So I started reading this book Japanese Patterns of Behavior by Takie Sugiyama Lebra. It’s written by a Japanese anthropologist who lives and works in Hawaii (or at least did at the time of publication. I’m only like 20 pages in, but it’s already really interesting. It’s pretty slow reading, given that you’re inclined to actually think about the concepts he’s giving you as you go along, so this is one case when slow reading is actually indicative of good writing.
Why am I reading such a book? Well, given that I plan to spend some time in Japan, including living there for at least a few years and hopefully doing business there throughout my career, I want to learn as much as I can about the nation, the people, the culture, and so on. I read a review of this particular book on Amazon.com and thought it sounded interesting. Said book and review can, by the way, be found here. Anyhow, what this book amounts to is an analysis of Japanese social and behavioral trends from an anthropological perspective. Mabye it sounds a little boring, but it really is a very interesting read.
Once I get that done, I’m reading Okakura’s The Book of Tea, which I’ve been meaning to read for a while and am particularly keen on reading following mention of it in Kerouac’s Dharma Bums.
I also found a really great deal on one of Araki’s books tonight and ordered it despite the fact that I can’t *really* afford it at the moment. I’m currently working on compiling a comprehensive bibliography of everything that Araki has published in this nifty program I found called Circus Ponies. I find myself liking his work and getting interested in it more and more these days, and I figure if I’m going to start buying up books by him, I should at least be aware of what’s out there, when they were published, what kind of subject matter they cover, etc. Slow going, considering he may have published anywhere from 60-200 books, but interesting research at least.
