Asian Books

A beautiful book: the colors sing. This is joyful, breathtaking, work from one of the world's true artists, of any period. A wonderful gift.

This is simply one of the most beautiful books ever published (on any subject)!!! Hiroshige has collected some of the most attractive Japanese color prints ever created, replete with Japanese poetry and translations. I literally could not put this book down -- I also gasped in awe several times. Braziller has done a wonderful job -- the book is coffee table sized and is bound with quality and workmanship. This is a class act in all regards. Some might balk at the price tag, but believe me it is well worth it!

... coupled with a large format and excellent translations, makes this the single most important volume for lovers of Hiroshige, and especially for those fond of his kacho-ga (birds and flowers). This is not just another art book. You won't understand until you see it. And you must see it.

This huge and beautiful book is an achievement in itself, but I really meant Hiroshige's original cycle of prints, 118 in all. They cover every aspect of the bustling city: summer and snow, crowds and quiet, industrial sectors, temples, and pleasure quarters. In some, the city's people are clearly the focus of attention. In others, they are implicit and unseen. Even when birds, exotic trees, or vast landscapes dominate, the human presence remains. This is about the city, after all, and the city is always there.

Hiroshige's composition displays distinctive layering. His strong, immediate foregrounds place the viewer directly in the scene, then lead the viewer inward and onward to skies and mountains in the distance. It's dramatic and engaging, and striking by its absence in the very few images composed by his successor.

Japanese prints are hugely more complex and subtle than nearly anything in the Western canon. These masterworks are built up from images on a dozen or more blocks, perfectly aligned on the printed sheet of paper. That comes through beautifully in these large reproductions, even in the subtleties of "bokashi" gradients of color. Even so, the commentary reminds us of how much we're missing. The originals are often overprinted in lustrous mica, in glossy inks that emphasizes an eagle's claws, and in un-inked embossing or "cloth printing." Between the dramatic printing in these reproductions and the authors' description, we get nearly the whole effect of the imagery anyway.

I recommend this book to any reader, whether a connoisseur of fine prints already or some who can learn to love them - in otherwords, to everyone.

//wiredweird

In college I met one of the sons of George Braziler, the publisher, and feel that the wonderful quality of their art books reflects the generous and thoughtful nature of their family. The prints are meticulously reproduced, complete with woodgrain. The written text takes the reader back to another time within a totally different culture with subtle details explained. More generally, Japanese prints represent an effort to provide art to the normal working people, not just wealthy aristocrats. Hiroshige memorializes the exquisite and delicate mood of ancient Japan and lets you feel their experiences.

