Up through the nineteenth century, western adventurers would occasionally detain a "native" of some far off land, bundle him on a ship to Europe and parade him (or her) as some sort of rare creature. As time passed, treating humans of other races and cultures as curiosity objects became less politically correct, and the focus shifted from conquest and capture to display and education. The Victorian era marked a high in specimen collecting—whether animal, vegetable, or mineral— and "Mad dogs and Englishmen" traveled to the ends of the earth to find the unusual and the bizarre. In this period, Europeans and Americans would re-create entire villages and bring craftsmen to demonstrate their skills in expositions, World Fairs, and museum shows. Gilbert and Sullivan's Mikado, for example, was inspired by such show.

Thus it is the irony of ironies that present day Japan, once an object of exhibition, has, at present, a dozen or so amusement parks based around the theme of Europe and North America complete with "real live" Westerners. Joy Hendry's book on the subject, The Orient Strikes Back, thus has a rather apropos title. In Huis Ten Bosch park in Kyushu, one can "travel" to Holland and see a picture perfect Dutch village, eat Japanized Dutch food, and buy "European" trinkets. The eponymous park has a full sized replica of Queen Beatrix's Huis Ten Bosch palace, and is staffed by 70 or so Dutch, mainly students. In Canada Land in Hokkaido, the park re-creates the fictional world of Lucy Maude Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables of Prince Edward Island. The visitor can "meet" Anne (a red headed actress) and her beau Gilbert, and tour her house. Parque España also has a literary theme: giant statues of Don Quijote and Sancho Panza greet visitors as the pass through the ticket gates.

What are we to make of this phenomenon? Is the Orient striking back? Or perhaps these parks are an educational experience? Then again, the parks may simply be harmless fun. Joy Hendry suggests that the answer is a mix, and posits the parks are a Japanese interpretation of unfamiliar foreign and increasing chaotic world. Like Disney, detail and cleanliness are key, but the ideal of the park of an almost utopian world draws "repeaters"—visitors who return again and again. Japanese visitors know that these parks are sanitized representations of European and American culture, in the same way that visitors know that Disney's animatronic display "It's a Small World" is not an accurate depiction of global geo-political relations. Hendry interviews a number of Japanese visitors at the park, and the majority state that the parks were not so much an educational experience but "just fun." Like Japanese gardens and landscaping—which are interpretations of nature and all its beautiful and terrible complexities— Hendry argues that the parks provide spiritual as well as material nourishment in an increasingly complex world.

The book is an academic ethnography that happens to be lively and peppered with good humor. The book takes some effort, but Hendry assumes no previous knowledge. In the first few chapters, she sets up the interpretations as well as the history of theme parks around the world. An entire chapter is devoted to Disney, both in Japan and abroad. Such discussions of post-modern theory behind theme parks could become weighty, but Hendry walks a fine line by keeping the tone light. She never takes herself too seriously ,and while she is respectful of heavy-handed academics who extemporize, for example, on the "gradient of cultural flow" in Disney's Jungle Cruise, her writing is detached enough to lend the air of the faintly ridiculous.

Hendry does not lose her sense of whimsy, and she clearly likes her subject matter: the topic after all is amusement parks. She then describes various theme parks, including non-Western theme parks, in varying levels of detail. She guides the reader through her own personal commentary and observations. This approach works for the topic as the reader encounters the park as a visitor: we feel the authors first impressions, and Hendry literary wonders through the park taking the reader along.

Her discoveries and experiences become ours. Other visitors impressions of the park are presented informally: we can practically hear Hendry striking up conversation with visitors striking up small talk. She takes us behind the scenes of the park to meet the modern day human exhibitions. By the end of the book, Hendry develops a multi-layered analysis of cultural "wrapping"; a complex idea, but one she gently guides the reader though.

If there are weaknesses to the book, it would be that her style makes it difficult to find factual information on the park. It is all buried in the text along with her impressions. The book is badly in need of an appendix: a list of parks she visited, maps, park sizes, financial information, and visitor statistics would have been useful. Although she briefly addresses the issue, a more systematic analysis of theme park popularity is warranted.

Within these parks, the world is a harmonious place in which cultural barriers are taken down. Leisure and fun are the theme and the nations of the world are at peace. Tacky? Kitsch? Perhaps. But harmless fun, posits Henry—it's a small world after all.