Turning Japanese delivers 200+ pages of comics reportage cum memoir that depicts a personal period of an Asian-American-Californian's  intercultural experiences first in San Jose, then in Japan that lead, eventually, to transcultural understandings.  Marinaomi has in these pages created a work that's both entertaining and educational!  

And one that has received plaudits from those best placed to make them, including Yumi Sakugawa: 

"It is a tremendous blessing to read anything that comes from a skillful graphic memoirist like MariNaomi.  In Turning Japanese, her unflinching honesty, open heart and hard-earned wisdom challenges us to embrace the unexpected detours that unfold in our own lives. The empty spaces in her minimalist artwork contain many wells of unspoken feelings that linger with you long after you finish reading her book."   

And Jason Shiga:  

"The best comic about being Asian American in Japan. Like Fun Home and Persepolis, Turning Japanese is at once modest and grand. MariNaomi is a master of the small, intimate moments that build to a surprisingly emotional climax."

Marinaomi delivers a thoughful memoir of a 30-year friendship in this 64-page, horizontally formatted, black & white comic book which Noah Van Sciver said, "is engaging, entertaining, well-written, tightly drawn and revealing. What more could you want?"