No comments about A Flower Lover's Guide to Tokyo: 40 Walks for All Seasons.

5 comments about Clueless In Tokyo: Explorer's Sketchbook Of Weird And Wonderful Things In Japan.

1. Yes, it says so in the reviews, but somehow I missed it. I thought it was a travel guide for the "clueless." I can see how it might be amusing to some Westerners though. Now I need to get a real guide book for our trip to Tokyo.... Got any recommendations?



2. Cute illustrations and some useful Japanese words make this an enjoyable book to read but I finished it in 10 minutes so don't expect anything more than an amusing introduction to some of the unusual things a visitor would encounter. When I go to Tokyo I will bring this with me for some light reading on the plane.
   It is a clever idea though and a good supplememt to some of the drier guidebooks out there.



3. Clueless in Tokyo is a delightful way to learn about a wide variety of common things found in Japanese Culture. Keeps you laughing while you learn.



4. When I was in Japan with my family, looking at relocation 6 or 7 years ago, one of my dad's co-workers suggested this book for all of the fun things around Tokyo. This book is the reason I have a garden-size Tanuki that I lugged from Japan to Ohio to New York. It's not going to teach you what to say to find the restroom, but it'll explain what you're seeing when you get there in a way that's...well...funny. I have a friend moving to Japan and this will be the first thing he gets from me!



5. I loved this book... It brought back so many memories of my time in Japan.

No comments about Osaka Travel Map: 2nd Edition (Periplus Travel Maps).

5 comments about Squeamish About Sushi: And other Food Adventures in Japan.

1. Not only is this book helpful for people about to visit Japan, but as someone about to leave this wonderful country after 3 years, Ms Reynolds book is one I'll cherish as a souvenir of my time here. Her drawings are amazingly observant and accurate as well as humorous. I look forward to seeing more of her work.



2. Not only is this book helpful for people about to visit Japan, but as someone about to leave this wonderful country after 3 years, Ms Reynolds book is one I'll cherish as a souvenir of my time here. Her drawings are amazingly observant and accurate as well as humorous. I look forward to seeing more of her work.



3. Betty Reynolds, an American artist who lived in Japan for six years, is NOT squeamish about sushi-or any of the other Japanese foods she lovingly illustrates and describes in this slender but well-packed sketchbook of culinary adventures in Japan.

   With her bright watercolors and good-humored descriptions, Betty Reynolds brings back happy memories of many dining experiences in Japan: how to recognize a restaurant by the signs outside the door, the etiquette of eating sushi (and which of the decorative leaves are edible!), slurping noodles the Japanese way. She goes on to do the same for tempura, yakitori, sukiyaki, and dozens of other Japanese foods. Many uniquely Japanese experiences are portrayed: stopping by a Japanese pub (izakaya) where strangers are assured of a warm welcome; the joys of yatai, the open-air food stalls that show up on streets in evenings and at festivals; the pure bliss of unwinding at a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn); picnicking at a cherry blossom-viewing party in the park; attending a sumo wrestling match; even how to grapple with a Japanese toilet.

   A keen observer, Ms. Reynolds is enough of an "insider" to go beyond the obvious in delineating a myriad of Japanese foods, and enough of an "outsider" to remain objective in recognizing the kind of only-in-Japan zaniness that occasionally crops up (sweet potato ice cream, anyone?). Each food is identified with hand-lettered descriptions in English, Japanese roman-ji (the Roman alphabet) so you can pronounce it, and kana (the Japanese syllabary) so someone Japanese can read what it is.

   Just leafing through this yummy, entertaining book makes me hungry. As I write this review, I'm itching to catch the next plane to Japan (or at least go out to the nearest Japanese pub)! This book is a great introduction to the wealth of Japanese cuisine, a fine gift or memento for travelers to Japan, and useful even to identify items-and wow the chef with your knowledge-at your local sushi bar.




