Looking for the Lost: Journeys Through a Vanishing Japan

by Alan Booth, Joshua Sitzer (Editor)

Overview

A VIBRANT, MEDITATIVE WALK IN SEARCH OF THE SOUL OF JAPAN
Traveling by foot through mountains and villages, Alan Booth found a Japan far removed from the stereotypes familiar to Westerners. Whether retracing the footsteps of ancient warriors or detailing the encroachments of suburban sprawl, he unerringly finds the telling detail, the unexpected transformation, the everyday drama that brings this remote world to life on the page. Looking for the Lost is full of personalities, from friendly gangsters to mischievous children to the author himself, an expatriate who found in Japan both his true home and dogged exile. Wry, witty, sometimes angry, always eloquent, Booth is a uniquely perceptive guide. Looking for the Lost is a technicolor journey into the heart of a nation. Perhaps even more significant, it is the self-portrait of one man, Alan Booth, exquisitely painted in the twilight of his own life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781568361482
Publisher:	Kodansha USA
Publication date:	05/28/1996
Pages:	389
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.05(d)

About the Author

ALAN BOOTH was born in London in 1946 and traveled to Japan in 1970 to study Noh theater. He stayed, working as a writer and film critic, until his death from cancer in 1993. His books include The Roads to Sata.

Editorial Reviews

"[Booth] achieved an extraordinary understanding of life as it is lived by ordinary Japanese....Frequently brilliant in his insights."—F.G. Notehelfer, The New York Times Book Review

"Alan Booth was not only the best travel writer on Japan, but one of the best travel writers in the English language. Looking for the Lost is a superb exercise in describing Japan from the point of view of an outsider with the knowledge of an insider."—Ian Buruma, author of The Wages of Guilt

"Booth had a horror of pretension....[He] never fails to produce the whimsical anecdotes that keep the whole account down-to-earth."—Elizabeth ward, Washington Post Book World

From the Publisher

Booth's The Roads to Sata (Weatherhill, 1986), which recounts his impressions and experiences during a 2000-mile walking tour of Japan, is considered a classic of its genre. In the present work, Booth, who died in 1992, offers a sequel. The book is divided into three parts, each involving a journey connected to a famous person or event in Japanese history. The first, entitled "Tsugaru," follows the path taken by the Japanese novelist, Osamu Dazai (1909-48), in a work by the same title; the second, "Saigo's Last March," follows the retreat of the tragic leader of the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion, Saigo Takamori, to his death in his home city of Kagoshima; and the third part, "Looking for the Lost," explores the setting of the 12th-century Japanese classic, The Tale of the Heike. All three episodes contain Booth's customary blend of rich historical and cultural background with fascinating and often humorous anecdotal experience. Recommended for all libraries with an interest in Japan and especially for those owning Booth's earlier work.-Scott Wright, Univ. of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn.

Library Journal

The author recounts his fascinating journey by foot through three remote regions of Japan in search of the country's geographic and spiritual heart. Lacks an index. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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