Arts, Culture and Society
Ruth Benedict The Chrysanthemum and the Sword (Tuttle). Classic study of the hierarchical order of Japanese society, first published in 1946. It's still relevant now for its intriguing insight into the psychology of a nation that had just suffered defeat in World War II. Alexandra Black , The Japanese House (Scriptum Editions). A beautifully illustrated study of Japanese architecture and interior aesthetics, tracing their history from the traditional teahouse to modern home design. Shirley Booth , Food of Japan (Grub Street). More than a series of recipes, this nicely illustrated book also gives a lot of background detail and history of Japanese food. There's a useful list of suppliers of Japanese and macrobiotic food in the UK. Nicholas Bornoff Pink Samurai (HarperCollins). Everything you ever wanted to know about the history and current practices and mores of sex in Japan, plus - at seven hundred-odd pages - plenty you'd rather not have known. Ian Buruma A Japanese Mirror and The Missionary and the Libertine (Faber). The first book is an intelligent, erudite examination of Japan's popular culture, while The Missionary and the Libertine collects together a range of the author's essays, including pieces on Japan-bashing, Hiroshima, Pearl Harbor, the authors Mishima Yukio, Tanizaki Junichiro and Yoshimoto Banana and the film director rshima Nagisa. Kittredge Cherry Womansword (Kodansha). Slightly dated but fascinating portrait of women in Japanese society as revealed through language. From "Christmas cake" (an unmarried woman) to "giant garbage" (a retired husband), Womansword makes linguistics both fun and thought-provoking. Mark Coutts-Smith Children of the Drum (Lightworks Press). The life of Sado Island's Kodo drummers captured in powerful black-and-white images by a photographer who spent five years studying and working with the group. Lisa Dalby , Geisha (Vintage). The real-life Memoirs of a Geisha . In the 1970s, anthropologist Dalby immersed herself in this fast-disappearing world and became a geisha. This is the fascinating account of her experience and those of her teachers and fellow pupils. Lesley Downer The Brothers (Chatto & Windus). The Tsutsumi family are the Kennedys of Japan and their saga of wealth, illegitimacy and the fabled hatred of the two half-brothers is made gripping reading by Downer. Also look out for On the Narrow Road to the Deep North (Greensleeves Books), her book following in the footsteps of the poet Basho, and the new Geisha: the Secret Life of a Vanishing World (Headline). Bruce S. Feiler Learning to Bow (Ticknor & Fields). An enlightening and entertaining read, especially for anyone contemplating teaching English in Japan. This book recounts the experiences of a young American on the JET programme, plonked into a high school in rural Tochigi-ken. Norma Field In the Realm of a Dying Emperor (Pantheon). Field paints a vivid alternative portrait of contemporary Japan, as seen through the experiences of three people who broke ranks: Chibana Shoichi, who hauled down the Rising Sun flag in Okinawa; Nakaya Yasuko, a housewife who tried to stop the burial of her husband, a former Self-Defence Forces member, at a Shinto shrine; and Motoshima Hitoshi, ex-mayor of Nagasaki, who criticized Emperor Hirohito's role during World War II. Edward Fowler San'ya Blues (Cornell University Press). Fowler's experiences living and working among the casual labourers of Tokyo's San'ya district makes fascinating reading. He reveals the dark underbelly of Japan's economic miracle and blows apart a few myths and misconceptions on the way. Robin Gerster , Legless in Ginza (Melbourne University Press). A funny and spot-on account of the writer's two-year residence at Japan's most prestigious university, Tokyo's Todai. Gerster writes with a larrikin Aussie verve and notices things that many other ex-pat commentators ignore. Gunji Masakatsu Kabuki (Kodansha). Excellent, highly readable introduction to Kabuki by one of the leading connoisseurs of Japanese drama. Illustrated with copious annotated photos of the great actors and most dramatic moments in Kabuki theatre. Joe Joseph The Japanese (Penguin). Former Times correspondent sets down some thoughts on the nation, mainly gathered during the madly extravagant and unrepresentative bubble years of the late 1980s. David Kaplan & Andrew Marshall The Cult at the End of the World (Arrow). Chilling account of the nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway by the AUM cult in 1995. The gripping, pulp-fiction-like prose belies formidable research by the authors into the shocking history of this killer cult and their crazed leader Asahara Shoko. Donald Keene The Blue-Eyed Tarokaja (Columbia University Press). Wide-ranging anthology of literary essays, interviews and travel pieces by Donald Keene, one of the foremost authorities on Japanese literature. Alex Kerr Lost Japan (Lonely Planet). Although it's part of the usually tedious "Japan's not what it once was" school of writing, this book won a prestigious literature prize when first published in Japanese, and the translation is just as worthy of praise. Kerr, the son of a US naval officer, first came to Japan as a child in the 1960s and has been fascinated by it ever since. This beautifully written and thoughtfully observed set of essays covers aspects of his life and passions, including Kabuki, art collecting and cities such as Kyoto and Osaka. Richard McGregor Japan Swings (Allen & Unwin/Yen). One