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Introducing Japan
Introducing Japan
Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
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About the author
Donald Richie
116 books104 followersDonald Richie is an American-born author who has written about the Japanese people and Japanese cinema. Although he considers himself only a writer, Richie has directed many experimental films, the first when he was 17. Although Richie speaks Japanese fluently, he can neither read nor write it.
During World War II, he served aboard Liberty ships as a purser and medical officer. By then he had already published his first work, "Tumblebugs" (1942), a short story.
In 1947, Richie first visited Japan with the American occupation force, a job he saw as an opportunity to escape from Lima, Ohio. He first worked as a typist, and then as a civilian staff writer for the Pacific Stars and Stripes. While in Tokyo, he became fascinated with Japanese culture, particularly Japanese cinema. He was soon writing movie reviews in the Stars and Stripes. In 1948 he met Kashiko Kawakita who introduced him to Yasujiro Ozu. During their long friendship, Richie and Kawakita collaborated closely in promoting Japanese film in the West.
After returning to the United States, he enrolled at Columbia University's School of General Studies in 1949, and received his Bachelor's Degree in English in 1953. Richie then returned to Japan as film critic for the The Japan Times and spent much of the second half of the twentieth century living there. In 1959, he published his first book, The Japanese Film: Art and Industry, coauthored with Joseph Anderson. In this work, the authors gave the first English language account of Japanese film. Richie served as Curator of Film at the New York Museum of Modern Art from 1969 to 1972. In 1988, he was invited to become the first guest director at the Telluride Film Festival.
Among his most noted works on Japan are The Inland Sea, a travel classic, and Public People, Private People, a look at some of Japan's most significant and most mundane people. He has compiled two collections of essays on Japan: A Lateral View and Partial Views. A collection of his writings has been published to commemorate fifty years of writing about Japan: The Donald Richie Reader. The Japan Journals: 1947-2004 consists of extended excerpts from his diaries.
In 1991, filmmakers Lucille Carra and Brian Cotnoir produced a film version of The Inland Sea, which Richie narrated. Produced by Travelfilm Company, the film won numerous awards, including Best Documentary at the Hawaii International Film Festival (1991) and the Earthwatch Film Award. It screened at the Sundance Film Festival in 1992.
Author Tom Wolfe describes Richie as: "the Lafcadio Hearn of our time, a subtle, stylish, and deceptively lucid medium between two cultures that confuse one another: the Japanese and the American."
Richie's most widely recognized accomplishment has been his analysis of Japanese cinema. From his first published book, Richie has revised not only the library of films he discusses, but the way he analyzes them. With each subsequent book, he has focused less on film theory and more on the conditions in which the films were made. One thing that has emerged in his works is an emphasis on the "presentational" nature of Japan's cinema, in contrast to the "representational" films of the West. His book, A Hundred Years Of Japanese Film includes a helpful guide to the availability of the films on home video and DVD mentioned in the main text. In the foreword to this book, Paul Schrader says: "Whatever we in the West know about Japanese film, and how we know it, we most likely owe to Donald Richie." Richie also has written analyses of two of Japan's best known filmmakers: Yasujiro Ozu and Akira Kurosawa.
Richie has written the English subtitles for Akira Kurosawa's films Kagemusha (1980) and Dreams (1990)[8].
In the 21st century, Richie has become noted for his erudite audio commentaries for The Criterion Collection on DVDs of various classic Japanese films, notably those of Ozu (A Story of Floating Weeds, Early Summer), Mikio Naruse (When a Woman Ascend
During World War II, he served aboard Liberty ships as a purser and medical officer. By then he had already published his first work, "Tumblebugs" (1942), a short story.
In 1947, Richie first visited Japan with the American occupation force, a job he saw as an opportunity to escape from Lima, Ohio. He first worked as a typist, and then as a civilian staff writer for the Pacific Stars and Stripes. While in Tokyo, he became fascinated with Japanese culture, particularly Japanese cinema. He was soon writing movie reviews in the Stars and Stripes. In 1948 he met Kashiko Kawakita who introduced him to Yasujiro Ozu. During their long friendship, Richie and Kawakita collaborated closely in promoting Japanese film in the West.
