An Illustrated Guide to Japanese Traditional Architecture and Everyday Things

by Seiichiro Yamamoto (Editor), Eiko Sueyoshi (Illustrator)

Various things related to traditional Japanese architecture and everyday life are the focus of this illustrated guide. Interestingly, it is intended not only for English readers but also Japanese people who would like to be able to better explain certain things to people from outside their country. A huge number of items, objects, materials, structures, decorative elements, and so on that one encounters while visiting or living in Japan, but might be too obscure or specific to remember the names, or to even imagine from the term, are included in an accessible and very informative format. For each, the Japanese name, English name, and pronunciation are accompanied by an explanation.

Genres: Japan, Art, Design, Nonfiction, Reference, Architecture

142 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2018

Reviews

[Lloyd Downey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found that I was quite fascinated by this little book. By this stage, having been to Japan many times, I am familiar with most of the objects described jin the book but it was interesting to learn more of the background and the folklore associated with them.
The diagrams are superb and the various components of features such as the Tea House are picked out and explained in the accompanying text. (It's both in Japanese and English...and the English has clearly been handled by a good native speaker. I detected no errors or confused syntax).
The title of the book features "Architecture and everyday things" and This seems to be a very accurate description of the contents. Though I would say that it is traditional "Everyday things" and Japanese houses and habits seem to be moving on......No mention of Manga or Sumo or Baseball or electrically heated toilet seats for example.
Anyway, I learned a lot even though there is no way I can remember all the names. A few of them were passingly familiar to me but there is also a lot of technical jargon there with the Architecture particularly.
An easy five stars from me.

[Nacho]

Libro que compramos en el Museo Arquitectónico Edo-Tokio para aprender sobre lo que veíamos durante nuestro viaje. Muy bonito e informativo, quiero buscar el resto de la colección.

Sin calificación.

[Cora Hurst · Rating 4 out of 5]

Educational, but I probably won’t retain anything…

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and functional - this is a delightful little introduction, well designed, and full of interesting bits of information.