Fabrice, as you are in Belgium, I was wondering if you could shed any light on Amelie Nothomb and her exact employment in a Japanese company. You may know her as a prolific novelist and author of Fear and Trembling, a novel (and since movie) based on her experience of working in a Japanese company. In an interview, she stated that everything in the story was true except the names.

Both the movie and novel give the impression that the character "Amelie" was a regular employee in Tokyo. On the contrary, however, some have stated that the real Amelie was actually an intern and not in a company in Japan but a Japanese company in Belgium. If true, of course, it would greatly affect how her interpretations on Japan would be received. Fabrice (or anyone else), can you help me out on this?

[ファブリス]

I have heard about it, I think that she grew up a bit in Japan. Other than that, although her books are somewhat popular, I have never read them and they're not really my cup of tea. I have never seen the movie either, but I hear the book is a lot better than the movie.

I'm afraid I can't help you much more than that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelie_Nothomb
(got a crush on her, don't ya pal?)

All agree that her early childhood was in Japan. Many sources like you cite say that she worked in Tokyo, but that has been challenged about work status (not regular but intern) and place (not Japan but Belgium). I only heard that second-hand and am looking for original source(s). Because various sources, including her own words, say that the novel (and movie) are autobiographical, the novel/movie become all the more intriguing.

The movie closely follows the book but not entirely. Deviations are made in both directions. Even If only for characterization, you gotta see "Mr. Omochi" in the movie--he's a riot. Half the dialogue is in Japanese (has subtitles) and interestingly the actor playing Amelie, the foreigner, although not a speaker of Japanese, does a credible job at speaking her lines. On the other hand are reactions by some movie-goers--my special interest here--such as "shocking," "painful to watch," the Japanese seem like "aliens." I have been asked by some to explain it, so I'm more than curious about wanting to separate fact from fiction.