Japan Books - Page 5

Lonely Planet Hiking in Japan

Richard Ryall

Amazon Price: $16.49 List Price: $24.99 Not yet published By: Lonely Planet Publications

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Subjects -> Outdoors & Nature -> Hiking & Camping -> Walking

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

I only missed one thing 4 out of 5 stars.
14 of 14 people found this review helpful.

And that is descriptions of longer treks.
There are a few described as 4-8 days long in this book, but when walking I found that that would have been at a snail's pace and the times given had to be halved. Even a quick look at the regional maps will confirm that all hikes described only cover relatively small areas.
So those planning a longer trek through the backcountry of Japan might be disappointed (I was, anyway), but I understand we are just the minority...
On the other hand, those looking for advice on a variety of short hikes in national parks or near the major cities will find lots of good ideas, and practical details that tend to be amazingly correct by guidebook standards!
Don't worry too much about the book being a few years old - Japan is such a stable country that much of the information remains as valid as ever.

Editorial Review:

Sunrise atop Fuji-san, steaming volcanoes, natural hot springs, ancient temples and pilgrim trails, wild subtropical jungles, spectacular gorges, unique wildlife and nature's seasonal shows - explore the wonders of Japan with this meticulously researched guide.

• detailed trail notes with kanji for more than 70 day and multi-day hikes
• 70 detailed, custom-drawn contour maps with kanji
• accommodation options from gateway cities to remote camp sites
• tips on transport to and from the trailheads
• practical advice on local culture, responsible hiking and pre-hike preparation
• quick reference language section, glossary and gazetteer with kanji

Speed Tribes: Days and Night's with Japan's Next Generation

Karl Taro Greenfeld

Amazon Price: $11.20 List Price: $14.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Harper Perennial Amazon Marketplace: 68 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 40 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Insightful 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Well, the Library of Congress classified this book as Subculture - Japan - Case Studies, and having read it, I am relatively sure that it is a work of nonfiction. One reviewer claimed that parents would *never* tout the merits of their child at an omiai, yet in "Pink Samurai: Love, Marriage and Sex in Contemporary Japan" Nicholas Bornhoff writes extensively on just this topic. According to Bornhoff, virtually all that happens at an omiai is that parents go on and on about their children's accomplishments ad nauseum. The "date" (which is meant to culminate in arranged marriage) is more like a particularly boring, traditional job interview in which the resume is the main topic under discussion. No wonder "Keiko Nakagami" (perhaps a pseudonym, but nevertheless most likely a living person whom Greenfeld *interviewed*) kept thinking about the Australian she met at a club the other night! Anyway, for those who still have doubts about the book's authenticity, reread the chapter "Dai: The Motorcycle Thief" which is full of interview quotations regarding his "observation period" at a juvenile rehabilitation facility. If this is fiction, this is the most realistic fiction I've ever read ...

Editorial Review:

This foray into the often violent subcultures of Japan dramatically debunks the Western perception of a seemingly controlled and orderly society.

Tokyo (City Guide)

Matthew Firestone

Amazon Price: $14.99 List Price: $19.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Lonely Planet Amazon Marketplace: 41 new & used starting at $7.96

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Reformatted, Not Revised? 3 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

I found the previous edition of the Lonely Planet Tokyo city guide handy as an independent traveler. Unfortunately, the new edition appears to be a reformatted version of the 2006 edition, rather than an update.

For example:

pp. 62-63 - The guide bizarrely claims that the Ghibli Museum is located in Ginza, when it is in fact located in a western suburb of Tokyo (the correct information appears on p. 112).

p. 64 - The guide fails to note that the hours for tourists to visit the Tsukiji fish market have been officially restricted since April 2008. Incredibly, the lead author of the guide wrote in his blog about this very issue in April 2008 (http://www.gadling.com/2008/04/05/big-in-japan-tokyos-top-tourist-attraction-is-limiting-access/) - so he certainly knows about the new rules.

p. 125 - The hours for the Edo Tokyo Museum - apparently copied from the previous edition without the editors verifying them - are wrong and have been so for at least a year.

p. 242 - The guide describes Passnet cards as an option for train and subway travel. Passnet cards haven't been sold since January 2008 and haven't worked since March 2008.