After returning to the United States, he enrolled at Columbia University's School of General Studies in 1949, and received his Bachelor's Degree in English in 1953. Richie then returned to Japan as film critic for the The Japan Times and spent much of the second half of the twentieth century living there. In 1959, he published his first book, The Japanese Film: Art and Industry, coauthored with Joseph Anderson. In this work, the authors gave the first English language account of Japanese film. Richie served as Curator of Film at the New York Museum of Modern Art from 1969 to 1972. In 1988, he was invited to become the first guest director at the Telluride Film Festival.
Among his most noted works on Japan are The Inland Sea, a travel classic, and Public People, Private People, a look at some of Japan's most significant and most mundane people. He has compiled two collections of essays on Japan: A Lateral View and Partial Views. A collection of his writings has been published to commemorate fifty years of writing about Japan: The Donald Richie Reader. The Japan Journals: 1947-2004 consists of extended excerpts from his diaries.
In 1991, filmmakers Lucille Carra and Brian Cotnoir produced a film version of The Inland Sea, which Richie narrated. Produced by Travelfilm Company, the film won numerous awards, including Best Documentary at the Hawaii International Film Festival (1991) and the Earthwatch Film Award. It screened at the Sundance Film Festival in 1992.
Author Tom Wolfe describes Richie as: "the Lafcadio Hearn of our time, a subtle, stylish, and deceptively lucid medium between two cultures that confuse one another: the Japanese and the American."
Richie's most widely recognized accomplishment has been his analysis of Japanese cinema. From his first published book, Richie has revised not only the library of films he discusses, but the way he analyzes them. With each subsequent book, he has focused less on film theory and more on the conditions in which the films were made. One thing that has emerged in his works is an emphasis on the "presentational" nature of Japan's cinema, in contrast to the "representational" films of the West. His book, A Hundred Years Of Japanese Film includes a helpful guide to the availability of the films on home video and DVD mentioned in the main text. In the foreword to this book, Paul Schrader says: "Whatever we in the West know about Japanese film, and how we know it, we most likely owe to Donald Richie." Richie also has written analyses of two of Japan's best known filmmakers: Yasujiro Ozu and Akira Kurosawa.
Richie has written the English subtitles for Akira Kurosawa's films Kagemusha (1980) and Dreams (1990)[8].
In the 21st century, Richie has become noted for his erudite audio commentaries for The Criterion Collection on DVDs of various classic Japanese films, notably those of Ozu (A Story of Floating Weeds, Early Summer), Mikio Naruse (When a Woman Ascend
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 6, 2025
Jelen művet Donald Richie filozófiai-esztétikai munkája, A Tractate on Japanese Aesthetics kapcsán kialakult kíváncsiságom miatt olvastam el, ugyanis Richie-nek ez a cizellált műve sajnos még könyvtárközi kölcsönzéssel sem volt számomra elérhető.
Ez, az utóbb említett műhöz képest teljesen más tartalmú munka. Első felét egy korrekt útikönyvként tudnám bemutatni, nyelvezete prózai, irodalmi igényű. Ez a szabatos útikönyv felvonultatja Japán legjelentősebb kulturális kincseit, a rövid terjedelemhez képest igen nagy számban.
Gyönyörű képek kísérik az egyes kulturális régiók, és nagyvárosok nevezetességeit, így a teljesség igénye nélkül említem Nikko nemzeti parkját, és híres szentélykörzetét, vagy a kevésbé ismert Kii- félszigetet például, ahol a shinto szentélyek klasszikus építési metódusa is leírásra kerül. Ez a shimmei-stílus, amely szerint a szentélyeket húsz évente lebontják, majd ugyanabban a stílusban, és szellemiségben újjáépítik. A kedvenc leírásom elfogultságomnak is betudhatóan lett az; Toyotomi Hideyoshi nagyúr oszakai erődjének rövid történetét is megismerhettem. A várerőd építését 1586-ban rendelte el, de 1931-ben vasbeton szerkezetként erősítették meg.
