Already a bestseller in Japan, this book challenges the direst responsibility of Japan"s affluent society for the impoverishment of Asian women"s lives. Written by Asahi Shimbun"s only woman correspondent, it is a personal and moving testament to a decade which has seen Benazir Bhutto elected as the first woman premier of an Islamic country and Cory Aquino become president in the wake of the popular uprising against Ferdinand Marcos. Drawing on her recent assignments to seventeen Asian countries, Yayori Matsui shows the daily challenges faced by women from many different classes and cultures. With 60,000 copies sold in 3 months in Japan, this remarkable piece of investigative journalism shows Asian women in all their diversity, desperation and courage.