Darcy Kishida (midk@crisscross.com) Anyone who has ever visited modern Tokyo knows what a dreary and uninviting place it can be. Monotonous rows of offices, apartments with no charm whatsoever, and a shocking lack of architectural originality conspire to rob the metropolis of most of the character it once had. "One Hundred Famous Views Of Edo" will, if not completely change your opinion of Tokyo, at least make you see the city in a new light, enabling the reader to look past the run down buildings and aging neon and view the city as it used to be: an enchanting place virtually untouched by foreign influences and filled with ancient shrines, women in kimono, swaggering samurai, Kabuki theaters, the pleasure quarters, and everything else we associate with old Japan. It will also, if you're not already, make you fall in love with the art of ukiyo-e. "One Hundred Famous Views Of Edo" succeeds in two ways. First, from a purely artistic point of view, it is a stunning collection of all 118 prints in Hiroshige's "Meisho Edo Hyakkei" series (One Hundred Famous Views Of Edo), full-size and faithfully reproduced from the Brooklyn Museum's high quality set of mostly first edition prints. The book is unique in that it includes, in addition to the acknowledged masterpieces such as "Plum Estate, Kameido" and "Sudden Shower over Shin-Ohashi Bridge and Atake," many inferior prints which are rarely, if ever, seen. Here though, every print, even the obscure ones, is given its own commentary. Henry D. Smith II, a professor of Japanese history at Columbia University, wrote the commentaries accompanying the plates and explains in his introduction that only focusing on the stronger designs "discourages the appreciation of the many strong features of the lesser designs, and it also distracts attention from the descriptive qualities that clearly appealed to Hiroshige's audience and that can teach us much today about the city of Edo and its culture." Also significant is the fact that "One Hundred Famous Views Of Edo" shows us the series as it was meant to be seen. Those who are familiar with Hiroshige already know that this was his last series and it was enormously popular. As was the case with most ukiyo-e prints, the first edition copies were generally of the highest quality, with sharp, clear lines and delicately graded colors. In later printings, which are comparatively plentiful, a sharp drop in the subtlety of color becomes obvious and the once clean lines begin to blur. The majority of the prints from the Brooklyn Museum fall into the former category. As Professor Smith notes, the great success of the series "led to countless later impressions of far inferior quality, eliminating the most refined printing effects and transforming the color schemes in ways that utterly destroyed the expressive intent of the first impressions." Even to the untrained eye, a side-by-side comparison between a high quality, early impression and a hastily made later one will quickly make this clear. Any ukiyo-e connoisseur will tell you that there is really nothing else like a well-preserved, first edition copy of a favorite print and these are in abundance in "One Hundred Famous Views Of Edo". As impressive as the prints are, however, the commentary is what steals the show here, giving the reader fascinating glimpses into what was the city of Edo and its inhabitants. It has the effect of turning the prints into virtual postcards, which, in the absence of Edo era photographs, serve as a precious visual record of the city and its customs. In his commentary, Smith has the uncanny ability to make even the most mundane details fascinating. Mediocre plates, which would normally hold your attention for only a few seconds at most, are given substance and life by Smith, whose keen eye and attention to detail turn these lesser designs into mini history lessons, travel guides, or short biographies. A good example is plate 70 (Nakagawa River Mouth), which, artistically, this writer considers among the worst of the series. Here were are given a short history of Edo's canal system, learn where its citizens procured their salt, and discover how the scene has changed in the last 150 years. The print is thus saved from obscurity by, ironically, acting as a sort of visual supplement to Smith's text instead of the other way around. The amazing variety of the locations and subject matter of the 118 views and their astute commentary combine to bring Edo alive for the viewer, making it seem strangely familiar and real. We regret the loss of so many beautiful places to modernization and cherish the few precious gems that remain. "One Hundred Famous Views Of Edo" will make those who have never been to Tokyo want to go and former residents want to return for a visit. As for the fortunate who live there now, this book can only increase their appreciation of the city and its unique history.

An essential feature of any historical work is the selection ofsources one wishes to present as an argument. The role of memory and access to history, that is public access to 'other' histories, is an area of much contention in the contemporary world. What I most enjoyed about this book is the authors have not shied away from commenting on earlier critiques of the proposed Smithsonian display, involving the restored fuselage of the Enola Gay. What was shameful about the ensuing debacle, I believe, was the attempt to discredit the further development of an alternate memory given 50 years had passed since the atomisation of Hiroshima. After all, was it not possible to show an American and Japanese view of the closing months of the Pacific War, regardless of who the victor was? It is critical to understand that Australians, let alone Japanese, cut a different slant on the way we interpret history, particularly that of Pacific War history. I believe we are richer for the experience.

But, of course, an alternate memory has developed, yet it is often dismissed by the euphemistic expression, 'historical revisionism'. This appears to be some sort of code for 'this sort of history is not acceptable to the conservative elements in contemporary American society, certainly much less to those who actually witnessed combat in the Pacific'. By virtue of fact, it has no legitimate place among orthodox histories. All history is subject to revision, for the simple reason new facts become available and each generation chooses to impose it's own standards. This is certainly the case with Hiroshima. But this shouldn't be construed as 'wrong' or a 'threat', rather it adds to the debate and formation of ideas which underpin the importance of Hiroshima and historiography. Context retains an essential place.

However, for those of you interested in the importance of historicity, of debate, and value the idea of an education as opposed to acccess to information, I cannot recommend this book enough. It has it all. Needless to say Hiroshima touches a raw nerve both in Japan and America. It also has much currency in Australia. So I do not in any way set out to discredit the efforts of those men and women who gave their services to the state during WW2. I do, however, recommend that prospective readers keep an open mind and try avoid getting caught up in the limited rhetoric of the conservative right and the emotional left.

The bombing of Hiroshima was one of many horrific events that occurred in World War II and in human history. World War II was a pivotal time, and only in the present are we able to look back and reflect on the event with a critical eye. Michael J. Hogan's HIROSHIMA IN HISTORY AND MEMORY provides a collection of essays by cultural and diplomatic historians who analyzed the bombing of Hiroshima based on unclassified documents and past commentary that emphasized the how and why the bomb was dropped. Although this historiographical collection is considered revisionist scholarship, it is by all means essential in order to understand the complicated decision that President Truman had to make in dropping the bomb, and the effects it has had decades after.

Several essays reflect on how the bombing has affected commemoration of the event. Without a clear understanding of Hiroshima from both Americans and Japanese, one cannot equally or fully commemorate or represent the bombing of Hiroshima. The essays in HIROSHIMA AND HISTORY AND MEMORY attempts to present the facts within each essay, and each historian, such as J. Samuel Walker, John W. Dower, Barton J. Bernstein, and a host of others emphasize that the decision to drop the bomb and end the war did not only involve justifying saving military casualties, but the fear of an imminent power on the rise -- the Soviet Union (despite their position as an allie at the time, their possible invasion would have helped the Japanese surrender).

HIROSHIMA IN HISTORY AND MEMORY examines basic history as it pertains to the bombing of Hiroshima. The essays are readable and understandable. The events that occurred in August 1945 in Hiroshima and Nagasaki are two major historical events that continue to be a discussion of debate.

as far as hiroshima books go. this was the best one i found. i was writting a piece of history coursework on this travesty and this book not only gave me historians views but in the essays they mentioned other historians and their views!! it looked at this event from many different angles and managed to be interesting, factual and collectively unbiased throughout. very thought provoking.

I have owned the first edition for over 22 years now. It is the most used volume in my personal library during the last two decades. So comprehensive, so well designed.

At the book's price, it is designed for academic reference but for any reader seriously interested in South Asia it contains a lifetime's worth of historical information. Dynasties, monuments, sacred sites, princely states, battles, invasions, photos of sculpture and archaeological finds, etc. One of the most continually fascinating books I've ever seen.

I bought an early edition of this book, and it has been with me constantly. It remains one of the few indispensable works on South Asia, a truly unique one-volume resource. Many developments in South Asia have their roots in the recent and not so recent past, this provides as good a base to work from as anything I have ever come across. The price of the reprint (assuming the quality of the plates is as good as the original) is inexpensive, even for an individual, given the comprehensive scope of the Atlas.

Historical Dictionary of Turkmenistan gives a panoramic view of Turkmenistan's past and kaleidoscopic vista of its present. It provides valuable information on important personalities, dynasties, institutions and events. It also gives a clear perception of the Turkmenistan culture, economy, geography and politics. The introduction, chronology and bibliography of selected publications on Turkmen state and society will definitely help researchers, students and general-public.

While other Central Asian countries opened themselves to the world with the end of the Cold War - and the War on Terror even brought them to the center of international attention - in many respects Turkmenistan still remains the terra incognita. Abazov's Historical Dictionary of Turkmenistan starts unleashing the country's mystery and potential.

Trained as historian in the Soviet universities and with solid exposure to Western scholarly methods, Dr. Abazov brings best of the two worlds to this concise yet comprehensive volume. Beyond the dictionary's 300+ entries is the portrait of vibrant society, which - due to a combination of internal weaknesses and external rivalries - felt victim of tyranny and international neglect. Very informative and equally well written are historical entries covering various (pre-Russian, Russian & Soviet, and present) periods of Turkmenistan's history. It helps that the dictionary is accompanied by detailed chronology of events in the country's history, as well very useful reader's notes.

One could argue about the choice of extensive biographical entries of the appointed officials of today, while omitting or offering scant references about individuals, whose lifetime contributions to Turkmen culture and society are much better known and proven. Among the latter is the preeminent duo of Kayghisiz Atabaev and Nedirbay Aytakov, who have led Turkmenistan's political consolidation, as well as Shaja Batyrov and Balysh Ovezov - the `architects' of the country's industrial modernization. Just as transformative were contributions to the Turkmen culture by such larger than life figures as composer Veli Muhatov, artist Izzat Klychev, film producer Alty Karliev, writer Kerim Kurbannepesov and many others.

Nevertheless, Dr. Abazov deserves full credit for embarking on and successfully completing such challenging scholarly mission. As the West have learned the hard way not to discount strategic importance of even the farthest and most obscure nations, his dictionary is a must-have reference for anyone interested not only in the region, but in the history to come.

I highly recommend this first historical dictionary available in English, on Turkmenistan. This dictionary offers a concise overview of the Turkmen history, including an impressive chronology of its major political, social, historical and cultural events. The book is a must read for students interested in Turkmenistan and Central Asia, researchers and development practitioners that are planning to go to this country. The book also contains a wealth of statistical data on Turkmenistan, and the most comprehensive bibliography available on this country. I highly commend Prof. Abazov's book for his pioneering contribution to development of the Eurasian studies.

Ayatollah Rouhallah Khomeini and Vladimir I. Lenin were on opposite ends of the spectrum regarding religion. Khomeini demanded that the masses live by it and Lenin considered it an opiate for the masses. And yet, these two men had much in common. Both were revolutionaries, dedicated to the overthrow of a monarchy they despised and were successful in doing so. After they rose to power, each tried to export their revolution, causing their country to be diplomatically and economically isolated. Khomeini and Lenin both possessed a single-minded devotion to their cause, and they were ruthless in maneuvering to have anyone who could oppose their leadership eliminated.
The last third of the book is devoted to the revolution in Iran that brought Khomeini to power and the aftermath and I was riveted as I read through the pages. I watched the revolution on television as it unfolded so most of the names and events were familiar to me. Like so many political figures who are reviled outside their nation, Khomeini was a political genius, very much under appreciated for his ability to garner and maintain support, even in the wake of disasters.
The incompetence of almost every other force in the Iranian revolution is also described in great detail. The Carter administration was positively schizophrenic in dealing with the Shah, one section strongly trying to prop him up and others criticizing him for the massive human rights violations under his rule. However, I cannot put all of the blame on Carter. The American intelligence community was a pathetic failure. It appears that no one anywhere in the American government considered the revolution any threat to the Shah until the very end. This same community stated without qualification that Saddam Hussein possessed massive amounts of weapons of mass destruction before the second gulf war and failed to anticipate the collapse of the Soviet Union. At least in those cases they could make a plausible argument that those were closed societies so that it was hard to obtain any information one the ground. However, given the enormous American involvement in Iran under the Shah, their lack of real knowledge about the country is inexcusable. I consider this to be the greatest American intelligence failure of the last half-century.
The Shah himself proved to be very weak, quite likely due to his illness. At the time, he was suffering from the cancer that took his life a few years later. Therefore, as Daniel emphasizes, this illness may have been the root cause of his vacillation when only strong actions could prevent chaos. In the end, he simply could not bring himself to order his army and secret police to kill the tens of thousands of people that would have had to die to put down the revolution.
While Iran/Persia has a history going back thousands of years and the early events are important in learning why Iran is the way it is, the really interesting events occurred in the last one hundred years. Slightly less than half of the book is devoted to the history of Iran before the twentieth century and Daniel does a good job in setting the historical, ethnic, religious and geographical background of Iran and the neighboring countries. The rise of Shah Mohammad Pahlavi from the ashes of his father's being forced by the Soviet Union and Britain to abdicate when they occupied the country in the Second World War are the beginnings of one of the most amazing historical events of the twentieth century.
When he regained the throne after the war, the Shah was faced with enormous problems, the worst of which was a country severely fragmented. There are many different ethnic groups in Iran and at the time, the primary loyalty that most had was to their tribe rather than to the central government. The Soviet Union had occupied the northern regions and as they were active in promoting the Tudeh or Iranian communist party. Therefore, the Shah not only had to assert the authority of the central government, but he also had to deal with the Soviet Union and Britain, convincing them to withdraw their troops and adopt a policy of minimal interference. I was impressed with Daniel's descriptions of these events. In navigating around all of these potential problems, the Shah showed a level of geopolitical acumen that few people give him credit for. At a time when Joseph Stalin was ruthlessly taking control of the Eastern half of Europe, China had fallen under communist control, and North Korea was preparing to invade South Korea it is amazing that the Soviet Union largely left Iran alone. Unlike so many other Islamic areas, the Tudeh was strong in Iran, probably strong enough to have taken power with a small amount of Soviet assistance. Given that access to a warm water port had been a strategic goal of the Russians from the days when they first entered the Caucasus region, and control of Iran would have given them that goal, I will never understand why Stalin didn't orchestrate a communist coup in Iran.
However, the price that the Shah had to pay in order to maintain independence was very high. The British oil concession was one of the most one-sided in the history of the planet; it is unbelievable to read the numbers on how little was actually paid to the Iranians for their oil in 1950. Since the Shah also could not unilaterally keep the Soviets out, he relied heavily on Western help, which allowed the opposition to paint him as a puppet. All this led to the assumption of power by Mohammad Mosaddeq, who reduced the power of the Shah and embarked on a policy of nationalizing the Iranian oil fields. This is another area where Daniel is excellent in his descriptions of the events and their causes. A counter-coup, supported by the American CIA and British agents, overthrew Mosaddeq and restored the Shah to power. In the intervening years, Mosaddeq has been rehabilitated into a man who led a popular coup and was cynically deposed by the CIA. That is false, Mosaddeq did a lot of stupid things while in power, showing none of the Shah's innate understanding of political realities. In the end, the coup that removed him from power was a popular one and the CIA had to do very little to aid the forces that restored the Shah. It was gratifying to read the truth about Mosaddeq.
In closing, this is a book that should be read by anyone who wants to learn about Iran. It has been stated that it is a rogue state and one of the three members of the "Axis of Evil." While that is a debatable point, Iran is one of the most complex countries in the world, and there are no easy answers to any approach to interacting with their leadership. This book does not have all the answers, but it has enough of them to make it a very valuable resource.