A könyv második felét kulturális fejezetek töltik ki, melyek a japán kultúrával kapcsolatos, közkeletű félreértéseket is tisztázzák. Például megmagyarázza a nyugati világban kevéssé ismert univerzizmus jelenlétét, ami szerint a japán "ősvallás", a sintó tökéletesen megfér az újabb keletű buddhizmus mellett. De, olyan egyedi érdekességeket is találtam, mint hogy a japán vallásos világképben bűn nincs, csak rituális tisztátalanság, a tsumi, amelyet szertartásokkal lehet semlegesíteni. Az anyagi és szellemi kultúra számos alfejezetén belül leginkább az Arts című tetszett, ott kaptam inspirációt a csannoju-teaceremónia, és a No-dráma vizsgálatára. Itt is megjelenik a minden fejezetben finoman meglapuló érdekesség, így Ashikaga Yoshimasa sógun által építtetett Ezüst Pavilon. Yoshimasa sógun ezen a helyen támogatta a jellegzetesen a japán zen buddhizmushoz kötődő művészetek kialakulását.
Összességében a mű Japán egészét igyekszik bemutatni. Sokat markol, és sokat is fog!
Ez, az utóbb említett műhöz képest teljesen más tartalmú munka. Első felét egy korrekt útikönyvként tudnám bemutatni, nyelvezete prózai, irodalmi igényű. Ez a szabatos útikönyv felvonultatja Japán legjelentősebb kulturális kincseit, a rövid terjedelemhez képest igen nagy számban.
Gyönyörű képek kísérik az egyes kulturális régiók, és nagyvárosok nevezetességeit, így a teljesség igénye nélkül említem Nikko nemzeti parkját, és híres szentélykörzetét, vagy a kevésbé ismert Kii- félszigetet például, ahol a shinto szentélyek klasszikus építési metódusa is leírásra kerül. Ez a shimmei-stílus, amely szerint a szentélyeket húsz évente lebontják, majd ugyanabban a stílusban, és szellemiségben újjáépítik. A kedvenc leírásom elfogultságomnak is betudhatóan lett az; Toyotomi Hideyoshi nagyúr oszakai erődjének rövid történetét is megismerhettem. A várerőd építését 1586-ban rendelte el, de 1931-ben vasbeton szerkezetként erősítették meg.
A könyv második felét kulturális fejezetek töltik ki, melyek a japán kultúrával kapcsolatos, közkeletű félreértéseket is tisztázzák. Például megmagyarázza a nyugati világban kevéssé ismert univerzizmus jelenlétét, ami szerint a japán "ősvallás", a sintó tökéletesen megfér az újabb keletű buddhizmus mellett. De, olyan egyedi érdekességeket is találtam, mint hogy a japán vallásos világképben bűn nincs, csak rituális tisztátalanság, a tsumi, amelyet szertartásokkal lehet semlegesíteni. Az anyagi és szellemi kultúra számos alfejezetén belül leginkább az Arts című tetszett, ott kaptam inspirációt a csannoju-teaceremónia, és a No-dráma vizsgálatára. Itt is megjelenik a minden fejezetben finoman meglapuló érdekesség, így Ashikaga Yoshimasa sógun által építtetett Ezüst Pavilon. Yoshimasa sógun ezen a helyen támogatta a jellegzetesen a japán zen buddhizmushoz kötődő művészetek kialakulását.
Összességében a mű Japán egészét igyekszik bemutatni. Sokat markol, és sokat is fog!
August 9, 2019
In the 25 years since its publication, many of the insights into Japanese culture have moved closer into common knowledge. Acknowledging this, the 80s photography is captivating, and even if the information feels sparse now, Richie is as beautifully eloquent and insightful as always.
February 11, 2014
A fun read. Like a time machine glimpse into 1980s Japan it's a quick survey of history, cities, and culture of Japan. No need to chase this one down but worth picking up if you see it.
April 5, 2011
- loan from TKChua 2010Nov.
- wonderful mid-old foto of Japan.
- wonderful mid-old foto of Japan.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews