scary, which as a younger person I would have appreciated. ( )