Lost Japan |
|
26 December 2023
Alex Kerr was an American who lived in Japan for decades at the end of the twentieth century when the country was at its peak and wrote Lost Japan in the mid-ninties a few years after the crash. Interestingly he originally wrote and published the book in Japanese, but I read it in English translation. Kerr's love of art and old things comes through on the pages as does the traditions and history he saw disappearing before his eyes with modernization. The book is 30 years old, but still seems fresh. Kerr's perspective as an outsider who immersed himself provides a critical persepective from a basis of love for all things Japanese. As a complement to my current study of the language it was a good choice.