Elton Daniel's brief history of Iran may be the most sober, realistic analysis of contemporary Iranian history in print. His sober assessment of the Islamic Republic's present and near future bears close scrutiny, and is far less optimistic than Robin Wright's. Yet it is also a fine introduction to Iranian history from prehistory to the present. Among its finest chapters are those devoted to the ancient Persian Empire of Cyrus and Darius I, the Parthians, medieval Persian history, and the early modern history of Iran through the rise of the Qajar Dynasty. Yet, as I pointed out earlier, it is most noteworthy for its coverage of recent Iranian history. Students of Iranian history and of the Middle East may find this essential reading.

This books excels in its intention: to provide a useful history of Iran. It guides without browbeating, informs the reader without opining the reader with extra epithets, and just generally equips the reader to understand the context of modern developments in Iran. Now I understand what it means when I read that Aminejad is an unknown but conservative backer of the Islamic Revolution, and that is something that I would not have without this book. If you want to understand Iran, this is an excellent tool.

I had to write a paper for my Japanese Pop Culture class on the history and current events of Irezumi and I have to say, with all the research I put into it this book won out over competitors such as Bushido : Legacies of the Japanese Tattoo, and The Japanese Tattoo. To a certain degree this book repeated its facts however it was necessary in some sections to give more details. Overall I was quite satisfied with the huge volume of information on the history, actual tradition insofar as physical tattooing and the culture around tattooing in Japan. Definitely the BEST buy for the Japanese Tattoo (Irezumi) enthusiast.

This book was extremely well written and very thorough. It's an excellent history of the traditional Japanese skin suit.

Deserving of ongoing mention for any arts collection providing comprehensive coverage of tattooing art is A History of Japanese Body Suit Tattooing, which explores not only the art involved, but the social and political forces which evolved Japanese methods from prehistoric to modern times. Connections between tattooing and cultural influences are rare, making this a top pick for not only college-level arts collections, but for any college-level holding strong in Japanese history and culture.

I read an old edition of this years ago. It's nice now to have my own copy.

I wish this book will soon available in your bookshelves coz I really look for this book for ages and none bookstores yet sell the books. I've read some about Thomas Stamford Raffles and really adore the way he rules, and how he could be a Governor General in Java while he was still young, a great leader should not always come from a noble family! I have similarities to his life story.

