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Hidden Japan
Alex Kerr
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R345
R303
Discovery Miles 3 030
Save R42 (12%)
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Ships in 12 - 17 working days
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"A sharp-tongued spokesman for Japan's environment and traditions"
--The New York Times In Alex Kerr's critically acclaimed Lost Japan
and Dogs and Demons, he documented the decline of the traditional
landscapes of Japan, his adopted home of many years. Here, in
Hidden Japan he makes a journey of rediscovery to find the wonders
that still remain. Originally published in Japanese as a call to
preserve disappearing facets of Japan's rich and ancient culture,
Hidden Japan records Kerr's travels to various remote and
lesser-known places where pockets of traditional culture can still
be found. Some are faraway--like Aogashima Island, 200 miles south
of Tokyo--while others are easy to reach, such as Mii-dera temple
just east of Kyoto. The ten engaging essays in this book describe
surprising remnants of Japan's fragile physical and cultural
environment, including: Avant-garde Butoh dancing in the remote
village of Tashiro in Akita Prefecture How shochu liquor is
distilled from tropical ferns on the Pacific island of Aogashima An
austere but delicious kaiseki meal in rural Tottori Prefecture
composed of local herbs and meats Anecdotes relating to Kerr's
childhood growing up in Japan and his passion for restoring old
houses The damage caused by governmental infrastructure and
reforestation policies, as well as by tourism Plus many other
topics! Kerr's sharp eye for detail and exquisite descriptions of
Japanese, arts, architecture and foods will inspire readers who
already appreciate his unique look at the "reality" of Japan beyond
the romance. His personal involvement and obvious love for his
subjects encourage us all to think more carefully about our own
traditions and environment, and to challenge ourselves to search
for better solutions to preserve what is of value all around us.
So rich and unique is traditional Japanese architecture that it's
nearly impossible to improve upon. Yet contemporary Japanese
designers and architects keep finding fresh approaches to refurbish
and take inspiration from the ways of old. Whether it's a
pristinely preserved traditional house or a sleek modern apartment,
the best Japanese homes share a love of cleverly designed spaces
and warm materials like wood, brick, and bamboo. From a thatched
roof farmhouse occupied by a Zen priest to Tadao Ando's
experimental 4x4 House, from Shigeru Ban's conceptual Shutter House
to a beautiful domestic homage to bamboo, this elegant compendium
traverses the multifaceted landscape of Japanese living today.
Enriched by 170 brand new, unpublished photographs, this edition
takes you on breathtaking journey through the Land of the Rising
Sun-complete with a list of addresses, should you wish to undertake
this journey to Japan's most fascinating inns and homes yourself.
An insightful glossary of key terms, such as tatami, shoji, and
noren, will also help you come to grips with all elements of
Japan's unique aesthetic of Eastern minimalism. About the series
TASCHEN is 40! Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists
in 1980, TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible publishing,
helping bookworms around the world curate their own library of art,
anthropology, and aphrodisia at an unbeatable price. Today we
celebrate 40 years of incredible books by staying true to our
company credo. The 40 series presents new editions of some of the
stars of our program-now more compact, friendly in price, and still
realized with the same commitment to impeccable production.
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Lost Japan (Paperback)
Alex Kerr
1
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R338
R274
Discovery Miles 2 740
Save R64 (19%)
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Ships in 9 - 15 working days
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An enchanting and fascinating insight into Japanese landscape,
culture, history and future. Originally written in Japanese, this
passionate, vividly personal book draws on the author's experiences
in Japan over thirty years. Alex Kerr brings to life the ritualized
world of Kabuki, retraces his initiation into Tokyo's boardrooms
during the heady Bubble Years, and tells the story of the hidden
valley that became his home. But the book is not just a love
letter. Haunted throughout by nostalgia for the Japan of old,
Kerr's book is part paean to that great country and culture, part
epitaph in the face of contemporary Japan's environmental and
cultural destruction. Winner of Japan's Shincho Gakugei Literature
Prize, and now with a new preface. Alex Kerr is an American writer,
antiques collector and Japanologist. Lost Japan is his most famous
work. He was the first foreigner to be awarded the Shincho Gakugei
Literature Prize for the best work of non-fiction published in
Japan.
