You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
informative
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Very interesting. Quite meditative to read and deffo makes me want to visit Japan even more. Didn't love as much as Kerr's Lost Japan though.
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
informative
slow-paced
I am giving it two stars because I did learn something. However it was very hard to tell what was the authors speculation about what he saw in Kyoto and what facts come from the local people / Japanese experts. For someone who had lived in Kyoto for decades, I was shocked the author cited practically no Japanese people as his sources in this book. Kerr makes sweeping generalizations about the Japanese people and their culture that was repeatedly off putting. To learn more about Kyoto, I would recommend y'all try a different book.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Read if you love: All things Japan, architecture, being right all the time, Tea Houses and temples, hand drawn illustrations, the simple things in life
Avoid if you love: Facts about things you understand, grand palaces, the Shin of Shin Gyo So
—————
I picked this up to read before a trip to Japan and as the kind of person who loves pointing out Ionic, Doric and Corinthian columns in Europe, I was hoping this would give me the opportunity to do something similar in Japan.
And it did offer me that to an extent, but there was also plenty in here that was quite difficult to fully grasp without seeing the Japan they were talking about. Perhaps my expectations were just a bit too high going in.
Avoid if you love: Facts about things you understand, grand palaces, the Shin of Shin Gyo So
—————
I picked this up to read before a trip to Japan and as the kind of person who loves pointing out Ionic, Doric and Corinthian columns in Europe, I was hoping this would give me the opportunity to do something similar in Japan.
And it did offer me that to an extent, but there was also plenty in here that was quite difficult to fully grasp without seeing the Japan they were talking about. Perhaps my expectations were just a bit too high going in.
informative
medium-paced
I loved this exploration of Kyoto through its culture and art. It reads like a conversation with the author while you're walking around the city and seeing the lesser known sights he's passionate about. There's some lovely illustrations too, so you don't have to look up everything. Reading this book felt like a peaceful break away from real life. It was a useful piece of preparation for my trip that gives me more to look out for than the usual tourist traps.
informative
medium-paced
I don't think I was the target audience for this one. At the beginning the author points out that "what you will find here is not scholarship, and it is not to be given credit, all my protestations notwithstanding". His sources are mostly anecdotes and oral history. While that can be interesting, I found it difficult to separate which points are well-known and what is just speculation. I think someone with more knowledge about the presented topics might get more out of this. It isn't an introduction to Kyoto or Japanese culture. Still, a lot of these things were really interesting and the illustrations were phenomenal.
medium-paced
Useful for readers who visit Kyoto
informative
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
This book is both the Mount Sumeru of the quincunx and the Cosmic Wall which leads us out of the chaos of our lifes.
Not what I was expecting, really interesting cultural history of Japan, learnt a lot— weird that Japan just kind of owned being not as good as China for so long