4. I LOVE sushi (my wife HATES it! :-), but there is much about eating sushi that I didn't understand....until I read this book. Wonderful pictures and great explanations for all things Japanese.

   I've never been to Japan, so I can't vouch for the accuracy of this book. But the previous Amazon reviewers seem to attest that this book is fairly accurate.

   If you are interested in Japanese culture (and especially sushi!) - you'll like reading this book!




5. We have lived in Tokyo Japan for 2 years and just recently received this book as a gift. My family and I love it. The book explains a lot of things you will experience in a Japanese restraunt, in shops or just out walking in the city. Things that have been a mystery for 2 years have been explained, with pictures even. We liked the book so much that we have purchased a couple more copies as gifts for other Americans coming to live in Japan.

No comments about Narrow Road to the Interior (Shambhala Centaur Editions).

5 comments about Japanland: A Year in Search of Wa.

1. Japan has always fascinated me; its history, culture, cuisine, sights and sounds. For me, there is a familiarity, yet an ever-present mystique about the country. I had the opportunity to visit Japan twice, however, such short, touristy 2-week jaunts could never yield such a revelatory look into Japan, as author Karin Muller has provided in her travelogue, Japanland: A Year in Search of Wa. She writes with such candor and honesty, engaging in activities, meeting people, and experiencing things that most of us could only dream of. If you have even a remote interest in Japan, I highly recommend this book. Muller's engaging storytelling and enchanting writing style whisks you through her adventures in Japan like a speeding Shinkansen. A definite must-read for any Japanophile or anyone wishing to experience Japan vicariously.



2. I wanted to read this book after catching the Japanland series on PBS. I have always been fascinated with Japan, and the television episodes interested me. I thought that by reading the book, I might get some information that was left out of the series.
   
   Although the book has some neat and interesting information, I was disappointed with the book as a whole. To be sure, I liked the information about different cultural institutions, but the core of the first two hundred pages was more focused on the author's self confidence issues in a foreign land. This seems like a situation where the reader might feel sympathy for her, but I felt none. I felt that while she wrote that she was trying to be accepted, she was only being stubborn, and trying to express how superior her own ideas were; there were many situations where she asks a native something like, "why would you do that?" or "I did this instead, since what they said didn't make sense to me."
   
   The last one hundred pages were more enjoyable because she stopped focusing on herself, and wrote more about the different cultural institutions. The last few pages in which she tries to bring the whole experience together and claim that she finally gleamed some understanding did not seem authentic. Rather, I could not get rid of the impression that she was more interested in writing a book and filming a documentary than actually finding some sort of `wa,' since that is all that she seemed interested in during the end of the trip. Thus, the central premise of the book did not seem to hold, and because that lacked, so did any sympathy for the author. It all seemed just too phony.
   
   Because I am not Japanese, I cannot attest to the errors regarding her interpretation of certain customs. In fact, I have read in other books things that seem to confirm some of these errors that others have pointed out; perhaps I have read the same out of date books as Muller.



