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THESE ESSAYS cover a period of over twenty-seven years. The earliest was written in 1962 and the latest in 1989. There are other essays, but those were written earlier during my life in Japan and it takes time to understand another country.

Actually, I came to Japan over forty-five years ago, at the end of 1946, when I was twenty-two. I have worked here ever since and have spent a lot of my life describing various aspects of the country, noticing similarities and differences, trying to account for singular patterns, and thinking about separate cultures.

And watching the changes. Half a century is a long time and Japan is a growing country. These changes have been enormous and they are reflected in much of what I have written. In some of the essays the change is written about, in others it is to be inferred.

I have divided my twenty-eight essays into six sections. The first is about the country in general-descriptions of its shapes, patterns, rhythms. The second is about the capital, Tokyo. In the third, various “languages” are considered—not only Japanese itself but also the languages of gesture and of fashion. The fourth section is devoted to the drama of Japan, and the fifth to its cinema. Finally, the sixth section is about further popular culture.

As the collection proceeds from the general to the particular, the reader will be aware that there is a temporal movement as well. What was true up to 1962 is not necessarily true up to 1989. Japan is fast changing, and some of the things one thought most Japanese are no longer apparent. At the same time it will be noticed that the writer is changing as well. One’s personal values change, just as do those of any society.

If there is a gradual movement from an appreciation to a concern, it accompanies these various changes. I have always tried to describe Japan, but I have also wanted to include my feelings about it. Thus there is here a lot of approval, considerable wonder, a little disappointment, and—in the final essay—some brief sarcasm.

Donald Richie

Tokyo,1991