When Isobel and Alex came home from school to find their abusive
father had brutally murdered their mother, their world was thrown
into chaos. Plunged into a care system that neglected them, Isobel
and Alex were expected to come to nothing, and had only each other
to rely on. Isobel and Alex's mother used to do everything with
them. A full-time teacher, she dedicated herself to her children,
partly in order to give them every possible opportunity in life,
and partly to keep them out of the way of their increasingly
eccentric, erratic and unpleasant father. Their father, a violent
and frightening man, spent most of his time locked in his bedroom,
a room the rest of the family never ventured into. He became
increasingly bitter and angry at the outside world in general, and
at his wife and children in particular. The local community feared
his outbursts as much as Isobel and Alex did, but the neighbours
saw far less of him as he became increasingly housebound. No one
came to the Kerr's house to visit. When Isobel was 15 and Alex 13,
they came home from school to find police everywhere. Their father
had stabbed their mother between fifty and sixty times with a
sharpened chisel. As far as anyone could tell the attack was
unprovoked and of incredible savagery, but the children were given
the minimum amount of information. No one wanted to upset them
unnecessarily. Their mother had been an only child and they had
never been in contact with their father's family. There was no one
else for them to turn to - except each other. This is an inspiring
story of a brother and sister who only had each other, and a
powerful testament to what can be achieved through courage and
love.
'An erudite and charming book . . . both a primer and a paean to
one of the central texts of Buddhism, known as the Heart Sutra. . .
Alex Kerr delves into the Japanese soul' Literary Review The
material world is itself emptiness. Emptiness is itself the
material world. Powerful, mystical and concise, the Heart Sutra is
believed to contain the condensed essence of all Buddhist wisdom.
This brief poem on emptiness has exerted immense influence
throughout Asia since the seventh century and is woven into the
fabric of daily life. Yet even though it rivals the teachings of
Laozi and Confucius in importance, this ancient Buddhist scripture
remains barely known in the West. During the many years he has
spent living in Japan, Alex Kerr has been on a quest after the
secrets of the Heart Sutra. Travelling from Japan, Korea, and
China, to India, Mongolia, Tibet and Vietnam, this book brings
together Buddhist teaching, talks with friends and mentors, and
acute cultural insights to probe the universe of thought contained
within this short but intense philosophical work. 'Marvellous ... a
life's work ... a brilliant literary form, weaving reflections of
the sutra with those on Alex's own magical mystery tour' Alexandra
Munroe, Asian Art scholar and curator
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Another Kyoto (Paperback)
Alex Kerr, Kathy Arlyn Sokol
1
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R342
R279
Discovery Miles 2 790
Save R63 (18%)
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Ships in 9 - 15 working days
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Another Kyoto is an insider's meditation on the hidden wonders of
Japan's most enigmatic city. Drawing on decades living in Kyoto,
and on lore gleaned from artists, Zen monks and Shinto priests,
Alex Kerr illuminates the simplest things - a temple gate, a wall,
a sliding door - in a new way. 'A rich book of intimate proportions
... In Kyoto, facts and meaning are often hidden in plain sight.
Kerr's gift is to make us stop and cast our eyes upward to a temple
plaque, or to squint into the gloom of an abbot's chamber' Japan
Times 'Kerr and Sokol have performed a minor miracle by presenting
that which is present in Kyoto as that which we have yet to see. I
know that I will never pass a wall, or tread a floor, or sit on
tatami the same way again' Kyoto Journal
From the author of Another Kyoto and Lost Japan, a rich, personal
exploration of the culture and history of Bangkok, and an essential
guide for anyone visiting the city Alex Kerr has spent over thirty
years of his life living in Bangkok. As with his bestselling books
on Japan, this evocative personal meditation explores the city's
secret corners. Here is the huge, traffic-choked metropolis of
concrete high-rises, slums and sky trains; but also a place of
peace and grace. Looking afresh at everything from ceramics to Thai
dance, flower patterns to old houses, Kerr reveals one of Asia's
most kaleidoscopically complex cities. Another Bangkok will delight
both those who think they know the city well and those visiting for
the first time.
A surprising assessment of the failures and successes of modern Japan.
In Dogs and Demons, Alex Kerr chronicles the many facets of Japan's recent, and chronic, crises -- from the failure of its banks and pension funds to the decline of its once magnificent modern cinema. He is the first to give a full report on the nation's endangered environment -- its seashores lined with concrete, its roads leading to nowhere in the mountains -- as well as its "monument frenzy," the destruction of old cities such as Kyoto and construction of drab new ones, and the attendant collapse of its tourist industry. Kerr writes with humor and passion, for "passion," he says, "is part of the story. Millions of Japanese feel as heartbroken at what is going on as I do. My Japanese friends tell me, 'Please write this -- for us.'"
How did one of the world's greatest and most ancient civilizations reach the state of economic, cultural and environmental decline that defines it today? Why, through decades of spectacular economic progress, did nobody comment on the terrifying price paid by ordinary Japanese? Now economically devastated, shunned by foreign tourists and regularly voted by visiting businessmen as one of the world's least appetizing destinations, Japan must now wake up to the 'state-sponsored vandalism' that has crushed families into tiny flats, bulldozed and cemented over the banks of most of the country's rivers and destroyed its historic towns. As a long-time resident of Japan, Alex Kerr is ideally placed to write this angry and entertaining book about the ruination of a country he loves.
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