Tokyo - A View of the City (Paperback)

With photographs by Joel Sackett Donald Richie takes the reader on a revealing tour of the different districts of Japan's capital city. Starting from the original centre of Tokyo the Imperial Palace, Richie branches outwards, taking in other areas such as Yoshiwara, the original red-light district, and Ginza, the world-famous shipping street. The author has kept a diary for the entire time he has lived in Tokyo, and excerpts from it provide on-the-spot insights into the significance of fashions and fads in Japanese culture (for example the recent Tamagochi craze), as well as the various aspects of life in a small neighbourhood. Richie gives a real sense of how Japanese society has changed since the Second World War, yet remained rooted in its past. With the eclectic eye and ear of a film-maker, Richie describes the flavour and idiosyncracies of this chaotic, teeming city. "Tokyo" is illustrated with 30 illuminating photographs by Seattle-based photographer, Joel Sackett.