The Japan Journals: 1947-2004

Donald Richie, Edited by Leza Lowitz
Stone Bridge Press (2005)
ISBN 1880656973
Reviewed by Rhiannon Kelly Fionn for Reader Views (4/06)

Who doesn’t love the idea of reading someone’s personal journal? When reading “The Japan Journals,” it is important to keep in mind that is what you are doing. Although pulled together expertly by editor Leza Lowitz’s commentary, choppy moments and wide gaps remain. It is a journal; they work that way. This fact does not, however, reduce the quality or readability of this brilliant title.

Sure, this book can be taken as the history of a changing Japan during an integral fifty years. More, it should be taken as the history of a changing man who happens to live in Japan while history marches on.

Deeply personal and eloquently written, Richie allows the reader to be escorted through his life as an expatriate, journalist, lover, and spectator. A life that includes brushes with fame, travel to wonder- filled locale, and honest observations on a society that was never fully his; he remains an American, despite the semblance of indoctrination. Through his words you will experience the tide of times in a world that has passed into the ether and as the author ends, “… look into the future which is already here.”

“The Japan Journals: 1947-2004” is a striking reminder that change is constant and our journey is what we make of it.

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