ontheeveofthewettestday's review
adventurous
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
It explains the various aspects of Japanese culture in a beautiful anecdotal way but it feels like it falls int the trap of "it was always better in the past" aka it sounds like another person complaining about modern times. I do agree with the importance of preserving culture and natural sights, but it's a tad pessimistic and I would've liked more examples on aspects of Japanese culture have grown.
forlornreverie's review
3.0
As someone who grew up with Japanese pop culture my interest for Japan never faded away. This book was insightful on many levels. I loved how the author told a story about Japan through a personal account. As a historian I find it particularly interesting how the relationship between the Japanese and their history is, because it's not that close or falls different than for example European history. The regret Kerr felt that the Japenese were "destroying" their history and landscape (bulldozing older buildings that show how houses were built, as well as the art behind it and switching it with concrete; "destroying" the beauty of landscapes by placing "ugly" buildings in it, etc.) I could feel, too. As a historian (and as a person who loves art and culture) I'm sad whenever old, historical architecture has to move for new modern buildings. The way Kerr described the reasoning behind this, seeing its roots in the culture and history of Japan, it makes sense. However, I still am appreciating how Japenese is now today. And I think the author is, too (although he was criticized as a Japan-basher). Actually the book shows how much he loves Japan.
I mostly enjoyed this book. I loved learning about art, architecture and the different cultures and traditions (especially the part about Kyoto), but there are also chapters that were a bit too long and too detailed, maybe because they're special interest (calligraphy, for example, or the Kabuki theatre). I'd recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Japan's culture and society, especially for post-WWII Japan. This book was written in the 1990s, just so you know. 30 years have passed and I'd be interested in how Kerr is viewing things now.
I mostly enjoyed this book. I loved learning about art, architecture and the different cultures and traditions (especially the part about Kyoto), but there are also chapters that were a bit too long and too detailed, maybe because they're special interest (calligraphy, for example, or the Kabuki theatre). I'd recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Japan's culture and society, especially for post-WWII Japan. This book was written in the 1990s, just so you know. 30 years have passed and I'd be interested in how Kerr is viewing things now.
andreairashea's review
5.0
Where was this book four weeks ago, or when I was living in Japan!? I learned so much from reading this, and unfortunately, had a lot of "we could've gone there, done that, if only I'd known..." moments. I was already determined to return to Japan as soon as possible, now I'd say I'm fiercely determined...
quiddity's review
5.0
gentle wanderings amongst Japan's cultural history and present. much art and architecture described.
singlecrow's review
3.0
A fascinating book about the author's thirty-plus years in Japan and his observations about Japanese art and culture (and notably, translated out of Japanese but not by the English-speaking author). I learned a lot from it and I enjoyed it, and was surprised by the latter given the basic premise of the book is "old man shouts at clouds". Kerr has a lot to say about "lost" Japan - lost traditional arts, lost ways of rural living, lost natural environments. There is a certain naiveté to some of this though - in a section on the rural community where he lived in Japan first, he bemoans the losses caused by the fact people are leaving for the cities and never returning. He doesn't seem to quite acknowledge that people leaving a poverty-stricken rural area and finding prosperity in the cities doesn't have to be interpreted solely as a loss. There are also sections where my persnickety millennial response was just to ask "citation needed"?? - particularly a section on what he calls Japanese literati, framing it with reference to the Oxford literati of All Souls in Oxford. I'm not sure the purely anecdotal comparison works as well as he thinks it does. Still, an enjoyable and very educational book.