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317th out of 348 books
—
1,239 voters
The Japan Journals: 1947-2004
by
Donald Richie,
Leza Lowitz (Goodreads Author)
“Richie should be designated a living national treasure.”—Library Journal
"Wonderfully evocative and full of humor... honest, introspective, and often poignant."—New York Times
"No one has written with more concentration about the peculiar quality of exile enjoyed by the gaijin, the foreigner in Japan."—London Review of Books
"To read [The Donald Richie Reader and The Japan J...more
"Wonderfully evocative and full of humor... honest, introspective, and often poignant."—New York Times
"No one has written with more concentration about the peculiar quality of exile enjoyed by the gaijin, the foreigner in Japan."—London Review of Books
"To read [The Donald Richie Reader and The Japan J...more
Paperback, 510 pages
Published
September 1st 2005
by Stone Bridge Press
(first published October 1st 2004)
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May 13, 2011
Mariel
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
my bullet
Recommended to Mariel by:
my bull whip
Donald Richie is not a Japanophile in the Ophelia style. Hamlet will never marry him and he doesn't want him to. He says... He says that he would not have been able to live in Japan if he was Japanese. The doomed romantic and broken hearted desire is to live as floating in the stream (no tangles? rootless?), skyline and country line passing by in fast forward freeze frames. But you can smell it, taste it, hear it all.
I'm an -ophile. I fall in love all of the time.
"We are born, so to speak, pro...more
I'm an -ophile. I fall in love all of the time.
"We are born, so to speak, pro...more
The opening passage of Donald Richie's Japan Journals begins with a poetic description of a 1947 firebombed Tokyo and the horrific aftermath that its citizens experienced. This is a fictional account, eventually used by one of his characters in his novel Where Are the Victors?. In 1947 Richie had just arrived in Tokyo from Lima, OH. Beginning as a typist for the U.S. Civil Service, he would eventually find work writing for The Pacific Stars and Stripes, an independent news source that operated f...more
18 likes
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Adding a video review based on my htmlgiant review:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFNU6Q...
I reviewed this book as a tribute to Donald Richie at HTMLGiant, pasting in some short segments from the full review:
http://htmlgiant.com/reviews/donald-r...
"Donald Richie passed away on February 19, 2013. Many people knew him as the preeminent critic of Japanese film, bringing attention and exposure for directors like Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu to Western audiences. “Whatever we in the West know abou...more
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFNU6Q...
I reviewed this book as a tribute to Donald Richie at HTMLGiant, pasting in some short segments from the full review:
http://htmlgiant.com/reviews/donald-r...
"Donald Richie passed away on February 19, 2013. Many people knew him as the preeminent critic of Japanese film, bringing attention and exposure for directors like Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu to Western audiences. “Whatever we in the West know abou...more
2 likes
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This, truly, is a stellar book.
Round about p. 286, I thought I would give up on it. There were many interesting anecdotes, a lot of open talk about sex (homosexual) - and it really didn't add up to much. But then, as Richie aged, the book itself began to gather weight and gravity and a certain centeredness… and by the end, I had the feeling that I was in the presence of a work… indeed, a life -- of permanent value -- intelligent, feeling, yet utterly clear-eyed… almost visionary, as he glances,...more
Round about p. 286, I thought I would give up on it. There were many interesting anecdotes, a lot of open talk about sex (homosexual) - and it really didn't add up to much. But then, as Richie aged, the book itself began to gather weight and gravity and a certain centeredness… and by the end, I had the feeling that I was in the presence of a work… indeed, a life -- of permanent value -- intelligent, feeling, yet utterly clear-eyed… almost visionary, as he glances,...more
4 likes
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I entered into this book, nearly 60 years of Donald Richie's journals, without any preconceptions or expectations - I had no idea who the man was. I think this worked to my benefit. In addition to some great observations of Japanese culture and the changes he witnessed over six decades, the book is an interesting sex-and-gender study as you piece together the author's self-discovery from his words both implicit and explicit.
Many thanks to Tosh for the recommendation!
Many thanks to Tosh for the recommendation!
1 like
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Come for Capote, Stravinsky, Francis Ford Coppola, Akira Kurosawa and, of course, Yukio Mishima ... but stay for Tani Hiraoka, Zushiden Tsukasa, Mizushima Fumio and Numata Makiyo. And for 24th September 1955.
I like to imagine that Marguerite Yourcenar looked like Charlotte Rampling. I know she didn't.
Good bits:
"Now the windows are rattling and there is the smell of brine in the room. The electric light flickers and Tani sits across from me, looking at what I write, wondering if it is about him,...more
I like to imagine that Marguerite Yourcenar looked like Charlotte Rampling. I know she didn't.
Good bits:
"Now the windows are rattling and there is the smell of brine in the room. The electric light flickers and Tani sits across from me, looking at what I write, wondering if it is about him,...more
It may be true that Ritchie was the Lafcadio Hearn of his generation. I could not put the book down. It was a vicarious travel back in time to Tokyo in the aftermath of WWII through the millennium. Ritchie knew so many Japanese and American cultural icons. Was sad when I came to the end of his journals - they were so interesting and made me more aware of the impact of the defeat and Occupation on Japanese society as reflected through its artists.
Donald Richie came to Japan as a young merchant seaman in 1947 and never left. In the intervening years, he has become the West's preeminent expert on Japan: no other foreigner understands the social conditions, underyling tensions, filmmaking traditions, and sexual habits of its people better. Over the course of the book, Richie becomes good friends with filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu and novelist Yukio Mishima, leads people like Truman Capote, Igor Stravinsky, and Francis Ford Coppola on tours around...more
Lots of great Japanese film and literary gossip.
Donald Richie is one of those remarkable guys who was in the right place in the right time. Meaning that he was an American who moved to Japan after the war - and eventually met every cool Japanese writer and filmmaker of the 20th Century. Everyone from Yukio Mishima to Kawabata to Ozu is in this book.
Richie is a remarkable writer and he really captures the essence of Japan. In fact, I would say he is the best Foreign (not being Japanese) writer writing about the Japanese arts. PERIOD!
Richie is a remarkable writer and he really captures the essence of Japan. In fact, I would say he is the best Foreign (not being Japanese) writer writing about the Japanese arts. PERIOD!
2 likes
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People seem to hung up on the sex when they read Richie's journals, but they can't see the forest for the trees. As a whole, it is thought provoking not only for a gaijin in Japan, but also for anyone who is growing old and we all will some day. The added pleasure is watching Japan change through Richie's eyes as you read it. Reading the entries from 1990 onwards was especially interesting for me, as I have lived those same years in Japan.
not the greatest autobio in the world, but a fascinating time/place/person. gay guy (expat) in japan. he does not talk about any 'modern' japanese films or directors though, just the older ones.
May 12, 2013
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Donald 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 alrea...more
More about Donald Richie...
During World War II, he served aboard Liberty ships as a purser and medical officer. By then he had alrea...more
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May 12, 2011 07:51pm
May 12, 2011 08:50pm