I have read a very intriguing novel about such a case, written by Japanese woman,
Hisako Matsubara. I am really fascinated by the fact that she came as an adult to Germany and managed to learn the language so well that she was able to write books in German. She has written several novels, most of them set in recent Japanese history, and I have learnt a lot from them. Two of them have been translated into English,
Cranes at Dusk and
Samurai, and I´d recommend both. The first deals with a Japanese family the father of which is a Shinto priest. Maybe he is a bit idealized but as the Western image of Shinto is much influenced by the fact that it has been (and, to some extent, still is) abused for political nationalist purposes, I was very glad to get to read something about the fascinating philosophical side of Shinto. The other book,
Samurai, is why I am even mentioning Matsubara here. It tells the story of a young man who marries into his wife´s family. His father-in-law, old and rich samurai Hayato, sends him to America, alone, to win back the family honour. The young man has no choice but to go because as an adoptive son, he has no possibility to oppose his adoptive father/father-in-law. But in America, nobody cares for his outstanding law degree... It is a shockingly tragic story, but I think that it brilliantly explores a certain aspect of Japan and the Japanese. (And, btw, it seems to me that I have even read somewhere that a similar story has indeed happened in Matsubara´s family, to her grandfather maybe.)