Much as I would like to give the new edition of the guide a more positive review, I can't do so; a shiny new cover doesn't offset the unrevised content. Given that Lonely Planet's website says the next edition won't be out until 2011, there is no excuse for not having updated basic information in the guide.

Editorial Review:

Discover Tokyo

Watch them slice tuna like samurai at Tsukiji Central Fish Market
Slip into a cotton-fresh yukata (robe) in your peaceful ryokan
Find out why it's important to 'refuse' a gift
Sink countless thimbles of sake in a Golden Gai drinking den

In This Guide:

The leading guide to Tokyo
Resident Tokyo authors uncover over 40 top new restaurants
Special chapter on manga, robots and gadgets, and where to find it all
Content updated daily - visit lonelyplanet.com for up-to-the-minute reviews, updates and traveler insights.

Chado the Way of Tea: A Japanese Tea Master's Almanac

Sasaki Sanmi

List Price: $75.00 By: Tuttle Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 2 new & used starting at $49.99

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Great book for a student of tea 5 out of 5 stars.
15 of 16 people found this review helpful.

I would reccommend this book for students studying the Japanese tea ceremony. This month by month guide tells which flowers, foods, pottery and poetry are appropriate for each month and season. It also has lists of all the important days of every month and gives key words and phrases asscociated with each month. It has some history regarding tea masters and it has a great glossary which gives the meaning of many tea words. This is a beautiful, useful and well written book if you are planning an actual ceremony...However, I must warn anyone considering buying this book of a few things: This book DOES NOT teach you how to perform a tea ceremony! This very thick book does not have many pictures other than a few dozen small black and whites of various scrolls and ancient art. There is not much in this book regarding different types of matcha. This book does not have photos of the many (and fairly expensive) tools you will need to make matcha the traditional way...In fact, if you have never taken a tea lesson I would hesitate reccommending this book. I had no idea what most of this meant until I took lessons! I have been taking tea lessons for about two months and TRUST ME when I say, it's practically impossible to learn how to do a proper tea ceremony from any book! (It would be like trying to learn martial arts by watching TV!) Most teachers will tell you this too. You learn the steps of a ceremony with your body and not just your mind. Other students in my class have been taking lessons for over ten years and are still perfecting their skills. The tea ceremony is a wonderful, relaxing and fun hobby. Like any fine art, it takes years of practice, patience and dedication to get really good at it. Please don't let this discourage you from learning or reading about tea ceremonies. Green tea can bring you a lot of joy and many health benefits! I made matcha lots of times before I ever took lessons and I always had fun but nothing compares to learning how to do it correctly. Overall, if you already have a fair amount of knowledge about tea you will really appriciate this wonderful book. If you know nothing about tea you might feel a little lost and may be better off with a more basic Japanese tea book. Either way, it is a very rewarding and most beautiful hobby. I encourage anyone who is interested to learn more about it. Tea ceremonies are truly the kind of thing you can keep learning more and more about for as long as you live and you may learn a lot about yourself in the process!

Editorial Review:

A translation of the Japanese classic Sado-sai-jiki, Chado: The Way of Tea explores the unique and varied aspects of the Japanese tea ceremony. First published in Japanese in 1960, this beautifully written, scholarly work covers all tea-related events in Japan throughout the year, serving as the central text for followers of chanoyu, the Japanese tea ceremony. At once an almanac and encyclopedia of tea, Chado: The Way of Tea includes traditional contemplative poetry used during the tea ceremony, vignettes of festivals and formal occasions, and reflective short essays on the subject of tea. The entry for each month contains nine parts: features, events, memorials, flowers, cakes, foods, meals, words for contemplation, and meisu (utensils and related furnishings). Perfect for the tea-lover, Japanophile, or anyone interested in chanoyu, Chado: The Way of Tea, gives invaluable insight into Japan's most beloved ceremony.

Hello, Please! Very Helpful Super Kawaii Characters from Japan

Matt Alt, Hiroko Yoda

Amazon Price: $14.95 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Chronicle Books Amazon Marketplace: 36 new & used starting at $5.98

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Awesome book! More Hello, Please! 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

This is a great coffee table or gift book. Awesome photographs, beautiful design and insightful text. Totally captures the quirkiness of this aspect of Japanese pop culture...

