Viewed Sideways

Over the past sixty years, no one has written more, or more artfully, about Japan than Donald Richie. Arriving as a young merchant seaman in Okinawa in 1946, Richie set out to observe Japan and to set down his witness in clear, expressive language. The result is over 40 volumes of fiction and nonfiction, scores of essays and speeches, and hundreds of book and film and arts reviews. He is acknowledged as one of the world's authorities on Japanese cinema, especially the work of Yasujiro Ozu. His Inland Sea is one of a few classic expatriate treatments of Japan and is considered one of the finest travel memoirs of the 20th century. Richie is formerly curator of film at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Of him Susan Sontag wrote that he "writes about Japan with an unrivaled range, acuity and wit."

"Viewed any which way, Japan through the eyes of Donald Richie is an interesting and rewarding place to read about. This is the third collection of Richie's essays...and yet another reminder that he is a master of the short essay and a thought-provoking guide to his subject. The spare style and distinctive phrasing grow on the reader and are apt for unveiling and imparting...These elegantly brief essays are packed with insights that one needs to unravel and contemplate at one's leisure."-The Japan Times

• IntroductionIIntimacy and Distance: On Being a Foreigner in Japan Japan: A Description Japanese Shapes Japanese Rhythms Japan: Half a Century of Change The Nourishing Void The Coming Collapse of Cultural Internationalization Interpretations of Japan Crossing the Border IIThe Japanese Way of SeeingJapan and the Image Industry Traditional Japanese Design Signs and SymbolsThe Tongue of Fashion Japan the IncongruousPink Box: Inside Japanese Sex ClubsIIIThe Presentational Urge as Theatre Some Loose Pages on Japanese NarrationNotes on the Noh The Kyogen TV: The Presentational ImageOutcast Samurai Dancer Retro DancingIVA Definition of the Japanese Film Some Notes on Life and Death in the Japanese FilmBuddhism and the FilmWomen in Japanese Film The Japanese Eroduction Trains in Japanese Film Subtitling Japanese Films VWasei Eigo: A Beginner’s Guide Mizushobai: The Art of Pleasing Car Culture The Window and the Mirror: Some Thoughts on International CultureAn Alternate Way of ThoughtForeign Thoughts on Watching the Passing of a Matsuri Procession My ViewAcknowledgments