Review of "Hello, Japan!" by Ekaterina Otiko

​Score: 95+/100 (9.5+ out of 10)

Hello, Japan! is another excellent children's book by Ekaterina Otiko!
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It is adorable, entertaining, and—most of all—educational, just like the previous installment in the Sophie & Stephie Traveling Sisters series that we read (and fell in love with), Hello, England!

First of all, it's so nice to see all of these cute, adorable characters again.
Sophie and Stephie lead the cast, two adventurous, spunky, curious sisters from California.

There's also Globik, a "magical globe," Spots & Sparkles (two rambunctious pups), a turtle, and an incredible intelligent parrot who teaches the other characters (along with the readers) about the different places they visit.

Along the way they meet other friends like Yoshi, whose family serves as a bit of a host and a guide, feeding, housing, and including the sisters in different activities like a traditional Japanese theatrical performance (kabuki) and showing them the national sport, sumo. Oh, and Yoshi's Shiba dog also joins the party!

This book is incredibly rich and ambitious, sharing a lot of great trivia, Easter Eggs, vocabulary, and even pronunciation guides for the vocabulary.

We were incredibly impressed!

It also teaches readers quite a bit about Japanese culture. Perhaps the most interesting thing in this book is how the characters/author explain what different colors mean in Japanese culture. For example, red is said to ward off evil spirits (which explains why it's on different shrines), and orange symbolizes love and happiness.

We also get to see and explore a lot of the different locations in Japan, not just Tokyo!

There's Kyoto, the capital for 1,000 years, Fukuoka, where the big sumo wrestling competitions take place, and Osaka, Yoshi's hometown and location of one of Japan's most famous and picturesque castles.

And that's not all!

The characters visit Mount Fuji, Snow Monkey Park, and more!

There's so much to see and learn in this book!

Check it out on Amazon!