So freakin' supercute 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Okay, I admit this isn't the most eloquent review, but I'm giving this book a shout-out because it is so amusing, adorable, funny. The authors classify these cartoony characters into five sections with an intro for each and an overall introduction prefacing it all. The intros were somewhat informative, not terribly deep in explanation but deep enough. I liked the variety and quantity of images they included and how their captions were set in a solid-color version of the character they are describing on that page. Great gift idea for anyone who likes Japanese pop art and cute, bubbly cartoons in general.

Editorial Review:

A menagerie of mascots and characters inhabit the islands of Japan, cheerfully guiding citizens through all sorts of daily activities and situations. Hello, Please! collects photographs of hundreds of the these cute (or kawaii) creatures in their native habitats, which are virtually everywhere: from public street signs to supermarket shelves, in doctor's offices and instruction manuals even emblazoned on the sides of Tokyo's emergency vehicles. Authors Matt Alt and Hiroko Yoda explore the cultural context of these ubiquitous, hard-working critters and their relationship to anime and manga, commercial characters like Hello Kitty, and the cult of cute, while introducing readers to a host of adorable new best friends they never knew they had.

Japan by Rail, 2nd: includes rail route guide and 29 city guides

Ramsey Zarifeh

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Trailblazer Publications Amazon Marketplace: 31 new & used starting at $11.66

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Fully revised second edition. Japan is steeped in legend and myth, perhaps the greatest of which is the popular misconception that the country is simply too expensive to visit. The truth is that flights to Japan are cheaper than they've ever been, accommodation can be great value, while the warm hospitality which awaits every visitor costs nothing at all. The real secret to traveling around the country on a budget, however, is the Japan Rail Pass. With this pass you can travel on some of the fastest trains in the world as often as you like for as long as you please – and all for one bargain price. Use this comprehensive guide in conjunction with a rail pass to get the most out of your trip to Japan.

* Practical information – planning your trip; what to take; getting to Japan from Europe, North America and Australasia

* City guides and maps – where to stay (all budgets), where to eat, what to see in 29 towns and cities; historical and cultural background

* Kilometerkilometer route guides – covering train journeys from the coast into the mountains, from temple retreat to sprawling metropolis and from sulfurous volcano to windswept desert; 34 route maps

* Railway timetables – Bullet trains and all routes in this guidebook

* Plus – Customs, etiquette, Japanese phrases and 28 color photos

Lost Japan

Alex Kerr

List Price: $10.95 By: Lonely Planet Amazon Marketplace: 11 new & used starting at $5.71

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 42 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A must read for those interested in Japan 4 out of 5 stars.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful.

Three years ago, Alex Kerr finally left the Japan he had called home for some 30 years prior to that. For a look at why, there is no better place to start than his seminal work on the willful and casual destruction of Japanese culture.

Originally written in Japanese, Kerr's work documents the loss of what drew him to Japan in the first place: its spectacular traditional arts. Divided into chapters on Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, legendary American businessman Trammell Crow, Kabuki, Kerr's own art collecting and calligraphy. Lost Japan is a must-read for anyone interested in modern and pre-modern Japan.

Editorial Review:

Drawing on the author's personal experiences of life in Japan over a period of 30 years, Lost Japan takes the reader on a backstage tour of the country's cultural icons. The book explores different facets of Alex Kerr's cultural involvement: friendships with Kabuki actors, buying and selling art, studying calligraphy, exploring rarely visited temples and shrines. The author's experiences underscore the fact that Japan is heading towards environmental and cultural ruin.

About the Author
Alex Kerr is an American who lives in Japan. He holds degrees in Japanese Studies from Yale University and Chinese Studies from Oxford University, and is a passionate and knowledgeable collector of East Asian art. He writes and lectures in Japanese, and is associated with the Oomoto Foundation, a Shinto organisation devoted to the practice and teaching of traditional Japanese arts.

Kyoto: Seven Paths to The Heart of The City

Diane Durston

Amazon Price: $16.47 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Kodansha International Amazon Marketplace: 47 new & used starting at $5.43

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

What better way to see Kyoto than at dawn, when the back streets and alleys of this 1,200-year-old city are still under the spell of the past? Old folks fuss about with their bonsai and laundry poles, pausing to chat on their way to the neighborhood shrine with flowers and morning prayers. Knock-kneed white egrets stalk the stream beds for breakfast, and the giant bronze temple bells awaken the former capital of Japan every morning as they have done for centuries.