3. Karin Muller describes her year in Japan as a search for "wa" or inner harmony. This is a literary construct--an entirely unconvincing one-- designed to tie together a series of travel stories that are really defined by restlessness, not harmony, as Muller and her camera bounce from one unusual festival or cultural practice to another. Then there is the motif of the Rules and Regulations that Muller keeps bumping into, which usually lead to her being Rejected. This happens with the host mother, Yukiko, most notably, and with each encounter I began to feel a little more sympathy for Yukiko, esepcially when Muller attempted to improve the family garden with a vegetable patch. (Yukiko is referred to as Muller's "nemsis" on the paperback cover blurb--a good way to sell the book, I guess.) Muller may be a good filmmaker (I have not seen the PBS series), but she's not a particularly good writer. She tells her stories in the present tense, evidently to give a sense of action and immediacy, which is wearying after a while and leads to way too many sentences that begin "I + verb". Check out page 205, for example, and just count them, if you doubt me. Muller also has a weakness for the unfortunate simile; when she described being cold after a naked swim in the sea as "I feel my body stiffening like a piece of roadkill after the sun goes down" I almost gave up on the book altogether. Occasionally Muller must supply historical background to explain what has drawen her to a particular place, but each time it has the awkward feel of a sidebar. Finally, there is her tendency to make sweeping generalizations ("courtesy is bred into their DNA," and so on) that makes you realize that Muller doesn't really like Japan or the Japanese very much.There are some interesting stories in this book, but I would not recommend it as a guide to Japan. I should say in all fairness that I read this book right after finishing "Oracle Bones", Peter Hessler's wonderful book about China. Hessler, in addition to his scholarship and years of living in China, has what I call a quiet eye. He's wonderfully observant and skillfully brings just enough of himself into the narrative to convey his personality and interests. Muller's "Japanland" is too frantic and self-absorbed to convey much that's truly interesting or new about Japan. Maybe the country needs a Peter Hessler.



4. Karin Muller's memoir/travelogue of her year spent in Japan is almost two books in one. The first half of the book describes her failed relationship with Yukiko, the perfect Japanese housewife of the host family in Tokyo that took her in. Muller's story recounts the differences between American and Japanese culture and the societal roles expected in Japan that can make or break a relationship. As an unmarried, free-thinking, American traveler and writer, Muller is anything but Japanese when placed in a society that demands sacrifice based on society's expectations. Finally, after months of struggling, Muller left her host family and moves into what is described as an alley in Japan's second-largest city, Osaka.
   
   That is where the travelogue portion of her book begins. In an effort to create a documentary on Japan, Muller travels the country to find the lost Japan of centuries ago. Her writing style is engaging and her thoughts are often insightful. Her portrait of Japan would be helpful to any beginner of Japanese studies and culture, but is most valuable, if not more entertaining, to those already familiar with the culture, language and the people.



5. I would recommend this book to anyone that wants to know more about Japan or wants to visit Japan-not only would it make a great tourist guide, it also would tell you how to act (or how NOT to act) in any given situation so as to not insult the natives. She makes her experiences in Japan so real that I felt I was there; I felt like I was her. When her host mother delivers the most stinging insult to Ms. Muller, I felt as badly as if she'd insulted me personally. When she experiences the purest generosity from strangers, I was crying, too.
   For the first time since I had a superficial friendship with a Japanese woman, I felt like I was actually coming to begin to understand how the Japanese think. The one thing I still have a question about is Ms. Muller's statement that it is illegal to employ woman over the age of 30; they are expected to be married and settled down to have kids and care for the home by 30. But my friend was an entrepeneur-granted, she was under 30, but she owned her own clothing store and even when she was engaged to marry an American, they planned on running her store together while he taught English on the side after they married. Her parents, wealthy business people, did not seem to have any problem with her marrying an American or continuing to run her store after wedding him. Perhaps they were more modern than the average family?
   I don't know, but her novel left me thirsting for more-more of her witty observations and self-deprecating humor. She tried harder than anyone I've ever known to fit in and experience each event and moment to it's fullest. She never stood by as an observer, she was always leaping, head first, right in to learn and help-sometimes to her own chagrin or detriment. This was an excellent read and I could not wait to get back to it every chance I got. I'd happily recommend it to anyone who has a thirst for knowledge or curiosity about Japan.

1 comments about Persimmon Wind: A Martial Artist's Journey In Japan.

1. I have been a fan of Dave Lowry's writing for some time, then I had decided to read this book. This is by far one of the best reads of my life. The suthor has a great ability to capture small nuances of the japanese experience and convey's beautifully to the reader. The details of the bathhouse experience, and well as the samll dojo where he and his sensei practiced iaido, was a great treasure to be read. The book served as additional travel guide on my visit to japan, especially when visiting kyoto and the butokuden. I would highly advise this to all, including budokas, and writers. I presently read this book atleast once a year.

