Into the Country of Standing Men
Ateneo Press releases book on Filipino migrant workers in Japan
date posted: 2007-06-09 10:01:57
Rey Ventura's "Into the Country of Standing Men" (2007) delvescloser into the lives of the men he wrote about in his firstbook "Underground in ," first published in 1992 andreprinted in 2006.In the "unauthorized" migrant laborers are known astachinbo, literally standing men, because they have to stand inline while a company foreman sizes them up and chooses the mostable ones for the job for the day. According to Ventura, "it isimportant to be seen standing. If you were sitting, that wouldmean you are just loafing around."Fifteen years after, the standing men have somehow grown roots intheir second "home" with one or two having married Japanese, orwith offspring that have been "made in ." They are not asintimated by their status as they were when they first came,some have become very fluent in the language and comfortable inthe lifestyle, but as the book poignantly shows, the tachinboironically embodies homelessness as never before: he will neverbe considered a citizen by the Japanese state, nor can he now goback to his own home that somehow seems to have forgotten himafter all these years."Country of Standing Men" also features women, in all theirstrengths and frailties. Straightforward language, vividimagery, and a unique sense of humor all contribute to makingthis book a gripping chronicle of an evolving social reality.Both books will soon be available in the following goodbookstores: Fully Booked (756-5001), Popular Bookstore(372-2162), Powerbooks (490-1158), and Solidaridad (523-0870).On campus the books may be bought directly from the LS bookstore(4266001 loc. 5184) and the Ateneo Press bookshop (4265984;4266001 ext 4613; unipress@admu.edu.ph; http://www.ateneopress.org/).
Rey Ventura's "Into the Country of Standing Men" (2007) delvescloser into the lives of the men he wrote about in his firstbook "Underground in ," first published in 1992 andreprinted in 2006.In the "unauthorized" migrant laborers are known astachinbo, literally standing men, because they have to stand inline while a company foreman sizes them up and chooses the mostable ones for the job for the day. According to Ventura, "it isimportant to be seen standing. If you were sitting, that wouldmean you are just loafing around."Fifteen years after, the standing men have somehow grown roots intheir second "home" with one or two having married Japanese, orwith offspring that have been "made in ." They are not asintimated by their status as they were when they first came,some have become very fluent in the language and comfortable inthe lifestyle, but as the book poignantly shows, the tachinboironically embodies homelessness as never before: he will neverbe considered a citizen by the Japanese state, nor can he now goback to his own home that somehow seems to have forgotten himafter all these years."Country of Standing Men" also features women, in all theirstrengths and frailties. Straightforward language, vividimagery, and a unique sense of humor all contribute to makingthis book a gripping chronicle of an evolving social reality.Both books will soon be available in the following goodbookstores: Fully Booked (756-5001), Popular Bookstore(372-2162), Powerbooks (490-1158), and Solidaridad (523-0870).On campus the books may be bought directly from the LS bookstore(4266001 loc. 5184) and the Ateneo Press bookshop (4265984;4266001 ext 4613; unipress@admu.edu.ph; http://www.ateneopress.org/).
posted by annie at Thursday, June 14, 2007
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