The creator of a travelogue naturally focuses on the subjects that are of most interest to him or her when encountering a foreign culture: for example, there are plenty of pretty ladies sprinkled throughout Craig Thompson's Carnet de Voyage and in Pyongyang, one of Guy Delisle's preoccupations is music. As such, Steinberger drew highlights from a Takarazuka Revue performance (in which all of the parts, both male and female, are performed by women), toys and especially clothing. She observed, "real fabric costuming can have so much more detail than you can really do in animation or even in comics (sometimes)... but a detailed painting, it can be like a very detailed costume. In some ways, I think the parallel is more there (in art and not animation) for me. The other side of it though is that I just love all those animation characters and sometimes their character design is just so cool that I want to make that costume as a real existing garment. So I guess it comes from two directions. I do think that after doing a lot of sewing, my designs for drawn or animated characters are a lot more informed, which is always a good thing. It's not that any character you draw's outfit must be completely grounded in reality, but it's nice to have that information if you want it." Consequently, Steinberger's solidly drawn garments lend a genuine weight to this airy book, whether she's depicting herself made up as a maiko (geisha-in-training) or performers sporting "Vegas-style back feathers." [1]

Upon her return, she had "[…] hundreds of drawings, and I thought it would be a shame not to bind them into book form." Steinberger considered self-publishing, but she had mentioned her project to an employee of Go!Comi, who expressed interest. "They really liked my early drawings for the book and really wanted to publish it! I'm very lucky for that. I never would have been able to publish the book in color myself, and it wouldn't have been as long either. More importantly, they gave me a lot of advice about shaping the book and the whole thing became more polished and appealing by the time it was finished. I'm very happy with it."

Besides helping her edit down the material (additional material can be found at Go! Comi) designer James Dashiell made a significant contribution to Japan Ai's appearance, which helps to define the book's a little-bit-out-of-place-but-accessible quality. Steinberger "[…] did a lot of the prelim layout. But the book never would have been as polished or nice looking if he hadn't been working on it. He really did a lot. Like I did a thumbnail for the book cover and then it was his idea to have that fun starburst of pink."

Thanks in no small part to the striking cover, Japan Ai stands out, and, as the content of the book will illustrate, there's both a good and bad side to that. Japan Ai is hard to categorize: Steinberger takes great pains to explain what she shows (there's an extensive glossary in the back), and so it would seem the book is bit introductory for hardcore otaku; it's basically suitable for children (depending on how their parents feel about hot springs nudity with black bars across the naughty bits); and, while the travelogue genre in the U. S. has been the most successfully received among indy comics fans, some of those fans might find the material off-putting. In regards to her intended audience, Steinberger revealed, "we were shooting for all ages, but basically Go! Comi wanted to stay true to the feel of my original diaries and sketches, they didn't want to dumb it down too much or make it too adult either. I think kids can enjoy it and adults can relate to it a lot, too. I made it for myself, really." Steinberger and Go!Comi hope that Japan Ai will be published overseas in the future: in the meantime, she's made another trip to Japan, and has four ideas for other projects. ("I'm always plotting something.")

Japan Ai: A tall girl's adventures in Japan isn't really travel literature, with all of that genre's connotations: Steinberger isn't going on a voyage of self-discovery (as aforementioned, a good deal of the book's appeal is that she is who she is). Rather, the book works best as a travel journal — which depicts Steinberger and her friends as having such a good time, it has inspired readers. "A lot of people write me and say that the book encouraged them to try to finally go themselves, I guess because they relate to my "character" in the book. […] Also, it's hard to find information in English in print about some of the subjects in my book, like Lolita fashion, Takarazuka or Super Dollfie. The book at least gives people a starting-off point where they can find out more about these things and discover new things."