It is likely that as many people will appreciate Donald Richie's "Tokyo Megacity" as a tasteful addition to their living room decor as will open it, and that most who do open it will assiduously avoid Richie's text in favor of Ben Simmons' photographs.

It is, after all, a coffee-table book. As such, it exists primarily to make a statement about the person who has placed it on that low table, just so, between coasters and potted plant. Those who are familiar with Richie's writing about film, about Japan and about Tokyo will know, however, that standard coffee-table book procedure does not apply, that it would be a mistake to dismiss this book with a cursory glance at the pictures.

"Tokyo Megacity" is a tour, in Richie's words and Simmons' photographs, through the city that has been Richie's home for more than 50 years. It is not, of course, his first engagement with the Japanese capital. Because Tokyo has not ossified into a changeless museum-city like some world capitals, but continues, constantly, to evolve, Richie has needed to return to it again and again over his long career, most recently in "Tokyo" (1999), a book that stands among the best yet written about Tokyo, and, indeed, among those written about any metropolis.