Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
 
Japan Through the Looking Glass: Shaman to Shinto
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book

Japan Through the Looking Glass: Shaman to Shinto (Hardcover)

by Alan Macfarlane (Author)
3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


4 used from £9.70
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Paperback £9.99 £6.13 38 used & new from £3.80

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested in These Sponsored Links

  (What is this?)
   Shamanism in the UK opens new browser window
sacredtrust.co.uk  -  Workshops and courses from weekends to three-year trainings.
   Shamanic Guidance UK opens new browser window
www.seekersolace.com  -  Healing, Advice & Workshops Handmade Shamanic Tools.
   Glass Japan opens new browser window
shopadilly.co.uk/Glass+Japan  -  Top offer Glass Japan! Glass Japan here
  
 

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

A Year in Japan

A Year in Japan

by Kate T. Williamson
£8.49
The Japanese Mind: Understanding Contemporary Japanese Culture

The Japanese Mind: Understanding Contemporary Japanese Culture

by Roger Davies
3.3 out of 5 stars (10)  £7.44
Looking for the Lost: Journeys Through a Vanishing Japan (Kodansha globe series)

Looking for the Lost: Journeys Through a Vanishing Japan (Kodansha globe series)

by Alan Booth
5.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £7.30
Hokkaido Highway Blues: Hitchhiking Japan

Hokkaido Highway Blues: Hitchhiking Japan

by Will Ferguson
4.4 out of 5 stars (33)  £6.47
Japan - Culture Smart! The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture

Japan - Culture Smart! The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture

by Paul Norbury
4.0 out of 5 stars (3)  £4.54
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Hardcover: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Profile (9 Aug 2007)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1861979525
  • ISBN-13: 978-1861979520
  • Product Dimensions: 21.8 x 13.6 x 3.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 405,706 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

Review

"'Alan Macfarlane is one of the most perceptive writers we have.' Paul Barker, Evening Standard"

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.'
See all Product Description
Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 
(6)
(4)
(4)
(3)
(2)
(2)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Japan Through the Looking Glass: Shaman to Shinto
60% buy the item featured on this page:
Japan Through the Looking Glass: Shaman to Shinto 3.5 out of 5 stars (6)
Hokkaido Highway Blues: Hitchhiking Japan
14% buy
Hokkaido Highway Blues: Hitchhiking Japan 4.4 out of 5 stars (33)
£6.47
A Year in Japan
10% buy
A Year in Japan
£8.49
Japan - Culture Smart! The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture
8% buy
Japan - Culture Smart! The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture 4.0 out of 5 stars (3)
£4.54
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.5 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Enchanted modernity, 30 Sep 2007
By M. Hsieh (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
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.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


 
18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars "A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma", 25 Aug 2007
By Stefan Kosciuszko (Suffolk, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
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 lifelong learning journey full of magical surprises, and not without frustration, when one discovers that what one thought one knew, suddenly seems different.

The last book, until this new offering by Alan Macfarlane, that took me on such a journey was published in 1917, namely the observations made by the zoologist Edward S. Morse between 1877 and 1883, post Meiji Restoration.The Japan that he described in such detail is still recognisable today and his detailed commentary helps one to understand the origins of much of what may be called the essence of Japan. However his book is best appreciated by those who already know Japan well through many visits and much interaction.

Alan Macfarlane's book importantly goes beyond observations. As a historian and world leading anthropologist at Cambridge University he has developed a truly unique perspective from a lifetime of studying cultures. In this book he has touched the elusive soul of Japan and presented it in a manner that is both intellectually provocative and penetratingly revealing. It offers the less well informed reader a chance to understand the myriad facets of the Japanese people from the comfort of your own sitting room. His engaging style is learned, yet easy to understand and full of subtle nuances that tinkle across the piano keys of the mind.

I challenge anyone to read this book and remain unfascinated by Japan and untempted to make a visit. At the very least you will have been taken on an unforgettable journey.

Mutual understanding between the people of different nations smoothes the effect of tectonic plate movements between civilisations that historically, and currently, have lead to conflict on the one hand and development of humanity on the other. At the very least this book helps us understand more about Japan than any other book since Morse.

Alan's lasting contribution to learning and civilisation has come from many books that he has written, available on Amazon, and this book is another great masterpiece. Read this and be prepared to be enlightened, amused and intrigued. Then go on and read his other books.....your perspective on life will never be the same.

NOTE: Examples of Alan Macfarlane's anthropological work can be found on www.digitalhimalaya.com or YouTube
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


 
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant but too much anthropological jargon, 26 Nov 2007
Alan Macfarlane's analysis of the utter otherness of Japan and how we are lured into thinking the differences are not there is masterly. So many things make much more sense in the light of his scholarship. However, given that this is not supposed to be a technical anthropology book, his otherwise fascinating work is marred by the presence of far too much unexplained opaque anthropological jargon. This could so easily have been avoided; the book might have ended up thicker, but it would have been all the better for that.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars 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 9 months ago by Skyhigh3

5.0 out of 5 stars 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 17 months ago by Antonio

1.0 out of 5 stars 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

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject









i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.