Through wars, fires, famines, tyrants, and now rapid modernization, the old neighborhoods of Kyoto are the places where the customs and traditions of this fascinating city, with its confusing blend of old and new, have managed to survive.

American writer and former Kyoto resident Diane Durston introduces seven must-see precincts of this ancient capital city, including four Historic Preservation Districts. Among them are the world-famous geisha quarter, the kimono textile neighborhoods, the sake-brewing area of Fushimi, and the tea-growing region of Uji. Durston weaves together local lore and historical sites to create a panoply of provocative walking tours that take the reader back in time to the elegance of earlier days.

Accompanying each section is a full-color map and the fine photography of Katsuhiko Mizuno, a Kyoto native and one of the city's most famous photographers. Sections highlighting Kyoto crafts, cuisine, festivals, and tourist essentials round out this attractive volume, making it the perfect introduction -- and guide -- to one of the world's most evocative cities.

Features

* Photographs by one of Kyoto's most renowned photographers
* Locations of the most important Historic Preservations Districts
* Detailed maps and suggested routes
* Scenic and little-known walking paths
* Completely revised and updated information

Thank You and Okay: An American Zen Failure in Japan

David Chadwick

List Price: $14.95 By: Penguin (Non-Classics) Amazon Marketplace: 45 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Do it yourself enlightenment 3 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

American Zen practitioner David Chadwick went to Japan in 1988, lived in a monastery for six weeks, taught English for two years, then went home and wrote a book. His description of monastic life is a fascinating account of a world about which little is written in English, the rest of his life less so. Chronicles of language teachers in Japan fill the cut-out bins of discount book sellers.

There have been some small changes in the twenty years since Chadwick trained at Shogoji, a Soto Zen temple in Kumamoto prefecture (which the author makes a thin attempt to veil by changing the name to Hogoji). A sodo (a dedicated mediation hall) and shuryo (study hall) have been added, and cooking is now done with gas instead of wood. But otherwise life on the mountain remains much the same. There is still no electricity, the kitchen is dangerously dark, poisonous centipedes are hunted with murderous intent, and practice remains remarkably sterile.

One of Chadwick's Zen mates, an American monk with a decade of Japanese Zen experience, confides that "the purpose of training in Japanese Zen temples isn't to help you along the path to enlightenment - it is to cultivate you into a refined and obedient Japanese priest for Japanese temples." Having attended the 2008 training at Shogoji, this reviewer can verify that the purpose of the training remains precisely the same. (See my blog, FullThangka, for more on that experience.)

Chadwick's memory of an incident at the San Francisco Zen center is particularly revealing of the decline in Zen training. A gathering of senior American priests requested Katagiri-sensei, an important player in the introduction of Japanese Zen to the United States, teach them how to do dokusan, the practice of private interviews with students. Katagiri-sensei said he couldn't help them. That he had never been taught himself. That his teachers never taught dharma. They would have to figure it out for themselves, as he had.

There's certainly something to be said for being the source of your own enlightenment. The Buddha said as much in his parting message. But where, then, is the need for temples and priests?

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Editorial Review:

In this irresistibly funny cult-classic-in-the-making, David Chadwick recounts his offbeat experiences inside and beyond Zen Buddhist monasteries in Japan. Sketching insightful portraits of bickering monks, bewildered bureacrats, and others he met along the way, Chadwick presents an unforgettable look at Buddhism, Japan, and human nature.

Seeing Japan

Charles Whipple

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Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Seeing Japan showcases the best of the country today with lavish, full-color photographs and lively text. Introduced here is everything from the natural beauty of the landscape to the ever popular traditional arts and customs, as well as the high technology for which Japan is renowned the world over.

The islands of Japan form a crescent stretching from a subtropical twenty-four degrees north latitude to a subarctic forty-five degrees, the same range as from the state of Florida on the east coast of North America all the way up to Nova Scotia in Canada. Part I presents the tremendous range of landscapes and customs in the various regions of this extensive area, while Part II looks at the arts and traditions unique to Japan that have developed over its long history. Part III gives essential background information on the country's history, language, and people.

Seeing Japan is a wonderful primer for visitors, a cherished souvenir—and indeed a must for anyone with an interest in this fascinating country.