3 comments about Shanks Mare: Japan's Great Comic Novel of Travel & Ribaldry.

1. Students of Japanese literature will find Ikku Jippensha's Shank's Mare to be an outstanding comic novel and essential to a thorough study of Japanese literary history and culture: Thomas Satchell provides the English translation of this story of adventure and discovery. The original was issued serially in 1802: this will appeal to modern readers.



2. This book is over 200 years old and still popular. There's a good reason for that.
   
   It captures all that people love about slapstick, and doesn't worry about toning it down for the kids. The two heros drift from town to town, bordello to bordello, and bar to bar. They're petty grifters, always trying to pull another meager scam, and always getting the worst of it in the end.
   
   There's no real plot here, just a sequence of vignettes. They're all like enough in kind to create a rhythm, but different enough to stay entertaining. Lots of the humor is low - potty humor, not restricted just to human waste. As in some britcoms, our heroes suddenly appear in their underwear time and again - or out of it, or next to it, or looking up into a tree at it. The real fun is in their silly pranks and exaggerations, always found out in ways that make them look like total twits.
   
   Ikku Jippensha's work is still a good read, even today. Sometimes, though, English doesn't capture the flavor of the original. The translator just shouldn't have bothered with some of the puns, and a few turns of phrase probably sounded better back when this was translated. End-notes are scanty, and there appears to be a systematic error in page number references towards the end of the notes.
   
   None of that really interferes with a good read. Enjoy the prat-falls as much as the original readers did, 200 years ago and in Japan.
   
   //wiredweird



3. I have only just started reading this book and I'm haveing alot of trouble finding the houmor in the book. And also I can't really tell what is going on in the story. The plot seems to be choppy and I can't get a mental picture as to what is going on half the time. But I can not bash the book untill I'm done reading it. I hope things start to smooth out the more I read it and get a feel for the style of the book.

5 comments about Breaking Open Japan: Commodore Perry, Lord Abe, and American Imperialism in 1853.

1. This challenging and deeply researched book on Perry's "opening up" of Japan
   has the most painful relevance possible to our current government's colossal
   misadventure in allegedly trying to bring "Freedom and Democracy" to a land
   of darker-skinned people about whose history we are -- not willfully mis-
   informed, which would be bad enough, but wildly, tragically ignorant. And
   what kind of reverberations can we expect, decades and even a century down
   the road of history? What Pearl Harbors, what Okinawas, what Hiroshimas are
   there to come?



2. This marvelous book is a model study of the unintended consequences of American self-righteousness and imperial arrogance -- with eerie echoes today in the Bush/Cheney invasion of Iraq. It is a work of superb scholarship, and in spots it requires keen concentration, but the total effect is most rewarding, and the concluding sections -- with their lessons for the present and,one hopes,for the future -- are brilliant.
   
   Amidst the present disasters of our militarized foreign policy, Mr Feifer's observation (in Chapter 17) that American "fervor and ignorance, especially of other cultures, sometimes caused grave damage" rings with bitter irony today in Iraq. "The Japan that [Commodore Perry] left was boiling in despairing confusion ... bloody plots and counterplots ... full of episodes that seem not to belong to waking life, but have ... the unearthly logic of events in a dream."
   
   And yet, even in his harsh conclusions, Mr Feifer is scholarly, moderate, nuanced, and scrupulous, never overstating his case as the ironies for today abound. This is an incisive and most admirable book.



3. On one level this remarkable book will provide invaluable background for anyone interested in understanding why Japan's love-hate relationship with the United States continues to this day. It should also serve to underline the dangers of imposing one nation's views on another.
   But the book will also appeal to readers simply interested in a rich historical tour of Japan at the dawn of its modern era. The skillful weaving of the descriptions of the personalities, prejudices and political backgrounds of Commodore Perry and his Japanese counterpart Lord Abe brings to life and keeps in focus a story that might otherwise have drifted into an academic dissertation.
   Breaking Open Japan will now be added to my list of must-reads for friends and acquaintances interested in peeling away the layers of a society that remains the most complex and conflicted of the modern era.



