Review of Things Japanese by Mike Fester

I was going through some books the other day (still haven't unpacked every thing from my move back to the 'States) and pulled out my old copy of _Japanese Things_ by Basil Hall Chamberlain, currently published by Tuttle& Co. The edition I have is the reprint of the 1905 version, and is truely a delightful book. His experiences in Japan date from (I believe) Meiji and he actually taught Japanese in Japan during his stay there. The book is divided into "chapters" (really, more like 1 - 10 pages essays) alphabetically by topic and range from SERIOUS MATTERS (samurai, the role of women), to inter- esting (Fuji, Lacquer), to the truely hilarious ("English as She is Japped" still has some of the funniest attempts at nihonglish I've ever read). The writing style is quaint and rather light-handed, and he has a great feel for his subject. I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in almost any aspect of Japan.

It even has a section describing the origin of the word "Japan"

☆ See all reviews by Mike Fester.