When a storyteller wields a scholar's pen, history truly comes alive. When that history crosses the world and records the collision of cultures, the story becomes more than history — it becomes informed social and cultural commentary, illuminating a sliver of time.
Frederik Schodt's latest book, "Professor Risley and the Imperial Japanese Troupe," satisfies all the above with an engaging, historical narrative that examines the various layers of influence underlying popular culture and global entertainment.
Schodt, author of numerous books from Japanese pop culture to technology, discovered Professor Risley when researching in Japan. Since 1977, when the diary of Takano Hirohachi, the manager of the Imperial Japanese Troupe, was published here, Risley and his Japanese troupe have enjoyed widespread attention in the Japanese media with serialized stories, popular books and historical nonfiction retelling their tale.