Japanese through Western eyes

Press, 25 January 1986, Page 20

Japanese through Western eyes

AU-Japan: The Catalogue of Everything Japaneae. introduced by Oliver Statler. Columbus Books, 1984. 224 pp. $29.95. Into Japan. By John Lowe. Murray, 1985. 214 pp. $34.95. (Reviewed by Mhairi Erber) There is a growing need to know about things Japanese, sometimes for the most unlikely reasons. After all, more than half newly married Japanese couples travel overseas for their honeymoons and an increasing number come to New Zealand. In “All-Japan: The Catalogue of Everything Japanese’* the section on travel, written by Oliver Statler (who also wrote the introduction), is of the utmost interest. He points out that “the Japanese have always been avid tourists” and that school outings and trips set a pattern for travelling from which few Japanese wish to deviate. Yet for all that travel has educational and religious overtones

(its origins are in the pilgrimage), it is also * closely associated with escape from the restrictions of everyday life and, for the male at least, kicking up one.’s heels. Thus it does at times have its bizarre aspects such as the cable car bath at Arita. It is not, perhaps, surprising (or necessarily regrettable) that New Zealand has a rather dull image, but what if the Japanese should also find us a little unclean? In addition to baths and travel, “AllJapan” deals with arts and crafts (including photography), food and drink (including coffee shops), the tea ceremony, religion, theatre, music, medicine, sport, nightlife, language and literature. It is not, however, as exhaustive as the title suggests for it does not have anything to say about education or family life, though it does have something on children’s games and toys; nor does it have anything on industry or trade. Altogether there is a great deal of fascinating information though of necessity it is rather superficial. The contributors are billed as experts although they are not always adept at communicating the essence of their specialisations—the entries particularly in the “High Art” section read rather like extracts from lengthier works. Nevertheless, as befits the subject, this is an attractive (and very reasonably priced) book. It is also a very enthusiastic one (which is good), but also a rather uncritical one (which is not so good). Though there are occasional forays into the seamy and plastic aspects of Japanese culture it is really a celebration of its more refined and aristocratic tendencies; and for that reason John Lowe’s “Into Japan,” despite its occasional infelicities of style (surprising in a man of his credentials), may well be the more practical guide.

“Into Japan” is not simply a travel book. Lowe does discuss trips he has made, but he also reflects on life in Japan as he has encountered it working there rather than as a tourist. From geographical starting points he goes on to examine the lack of space, the extent of Westernisation, marriage and family life, the educational system, religion and nationalism, miniaturisation and commercialisation, and many other things. He has some very helpful hints for travellers—it is certainly worth bearing in mind that “wherever you are, Blackpool or Amonohasidate, there is something uniquely dispiriting about resorts in the rain.” What the book is chiefly memorable for is its snippets of information on everyday life: there is a cake-baking craze at the moment; Japanese housewives are often untidy; dressing gowns should be folded over left over right; when moving to a new area one gives a present to one’s neighbours—sweets to the children are an acceptable compromise. Much of this is nicely calculated to reduce culture shock on either side. John Lowe, who was then director of the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, first went to Japan in 1967. He now lives Japanese-style on the outskirts of Kyoto where for a time he taught in a private university. Like the contributors to “All-Japan” his enthusiasms tend to be for traditional things. He is critical of the Japanese for being insufficiently appreciative of their heritage and for being surprisingly insensitive to their environment despite ritualistic responses to the natural world; but his denigration is almost always tempered by affection. He does make it clear though, to modify the proverb, that “Seen up close Japan, like Fuji, does not always come up to expectation.”