4. If you think you knew and understood American history this brilliant book will make you think again.The author sets out to show that America arrogantly decided to force Japan to open its doors to foreigners and trade, a decision that turned out to be the first step along the path that was to lead to Pearl Harbor. He succeeds admirably. This is readable, controversial history with a lesson for what is going on in Iraq today. A must book for serious thinkers.



5. 
   This is a fascinating story and the author presents substantive research. There is some good prose in parts, such as the character development of Commodore Perry and descriptions of Okinawa, but on the whole it is not a smooth read. The 4 stars I'm giving it are for its importance as a contribution to our understanding of this period, the author's discussion on the impact of the attitude with which Perry's mission was accomplished, and the research that has been brought together.
   
   Had there not been such good material and insight, the text was so choppy that I would have not finished the book. The dangling ideas, that is, concepts introduced but not previously explained or later followed up on, were frustrating. Then there are a lot of tortured sentences and then some grammar that had to be ignored to get the meaning.
   
   One example of a dangling idea was the paragraph that ended by saying that Abe Mashihiro had won an important victory in the appointment of his recommended defense advisor followed by a paragraph saying that the appointee was "his (Abe's) the most vocal critic." What did I miss? By this time in the book, I no longer flipped back. The concept of a victory for Abe getting a critic an influential position isn't ever clear. It could be that the author meant it in the wider context that through this appointment there was no war, but that isn't clear either.
   
   An example of the tortured prose, on p. 190 regarding Perry's son in law and grandson:
   
   "New York's high society made him "King of Fifth Avenue". (New York Belmont Race Track and the Belmont Stakes are named after him, while in Newport, Rhode Island one of the sumptuous "cottages" was built by Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont, the son of "King" and Perry's daughter, together with Alva Vanderbilt previously married to William K. Vanderbilt)".
   
   A grammar example (while you know it's Abe, there are two antecedents for him, not one) is on p. 243 "More than ever, Abe and the roju made the important decisions; with the senior counselors increasinly deferring to him about those concerning Perry..."
   
   While the text was a real drawback (for me), there is a lot of food for thought in the analysis of what it Perry's actions meant for US-Japanese relations for the next 100 years, the unequal treaties, the symbolism of the USS Missouri receiving the Japanese surrender in Uraga Bay and the comparison of China's attitude and policies toward western trade and intervention.
   
   For general readers interested in the seclusion period I recommend Samurai William: The Englishman Who Opened Japan and Native American in the Land of the Shogun: Ranald Macdonald and the Opening of Japan.

2 comments about Streetwise Tokyo Map - Laminated Center City Street Map of Tokyo, Japan - Folding pocket size travel map with subway map - JR lines (Streetwise (Streetwise Maps)).

1. This map is not helpful as it excludes relevant portions of the city. Portion relevant as Tokyo is not a centralized city as many others, but lives on various epicentres as Shibuya, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Ueno, Asaksa etc. which have thir own suburbs bustling with life and activites of every day relevance.
   If you're only interested in the main area of the city then this map is otherwise excellent.
   Tommaso



2. This is a good detailed map to Tokyo - for once I didn't get completely lost. I wish I had had it on my first three visits when (among many other mis-steps),I spent hours confused on the subway where it is difficult to read station maps becasue of the serious crowds. Trust me you need your own so you can read it at your convenience. Too the architectural drawings of major buildings in different districts are a good visual aid when walking around. Tokyo is a difficult city alright and without a detailed map you are doomed.
   
   Unless you want to carry around an encyclopedic street guide weighing five pounds this Street Wise is the one for you. For the casual or business traveler this compact laminated map is the best I've found....and I've tried too many to list.