For mature readers

192 pages; soft cover; B&W

Reckless but unfailingly honest, Botchan is the youngest son in a middle-class Tokyo family. Following his graduation from college, he takes a job as a math teacher on the island of Shikoku, far from the city. Thrust into this alien small-town environment, Botchan encounters nothing but trouble from his students and fellow teachers. Among his tormentors are the pompous, two-faced vice-principal; his fawning sidekick-the art teacher; the spineless principal; and a pack of brawny, prankster students-all of whom seem out to get him. Mayhem ensues, but in the end Botchan prevails through honesty and dogged determination.