Japan Through the Looking Glass
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Review
"'Intelligent and engaging... an excellent book for anyone with an interest in Japanese culture.' Sunday Telegraph 'An elegantly arranged narrative that takes in everything from the mythical roots of sumo to the ubiquity of Shinto shrines.' The Times 'An engaging and well-informed analysis of Japanese culture and society... Readers fresh to Japanese studies will find something fascinating on every page; those more familiar with writing on Japan will appreciate the smaller details, many born of Macfarlane's rich comparative insights.' Independent 'He triumphantly decodes this enigmatic country.' Japan Times"
Glasgow Herald
`On his journey through Japanese society, he encounters subjects from the most public to the most intimate and uncovers a nation that is even more extraordinary than he first thought.'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I just replied to one of the 1 star replies down the list, and it urged me to make a proper review of this book, so I encourage you to just quickly listen to what I'm trying to say!
I'm currently studying Japanese Studies at university - so I've been taught by several really knowledgeable anthropologists who SPECIALISE in Japan, and I've read several of the books that are cited in this book myself.
Many of the "helpful" reviews (i.e 5 star reviews) note how 'intruiging' the book is, and as such I'll assume that these are reviews by people who are new to Japan and were enlightened by what the book had to say.
However, what I must stress is that (as many people have noticed) - it IS written in a very academic way. The problem that I have with this is that it's academically wrong. Firstly, he is not a specialist in the area - far from it, having only been to Japan six times. Secondly, he continually cites outdated and weak sources without appearing to acknowledge that the information he's quoting might and often is completely untrue.
As such, whilst it may appear enlightening, it is 'enlightening' people to many untruths.
All I want is for people to avoid this book in favour of something else so that they can learn about Japan from someone who knows 100% what they are talking about! I would highly recommend something like The Japanese by James Seward for people who want to learn about Japan but aren't sure where to start
Hope this helps :)
I'm currently studying Japanese Studies at university - so I've been taught by several really knowledgeable anthropologists who SPECIALISE in Japan, and I've read several of the books that are cited in this book myself.
Many of the "helpful" reviews (i.e 5 star reviews) note how 'intruiging' the book is, and as such I'll assume that these are reviews by people who are new to Japan and were enlightened by what the book had to say.
However, what I must stress is that (as many people have noticed) - it IS written in a very academic way. The problem that I have with this is that it's academically wrong. Firstly, he is not a specialist in the area - far from it, having only been to Japan six times. Secondly, he continually cites outdated and weak sources without appearing to acknowledge that the information he's quoting might and often is completely untrue.
As such, whilst it may appear enlightening, it is 'enlightening' people to many untruths.
All I want is for people to avoid this book in favour of something else so that they can learn about Japan from someone who knows 100% what they are talking about! I would highly recommend something like The Japanese by James Seward for people who want to learn about Japan but aren't sure where to start
Hope this helps :)
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
An inspiring and engaging account of perhaps the only `modern' society that remains an enchanted world. Macfarlane not only provides persuasive answers to enigmas about Japan that have baffled generations of foreign commentators, but also demonstrates the necessity of changing the very questions that have been asked about Japan. His notion of an integrated, `enchanted' world is a striking one that seems to constitute a significant shift from other paradigms of `modern' nations, avoiding deeply ingrained binaries between East/West, natural/supernatural, among others.
In his _We Have Never been Modern_, Bruno Latour critiques the way in which we `moderns' have so eagerly polarized and separated different elements of our world: technology, nature, kinship, people, objects . . . Macfarlane's study of Japan goes beyond Latour, offering a convincing vision of a different kind of modernity.
Reading the book, one cannot escape the impression that it has been as lovingly and intricately crafted as Japanese lacquer-ware, painstakingly worked and re-worked to the highest degree of artistry. Filled with keen and often surprising observations, the book is a true pleasure to read. Even after one has emerged from _Japan_, it continues to invite re-reflection and repeated journeys into the looking glass.
