Toru: Wayfarer Returns (Sakura Steam Series Book 1)
Page 28
One final inspiration I found in today’s headlines about income inequality and the end of the American dream of opportunity and upward mobility for ordinary people. Tōru returns to Japan from an America in a time of unlimited possibility and he dreams that dream for Japan, a world where every Jiro and Masuyo can rise to fulfill the measure of their talents and capacities. I wish for a radical Maker Revolution and Tōrus, Masuyos and Jiros of our own to restore that vision of unlimited opportunity to America today.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The word for “thank you” in Japanese can be rendered “the having is hard,” expressing the sense that one has incurred a debt for kindnesses received that is nearly impossible to repay. Anyone who has experienced Japanese hospitality understands this great generosity and the deep gratitude that wells up in response. I could never have told this story without the marvelous experience of studying and working in Japan for several years while living in Japanese households. I will never forget the kindness and friendship many Japanese offered to this stranger during my sojourn in Japan.
I thank the Rotary Clubs of Boulder, Colorado and Chiba and Sakura in Japan, who sponsored my first year in Japan, and the seven Japanese host families who watched over their exchange student with such care and affection. I am forever grateful to the students and teachers of Chiba High School, in Chiba, Japan, especially Kitamura Sensei, who patiently explained so much, and Yamamoto Sensei and his kendo club students who shepherded their clumsy American through a black belt in Japanese fencing.
At Brigham Young University, where I earned degrees in Economics and Asian Studies, with minors in physics and Japanese, I especially want to thank Professor Walt Ames, who taught Japanese Culture and Anthropology, and Watabe Sensei, who attempted, somewhat unsuccessfully, to break my habit of speaking like a rather tough male Japanese high school student instead of like a polite young educated woman. I apologize in advance to my physics and economics professors for my exuberant violations of laws of physics and principles of economics in my story.
Naohiro Takita deserves special thanks for so many reasons. He is absolutely correct—it is very difficult to build a train, possibly even more difficult than constructing a dirigible.
I also must thank the National Heritage Mining Museum and their annual Miners Ball here in Leadville, Colorado, for accidentally turning me on to steampunk. I googled “Victorian dress” to find something to wear to the ball, and found myself falling down the steampunk rabbit hole, joining the Maker Revolution and writing a steampunk novel. Things can get out of hand quickly up here at high elevation. I discovered to my shock and amazement that we are accidental steampunks here in Leadville. Who knew?! I am grateful to my neighbors for their tolerance for my attempts to lace our traditional Victorian events with a touch of neo-Victorian futurism and the occasional tea duel.
I am so grateful to Nancy Schloerke, Molly Howe, Francine Sommer, Tim Spong, Craig Wagner, Ken McLeod, the Cloud City Writers and my family for being my first beta readers and sharing their thoughtful and insightful comments with me. Laurel McHargue earns special mention for leading the group and letting me sit by her fire to write. And for so generously sharing her port. Every writer needs a Laurel in her life!
Finally, my gratitude and love go to Tim Stroh, for the love, the laughter, the music, the musicians, the magic beans, the puppy, the freedom to create and the encouragement to write he has given me.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stephanie R. Sorensen is a writer based in the Victorian mining town of Leadville, Colorado, where she lives at 10,000 feet with her husband, five chickens, two bantam English game hens and one Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. She likes her Victorian attire spiced with a little neo-Victorian futurism and the biggest bustle possible.
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Table of Contents
ToruWayfarerReturns