of the more intelligent books penned by a former Tokyo correspondent. McGregor sets politics, culture and sex in 1990s post-bubble Japan in his sights, revealing a fascinating world of ingrained money politics and shifting sexual attitudes. Brian Moeran A Far Valley: Four Years in a Japanese Village (Kodansha International). An affectionate though far from rose-tinted view into the daily life of a Japanese village by a cultural anthropologist. Moeran spent four years with his family in a community of potters in deepest Kyushu, before their dreams were shattered in a totally unexpected and harrowing way. Patricia Morely The Mountain is Moving (New York University Press). Though a bit heavy going in places, this study of the changing role of women in Japanese society is best for its interviews with and portraits of women who have broken with tradition. John K. Nelson A Year in the Life of a Shinto Shrine (University of Washington Press). Fascinating insight into Japan's native animist religion based on this American ethnologist's research at Suwa-jinja in Nagasaki. Amid all the detail, Nelson also catches gossipy asides such as a trainee priest being told to be "careful not to fart during the ritual". Gunter Nitschke Japanese Gardens (Taschen). A far less lavish book on gardens than Itoh Teiji's seminal work , but nonetheless informative, wide-ranging and beautifully illustrated. Donald Richie Public People, Private People (Kodansha), A Lateral View (Japan Times) and Partial Views (Japan Times). These three books, all collections of essays by a man whose love affair with Japan began when he arrived with the US occupying forces in 1947, set the standard other expat commentators can only aspire to. Public People is a set of sketches of famous and unknown Japanese, including profiles of novelist Mishima and the actor Mifune Toshiro. In A Lateral View and Partial Views , Richie tackles Tokyo style, avant-garde theatre, pachinko , the Japanese kiss and the Zen rock garden at Kyoto's Ryoan-ji temple, among many other things. Saga Junichi Confessions of a Yakuza (Kodansha International) This life-story of a former yakuza boss, beautifully retold by a doctor whose clinic he just happened to walk into, gives a rare insight into a secret world. Saga also wrote the award-winning Memories of Silk and Straw (Kodansha International), a collection of reminiscences about village life in pre-modern Japan. Mark Schilling The Encyclopedia of Japanese Pop Culture (Weatherhill). Forget sumo, samurai and ikebana . Godzilla, pop idols and instant ramen are really where Japan's culture's at. Schilling's book is an indispensable, spot-on guide to late-twentieth-century Japan. Don't leave home without it. Frederik L. Schodt Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern Manga (SBP). In the sequel to his Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics , Schodt pens a series of entertaining and informative essays on the art of Japanese comic books, profiling the top publications, artists, animated films and English-language manga . Joan Stanley-Baker Japanese Art (Thames and Hudson). Highly readable introduction to the broad range of Japan's artistic traditions (though excluding theatre and music), tracing their development from prehistoric to modern times. David Suzuki & Oiwa Keibo The Japan We Never Knew (Allen & Unwin). Canadian broadcaster and writer Suzuki teamed up with half-Japanese anthropologist Oiwa to tour the country and interview an extraordinary range of people, from the Ainu of Hokkaido to descendants of the "untouchable" caste, the Burakumin. The result is an excellent riposte to the idea of a monocultural, conformist Japan. Robert Twigger , Angry White Pyjamas (Indigo). The subtitle "An Oxford poet trains with the Tokyo riot police" gives you the gist, and although Twigger's writing is more prose than poetry, he provides an intense forensic account of the daily trials, humiliations and triumphs of becoming a master of Aikido. Even if you're not into martial arts, it's worth picking up. Rey Ventura Underground in Japan (Cape). The non-Caucasian gaijin experience in Japan is brilliantly essayed by Ventura, who lived and worked with fellow Filipino illegal immigrants in the dockyards of Yokohama.
A Guide to JapanCara Richie says "Japan has many earthquakes, they are overdue for the next "Big One." " Hello World.Jeff Konichi-Wa says "Spitley is the new and improved word for paper. It means paper. Say spitley instead of paper. Tell at least 9 people about spitley, and have fun in Japan. Thanks!" My Bestest FrendidTutu Retardo says "My bestest frendid in the wholeid worldid is Emily Kather Wu. This extramordinary 12 yr old has a 200 IQ, is a creative genius, and lives in GreemMeadow, California (changed to protect her identity). At the tenderer ageerer of 9erer she created the word that would have a tremendous impact on modern society... SPITLEY! it means paper!!!!" Jamboni1Ryan Czechii says "It's a spoons club MIRACLE! Full of spoons club joy and wonder!" About Japan...Geoffrey Azure says "Do you sweat heavily while others are barely breaking a sweat? Do you blush when there is no reason to do so? Are your hands and feet often cold and clammy? Do your armpits soak right through your clothes? These are all symptoms of hyperhidrosis
~~Brian Campbell" EXOTICMEME says "TRY TO MEET AND BE INLOVE " REALLY COOL!Maddie says "say spitley!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
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