In 1995, Japan experienced some of the tough-
est economic times the country has ever faced.
The second-wealthiest nation’s gross national
product was down. The high yen choked
profits at already hurting exporters. The
Japanese stock market hit abysmal new lows.
Amid this period of financial uncertainty,
Aponte quit his Tokyo job and discovered the
difficulty of finding a new full-time one.
You have either experienced unemploy-
ment or know someone who has. But what is it
like to endure joblessness in a foreign country
in the middle of an economic crisis? How
would one survive cash-strapped circum-
stances in an insular nation for close to a year?
In his beautiful and intelligently written
travel memoir of unprecedented insight,
Aponte tackles these questions as he tells his
intimate, first-person, true story about
triumphing over adversity, in the form of being
broke and American, in Japan, during the
country’s worst recession, since the Second
World War.
Along the way, he uses the wise perspective
of an outsider to demonstrate—convincingly
—the financial, emotional, and psychological
effects of yearlong poverty on a foreigner; how
economic hardship can be an opportunity for
reinvention; and an aspect of what it is like to
be black and simultaneously American in
Japan.
His book of creative non-fiction will inspire
all people who have encountered personal
obstacles by showing them that they can
recover, even under the most difficult condi-
tions.
Wayne Lionel Aponte’s gift of observation,
subtlety, and wry humor make THE YEAR
OF NO MONEY IN TOKYO an extraordi-
nary pleasure to read.
Contents
CHAPTER ONE. A Space Between Nightmares
CHAPTER TWO. Shedding Pretensions
CHAPTER THREE. Reciprocity
CHAPTER FOUR. Withdrawal
CHAPTER FIVE. The Maker of Illusions
CHAPTER SIX. A Fifty-Two Week Low
CHAPTER SEVEN. Reinvention
CHAPTER EIGHT. Transition
CHAPTER NINE. Stability
CHAPTER TEN. Authenticity
CHAPTER ELEVEN. Coda
A Note About The Author
A journalist and teacher, WAYNE LIONEL
APONTE was educated at the University of
Rochester and the University of Southern
Queensland (Australia). He has written for
several publications, including The New York
Times, The Financial Times, The Wall Street
Journal, The Washington Post, and The Nation.
He has lived in Japan for almost two decades.
A native of New York City, he lives in Tokyo.
TRAVEL / Essays & Travelogues
U.S. $19.95 CANADA $24.95 Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-9820550-0-7
168 pages, trim size 5.5 x 8.5
Published by Watkins & McKay
Distributed by Ingram, Baker & Taylor, Standard