In his _We Have Never been Modern_, Bruno Latour critiques the way in which we `moderns' have so eagerly polarized and separated different elements of our world: technology, nature, kinship, people, objects . . . Macfarlane's study of Japan goes beyond Latour, offering a convincing vision of a different kind of modernity.
Reading the book, one cannot escape the impression that it has been as lovingly and intricately crafted as Japanese lacquer-ware, painstakingly worked and re-worked to the highest degree of artistry. Filled with keen and often surprising observations, the book is a true pleasure to read. Even after one has emerged from _Japan_, it continues to invite re-reflection and repeated journeys into the looking glass.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
(My original title for this review was: 'Consistently favouring the uncritical endorsement and propagation of incipid mystical impressions of victorian romantics' ..... but since amazon decided my review was probably a little too good at reducing sales, and trashed it, I've decided to rebrand it a little).
This is probably the book which the Japan National Tourism Organisation wishes it had written, but I couldn't get 40 pages through the book before bawling with disbelief at Macfarlane's complete inability to discern mystical fantasy from reality. At least, owing to the lengthy and otherwise pointless introduction, we can get a good sense of when his mind began voluntarily to cloud over: So shocked at having his absurdly naive assumptions shattered by actually going to see the place and being talked to by Japanese people, Macfarlane fell head-over-heels for the ideas of the nearest Japanese academic, sage, or Western counterpart, who usually by definition have been earning their living from producing tantalising generalisations about their countrymen for the entertainment of foreigners, and the equally monetarily compensating career of pandering to the Japanese ego (see the history of The Chrysanthemum and the Sword). So too, then, Macfarlane has become an enthusiastic punter of Japanese myths.
The book operates like a horoscope, unfolding topic by topic, while we are showered with 'impressions' and 'a certain sense of [the ethereal]', consciously avoiding concrete statements, never quantifying, and always 'alluding to'. The Japan Macfarlane describes is an anomaly to everything, and can only be described in terms of opposites, with no feature consistently prevailing over the other, except when it comes to the 'fascinating' and 'inspiring'.
When he does offer a less obscure arguments (all the while pertaining to 'suspend judgement' and 'sail a middle course'), they come in the form of spurious generalisations. And while for every generalisation there are exceptions, in Macfarlane's arguments I have found there to be more exceptions than consenting examples.
Opening the book on a random page, I have just spotted this excellent example, which a seasoned Japanese observer could have a good chuckle about: 'What is striking... is the absence of sex... when women are shown in Japanese adverts, they are usually demure and innocent'. As though the 'demure and innocent' was in any way lacking appeal (remember the Geisha, the hentai craze, the local nopankissa...)
The most disappointing thing is that, by repeating the same ideas as the noble adventurers of old, we are left with a very boring and limited impression of the nation and its people as they are today. The truth is that Japan is not a homogeneous society, and a much wider variety of ideas, characters, and experiences can be found there. I can only say that this book doesn't begin to do them justice.
- -
Finally, I'd just like to propose another correction: Lost in Translation is not a film about 'the difficulty of inter-cultural understanding', as Macfarlane insists it is. That is merely the context in which the protagonists are able to realise that they are 'lost' in their own lives. It's my humble opinion that a self-proclaimed 'observer' who fails to see even this, probably shouldn't be encouraged to begin analysing the hundreds of millions of people and two thousand-odd years which give Japan its name.
This is probably the book which the Japan National Tourism Organisation wishes it had written, but I couldn't get 40 pages through the book before bawling with disbelief at Macfarlane's complete inability to discern mystical fantasy from reality. At least, owing to the lengthy and otherwise pointless introduction, we can get a good sense of when his mind began voluntarily to cloud over: So shocked at having his absurdly naive assumptions shattered by actually going to see the place and being talked to by Japanese people, Macfarlane fell head-over-heels for the ideas of the nearest Japanese academic, sage, or Western counterpart, who usually by definition have been earning their living from producing tantalising generalisations about their countrymen for the entertainment of foreigners, and the equally monetarily compensating career of pandering to the Japanese ego (see the history of The Chrysanthemum and the Sword). So too, then, Macfarlane has become an enthusiastic punter of Japanese myths.
