Japan Culture Institute

Still one of the best handbooks on "Words, Customs and Concepts" in Japan, originally published under the title A Hundred Things Japanese, Discover Japan Vol. 1 delivers well-written explanations by over 61 reknowned Japan scholars on topics ranging across the spectrum of Japanese life. B/W photographs or ink drawings (by Clifton Karhu) illustrate each item. The publisher, Kodansha, should not only reprint Discover Japan Vols. 1 & 2 again, but should continue the series with contributors from new leading scholars (and some of the same older ones who are thankfully still with us) and on new topics, including cell phones, convenience stores, game centers, and the ways technology has changed things in Japan in the last 20 years. My copy is from 1987.… (mehr)