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8797999's review against another edition
5.0
Fascinating, enlightening and very interesting and personal. A superb collection of essays and full of places, people and facets of Japan and Japanese culture. A book to enjoy and meander your way through slowly, handily with google beside you to see the shrines and art mentioned.
What a good writer Alex Kerr is, and what an interesting life he has lived.
What a good writer Alex Kerr is, and what an interesting life he has lived.
edriessen's review against another edition
5.0
A beautiful and honest depiction of Japan. I got some great insights into modern Japan out of this, and hope to apply some when I go there. Thanks Alex.
lc200's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting and varied, although its very eclecticism makes it a little hard to navigate at times.
yates9's review against another edition
3.0
I remember I enjoyed the book even if it was a bit artificious.
bluestarfish's review against another edition
5.0
Alex Kerr's book pulls together his biographical and travel articles of his experiences of living in Japan (by 1992 he had been there a couple of decades). He first experiences Japan as a child, then as a university student, and then moves to the country.
He has a lovely way of observing his world and writing it down in an accessible way giving us glimpses of many things that I found really interesting. Kerr is passionate about the traditional arts and this is not an area I know anything about so I learned a lot of things that I'd like to follow up on. And he's an art collector and dealer and I found that a fascinating world to peek into. The vivid descriptions of his homes make me want to see and experience an old Japanese home myself!
He is a great chronologer of change he has seen during his time in Japan and seems to make great use of some of the crazy opportunities that came his way. Luckily for us he wrote some of them down.
He has a lovely way of observing his world and writing it down in an accessible way giving us glimpses of many things that I found really interesting. Kerr is passionate about the traditional arts and this is not an area I know anything about so I learned a lot of things that I'd like to follow up on. And he's an art collector and dealer and I found that a fascinating world to peek into. The vivid descriptions of his homes make me want to see and experience an old Japanese home myself!
He is a great chronologer of change he has seen during his time in Japan and seems to make great use of some of the crazy opportunities that came his way. Luckily for us he wrote some of them down.
bigbeardedbookseller's review against another edition
4.0
This was a random pickup mainly because I had been reading a lot of translated Japanese literary fiction when I bought this, and like all books I had it kicking around the house for quite a while before I eventually got around to reading it.
Alex takes us on a personal journey through the his time in Japan at the end of the Twentieth century whilst also looking back at the development and history of Japanese culture.
Covering so much of the traditional art of Japan but in a way I’ve never read about it before, both personal and educational, following the timelines of forms such as the tea ceremony, Kabuki, and calligraphy from the very earliest Chinese influences to what is happening to these in the late 20th century.
There was much so warmth in his description of Japan and it’s culture, you are able to share his excitement and awe when he met Tamasaburo, his love of calligraphy, and his childish pleasure of the older Nara regions and the religious structures that you can find there.
This is all tinged with a regret for the way that development has been stifled by the more rigorous side of the Japanese psyche and culture, the restrictions that are in place in the structure of the arts, business, and other aspects of life.
The book ends with a feeling of longing for the past, but also for the future and a hope that this can take the best of the past and mingle it to move forward.
A highly enjoyable history of his time and of Japan.
Alex takes us on a personal journey through the his time in Japan at the end of the Twentieth century whilst also looking back at the development and history of Japanese culture.
Covering so much of the traditional art of Japan but in a way I’ve never read about it before, both personal and educational, following the timelines of forms such as the tea ceremony, Kabuki, and calligraphy from the very earliest Chinese influences to what is happening to these in the late 20th century.
There was much so warmth in his description of Japan and it’s culture, you are able to share his excitement and awe when he met Tamasaburo, his love of calligraphy, and his childish pleasure of the older Nara regions and the religious structures that you can find there.
This is all tinged with a regret for the way that development has been stifled by the more rigorous side of the Japanese psyche and culture, the restrictions that are in place in the structure of the arts, business, and other aspects of life.
The book ends with a feeling of longing for the past, but also for the future and a hope that this can take the best of the past and mingle it to move forward.
A highly enjoyable history of his time and of Japan.