The book operates like a horoscope, unfolding topic by topic, while we are showered with 'impressions' and 'a certain sense of [the ethereal]', consciously avoiding concrete statements, never quantifying, and always 'alluding to'. The Japan Macfarlane describes is an anomaly to everything, and can only be described in terms of opposites, with no feature consistently prevailing over the other, except when it comes to the 'fascinating' and 'inspiring'.
When he does offer a less obscure arguments (all the while pertaining to 'suspend judgement' and 'sail a middle course'), they come in the form of spurious generalisations. And while for every generalisation there are exceptions, in Macfarlane's arguments I have found there to be more exceptions than consenting examples.
Opening the book on a random page, I have just spotted this excellent example, which a seasoned Japanese observer could have a good chuckle about: 'What is striking... is the absence of sex... when women are shown in Japanese adverts, they are usually demure and innocent'. As though the 'demure and innocent' was in any way lacking appeal (remember the Geisha, the hentai craze, the local nopankissa...)
The most disappointing thing is that, by repeating the same ideas as the noble adventurers of old, we are left with a very boring and limited impression of the nation and its people as they are today. The truth is that Japan is not a homogeneous society, and a much wider variety of ideas, characters, and experiences can be found there. I can only say that this book doesn't begin to do them justice.
- -
Finally, I'd just like to propose another correction: Lost in Translation is not a film about 'the difficulty of inter-cultural understanding', as Macfarlane insists it is. That is merely the context in which the protagonists are able to realise that they are 'lost' in their own lives. It's my humble opinion that a self-proclaimed 'observer' who fails to see even this, probably shouldn't be encouraged to begin analysing the hundreds of millions of people and two thousand-odd years which give Japan its name.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
brilliant social anthropological study of Japan
I bought this book thinking that it was a light hearted look at contemporary Japan (due to the joky cover image) and was at first disappointed because of this. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mr. Robert Marsland
Disappointing
It seems clear to me that there are two problems with this book:
i) Although it is clearly not (nor I believe was it intended to be) an academic work, it is replete with... Read more
i) Although it is clearly not (nor I believe was it intended to be) an academic work, it is replete with... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Mr. Michael D. Kruse
A good read
I did enjoy this book but I'm not sure that I will ever read it again no matter how long it remains in my library. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Hisame
Boring
Takes ages to take off and when it does it never really gets you involved. Boring, academic reading. Read more
Published 23 months ago by S. Andre
Japan Through The Looking Glass.
For me,this is the most informative book on the Japanese I have ever read.It does not flinch even from even the most negative aspects of their culture. Read more
Published on 21 May 2010 by Mr. Robert Thomas
Disappointing Essey like reading
If you are expecting to feel, smell and almost taste the Japanese world through author's worlds- don't but this book. Read more
Published on 6 May 2009 by Skyhigh3
Really intriguing
I went to Japan for the first time in 2007, on a business trip. I read this book after I'd visited. I wish I'd read it before! Read more
Published on 11 Sep 2008 by Antonio
One to avoid
Ignore the sycophantic reviews here, this book tries to pass off many fantasies and inaccuracies as fact. Read more
Published on 3 Feb 2008 by G. M. Morris
Brilliant but too much anthropological jargon
Alan Macfarlane's analysis of the utter otherness of Japan and how we are lured into thinking the differences are not there is masterly. Read more
Published on 26 Nov 2007 by Thinking Allowed
"A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma"
Churchill's quotation on Russia is perhaps more appropriately addressed to Japan. For those of us who love the country, and the people, you will know that Japan presents a constant... Read more
Published on 25 Aug 2007 by Stefan Kosciuszko
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