Donald Richie - The Japan Times

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Donald Richie

Donald Richie began writing regularly for The Japan Times in 1954, initially writing film and stage reviews. In the early '70s he began writing book reviews and continued contributing until 2009. He wrote more than 40 books on Japanese aesthetics, and he is widely considered the pre-eminent expert on Japanese cinema.

For Donald Richie's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF

Mar 13, 2005

Out of the darkroom

JAPAN 1945 -- A U.S. MARINE'S PHOTOGRAPHS FROM GROUND ZERO, by Joe O'Donnell, foreword by Mark Selden, afterword by O'Donnell and Richard Lammers. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 2005, 88 pp., 80 b/w photos, $39.95 (cloth). In September 1945, Joe O'Donnell, a 23-year-old U.S. Marine Corps photographer...

CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF

Mar 6, 2005

Takebe Ayatari: The ultimate bunjin

TAKEBE AYATARI: A Bunjin Bohemian in Early Modern Japan, by Lawrence E. Marceau. Ann Arbor: Center for Japanese Studies, The University of Michigan, 2004, 370 pp. + xxi pp., 16 color plates, 122 b/w plates. $69.00 (cloth). Takebe Ayatari (1719-1774), the subject of this detailed and scholarly monograph,...

CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF

Feb 27, 2005

New truths from broken conventions: travel writing outside Japan

MUSASHINO IN TUSCANY: Japanese Overseas Travel Literature, 1860-1912, by Susanna Fessler. Ann Arbor: Center for Japanese Studies, The University of Michigan, 2004, 297 pp., + xii pp., 29 b/w illustrations, 2004, $65.00 (cloth). Japan has a long history of travel literature. From the 10th-century "Tosa...

CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF

Feb 20, 2005

Sugar frosted, the Thai way

VERY THAI: Everyday Popular Culture, by Philip Cornwel-Smith, photographs by John Goss, preface by Alex Kerr. Bangkok: River Books, 2005, 257 pp., color illustrated, 995 baht (cloth). All countries have something of their own, something the dictionary calls "a kind or sort, especially in regard to appearance...

CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF

Feb 13, 2005

Japan makes great genres, but . . .

THE MIDNIGHT EYE GUIDE TO NEW JAPANESE FILM, by Tom Mes and Jasper Sharp, foreword by Hideo Nakata. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press. 366 pp., 151 b/w photos, $22.95 (paper). The authors of this very interesting new compendium on recent Japanese cinema would agree, I think, that the "new" in their title...

CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF

Feb 6, 2005

The attractive helplessness of a reluctant foreigner

THE TOWER OF LONDON: Tales of Victorian London, by Natsume Soseki, translated and introduced by Damian Flanagan, calligraphy by Kosaka Misuzu. London: Peter Owen, 2005, 240 pp., 12 illustrations, £14.95 (paper). In 1900 the Japanese government sent three young scholars to London to study and equip...

CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF

Jan 30, 2005

Kabuki illustrated with the vibrancy of sheer enthusiasm

HEROES OF THE KABUKI STAGE, by Arendie & Henk Herwig. Amsterdam: KIT Publishers/Hotei Publishing, 2004, 360 pp., 280 full-color illustrations, $125 (cloth). This large (245 x 297 mm), beautifully produced book calls itself "an introduction to the world of kabuki with retellings of famous plays, illustrated...

CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF

Jan 16, 2005

A fleeting visit rich with eastern symbolism

KNOWING THE EAST, by Paul Claudel, translated by James Lawler. Princeton University Press, 2004, 138 pp., $17.95 (paper). The Catholic poet Paul Claudel (1868-1955) first came to what was then known as the Far East in 1895 and at once began writing down his impressions. In 1900 he gathered them into...

CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF

Jan 13, 2005

Jakuemon: A man for the ladies

NAKAMURA JAKUEMON IV: The Art of Onnagata Acting, by Rei Sasaguchi, photos by Yutaka Umemura, Akira Iwata, Fumio Watanabe. Designed and published by Rei Sasaguchi, 2004, 116 pp., 3000 yen (cloth). This very interesting, beautifully designed book is an essay on the art of onnagata, the kabuki actor playing...

CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF

Dec 26, 2004

Mapping out a metropolis

TOKYO CITY ATLAS: A Bilingual Guide, supervised by Atsushi Umeda. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2004, 124 pp., 2,205 yen (paper). Here is the third revised, updated edition of the handiest of all Tokyo atlas guides. Since the 2001 edition came out, there has been, as always, an amount of change in this...

CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF

Dec 19, 2004

Stamp of identity for artist of a troubled double heritage

THE LIFE OF ISAMU NOGUCHI: Journey Without Borders, by Masayo Duus, translated by Peter Duus. Princeton University Press, 2004, 340 pp., 36 half-tone photos, $29.95 (cloth). ISAMU NOGUCHI: Master Sculptor, by Valerie J. Fletcher, with contributions by Dana Miller and Bonnie Rychlak. London: Scala Publishers,...

LIFE / Travel

Dec 14, 2004

Mongolia: Land of yesterday and tomorrow

ULAN BATOR Mongolia has been called "one of the last unspoiled travel destinations in Asia," and, indeed, the traveler feels not only in another country but in another century.

CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF

Dec 12, 2004

The short and the sweet of popular Japanese theater

A GUIDE TO THE JAPANESE STAGE: From Traditional to Cutting Edge, by Ronald Cavaye, Paul Griffith and Akihiko Senda. Foreword by Nomura Mansai. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2004, 388 pp., many illustrations. 2,310 yen (paper). A convenient, pocket-size volume, this entertainment guide recommends "plays...

CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF

Dec 5, 2004

Existentialist/essentialist

SHINTO: The Way Home, by Thomas P. Kasulis, preface by Henry Rosemont Jr. Honolulu: The University of Hawaii Press, 2004, 188 pp., $15.00 (paper). One day several years ago, the author of this new book on Shinto took an early stroll through the grounds of Yasukuni Shrine. After "feeling the connectedness...

CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF

Oct 24, 2004

Japanese postcards on the edge

ART OF THE JAPANESE POSTCARD, essays by Anne Nishimura Morse, J. Thomas Rimer and Kendall H. Brown, foreword by Malcolm Rogers, preface by Leonard A. Lauder, printing notes by Joan Wright, biographies by Tomoko Okamura. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, MFA Publications, 2004, 288 pp., 300 color illustrations,...

CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF

Oct 17, 2004

Five years in Japan, a lifetime of influences

ONE HUNDRED SENTENCES WRITTEN ON FANS, by Paul Claudel, translated by Robin Magowan. Blair Atholl: Fras Publications, 2004, 28 pp., £6.50 (paper). Although the Catholic diplomat, poet and dramatist Paul Claudel (1868-1955) lived in Japan for only five years, from 1921-1925, when he was the French...

CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF

Oct 10, 2004

Free the mind from the grip of thought

OPENING THE HAND OF THOUGHT: Foundations of Zen Buddhist Practice, by Kosho Uchiyama, translated and edited by Tom Wright, Jisho Warner and Shohaku Okumura. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2003. 204 pp., with drawings, $16.95 (paper). "Ordinarily, we think we are alive because our brains are in control....

CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF

Sep 26, 2004

Short and deep: Matsuo Basho's parallels of poetry

BASHO'S HAIKU: Selected Poems of Matsuo Basho, translated and with an Introduction by David Landis Barnhill. Albany: State University of New York Press, 232 pp., $23.95 (paper). Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) raised the haiku from a transient pastime to an enduring literary genre. He was among the first to...

CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF

Sep 12, 2004

The cool aesthetics of Edo

KUKI SHUZO: A Philosopher's Poetry and Poetics, translated and edited by Michael F. Marra. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2004, 358 pp., $56 (cloth). THE STRUCTURE OF DETACHMENT: The Aesthetic Vision of Kuki Shuzo (with a Translation of "Iki no Kozo"), by Hiroshi Nara, with essays by J. Thomas...

CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF

Sep 5, 2004

Traveling with eyes wide open

SUN AFTER DARK: Flights into the Foreign, by Pico Iyer. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004, 224 pp., $22.95 (cloth). "They say travel broadens the mind," says G.K. Chesterton, adding, "but you must have the mind." Further, that mind must be both attentive and reflective, independent and philosophical, and...

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Things may look perfect to the outside world, but today's mom is fine with some imperfection at home.

How 'Reiwa moms' are reshaping motherhood in Japan

By Mai Yoshikawa

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there

Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there

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