by Margaret Chula (Author)
In 1980, having spent two years traveling the globe, Margaret Chula and her husband, John Hall, agreed that they wanted to live and work in a different culture for an extended period. They chose Japan. Chula was drawn to the subtleties of Japanese poetry and to a culture that celebrated the beauty of everyday life. Once settled, they immersed themselves in the joys and challenges of living in a traditional Japanese house. Upon their return to the U.S. in 1992, they were pressed for stories about their "exotic" lives in Kyōto. Chula began to write her recollections in the Japanese form haibun, a combination of prose and haiku. The result offers a glimpse into the life of a gaijin (outside person) with humorous, embarrassing, and heartbreaking stories. Complemented with select photographs, Firefly Lanterns is the story of an inner journey enriched by knowedge of Japanese history and culture and relayed in the rich and artful haibun form-a beautiful homage to a remarkable and life-changing experience.