17th-century 17th-century-japan 20th-century adaptation addiction adventure adversity ambition america american american-dream american-history american-literature american-society anthropology apostasy architecture belief betrayal biography boston building catholicism character-driven christianity christianity-in-japan colonialism community compassion conflict construction conversion countryside craftsmanship creativity cross-cultural cultural-assimilation cultural-clash cultural-conflict cultural-exploration cultural-heritage cultural-identity culture culture-clash culture-shock design determination domestic-life doubt dysfunctional east-meets-west endurance expat exploration faith faith-crisis family family-dynamics farming fiction folklore foreign foreign-land foreigner foreigners forgiveness friendship geography geology historic-preservation historical historical-fiction history home home-improvement homelessness homeownership house housing housing-crisis iceland icelanders icelandic icelandic-culture icelandic-language icelandic-society identity immersion immigration inner-struggle inspiration interior-design introspection investigative-reporting isolation japan japanese-literature jesuit-priests jesuits journalism journey kidder lake-district landscape landscapes language language-barrier literature livestock love loyalty martyrdom massachusetts memoir mental-health mental-illness mission missionaries missionary missionary-work moral-dilemma morality mythology nagasaki narrative narrative-nonfiction nature new-england non-fiction nonfiction nordic nordic-countries northern-lights outsider outsiders persecution perseverance personal personal-growth personal-journey personal-narrative personal-struggle poverty preservation pulitzer-prize pulitzer-prize-winner pulitzer-prize-winning pulitzer-prize-winning-author real-estate recovery redemption relationship relationships religion religious-conflict religious-conversion religious-intolerance religious-persecution remote renovation resilience restoration rural rural-life sacrifice samurai self-discovery sheep sheep-farming shepherding shusaku-endo silence silence-of-god sin small-town social-class social-commentary social-issues social-justice society spiritual-crisis spiritual-journey spirituality storytelling strangers struggle success suffering sustainability tracy traditions transformation travel travelogue triumph true-story vikings volcanoes writing