It is doubtful that any contemporary official could write such an elegant and comprehensive work. Raffles not only left his post as Governor of Java, with the routine reports, but an analysis of the culture and languages. In his dedication to the Prince Regent he stated: "To uphold the weak, to put down lawless force, to lighten the chain of the slave, to sustain the honour of the British arms and British good faith; to promote the arts, sciences and literature, to establish humane institutions, are duties of government... I have had the honour, as a servant of the East India Company, to preside over a mild and simple people ... and by doing everything in my power to make them happy."
This is an artifact of the British Empire at its finest.

Runciman gives a comprehensive, panoramic account of the Crusades, from the unlikely success of the First Crusade to the final, inevitable defeat of the Crusading movement. He analyzes the reasons for the success and the causes of the ultimate failure of the Crusades, and therein lies a lesson for modern times.

Runciman speaks of the many causes of initial victory and ultimate defeat, and catalogs the grievous injuries to all concerned resulting from the Crusades. His analysis is sobering, and some of it is not inapplicable to the current state of affairs in the Middle East. The Crusader States were looked on by the native Moslems as interlopers to be driven into the sea. That final victory was achieved, but at what cost? Given the fiat accompli of the First Crusade, and the centuries of existence of the Crusader States, couldn't they have achieved a modus vivendi which, if not completely satisfactory to either side, at least allowed the parties to live in harmony without doing further mischief to each other. If all sides of the current conflict in the Middle East would read this book, it might expedite the peace process.

Runciman was a genius. A brilliant writer in English, whose grand ambitions never lead him astray from the most meticulous separation of fact from speculation, he was also an extraordinary polyglot. He read not only the Latin, Old French and Greek among the contemporary accounts of the Crusades, but the Arabic, Syriac, Persian, Hebrew, Gergian, Ethiopic, Slavonic, Norse and Mongolian as well, not to mention modern secondary works in many more languages still. If he shows any favoritism at all among the warring factions of the Crusades, then it is towards the Byzantine Greeks, although what looks like favoritism to me may only be due to my own ignorance. Even if I'm right about his favoring the Greeks, Runciman is still by far the most impartial historian of the Crusades known to me. He's certainly the only one who took the trouble and had the talent to read all the sources in the original. (Most people who've read widely in more than one language can probably appreciate how much tends to be lost in translation, not to mention how much is never translated at all.) As if his reading weren't enough, he often walked through the cities and over the battlefields which he describes in his works, in order to discover things which no one had yet written.

Runciman makes sweeping judgements and expresses strong opinions, although these are often decently hidden between the lines of his polite Cambridge prose. But all of his judgements and opinions have the support of the most solid scholarship.

I recommend the three-volume 'History of the Crusades'. The book 'The First Crusade' is an abridgement of the first volume, without footnotes or appendices or bibliography. In addition to the the three-volume history, I also have a copy of the abridgement 'The First Crusade', but it's the illustrated hardcover edition, ISBN 0521232554. I got it just for the pictures, many in color. The three volumes of the 'History of the Crusades' have a few black-and-white illustrations, and the paperback edition of 'The First Crusade' has no illustrations.

In the first instalment, it was all Christian uphill; in the second, there was the Arab renaissance. If Runciman were a novelist the Christians might do better in this one; as he is not, it is virtually downhill all the way for the Crusaders: indeed, apart from a brief growth spurt under Richard the Lionheart they suffer humiliation and worse. Humiliation in the sense of total expulsion from the Holy Land; "worse" in that the Fourth Crusade degenerates into the Sack of Constantinople - which Runciman condemns as one of the greatest crimes in history.

On another level, this is the "Celebrity Crusaders'" edition - not only does this feature Coeur de Lion, we also meet Saladin, Edward I of England (Braveheart's villain), Emperor Frederick II (Stupor Mundi) and Saint Louis (Louis IX) of France - plus a cameo from Ghengkis Khan. But, at the close of two centuries' worth of defeats, the verdict is delivered in the closing chapter, where Runciman denounces the entire crusades as a colossal "fiasco." Maybe so, but a terrific story.

This is Hokusai at his best. His quality of line is exceptional and the images are a constant delight. The fertility of the artist's imagination is nothing short of astonishing. Hokusai gives us the mythological origins of Fuji, simple views of Fuji, pilgrims climbing and descending Fuji, Fuji's reflection, Fuji seen through rain and through mist, Fuji framed by trees, windows and bridges, Fuji from near and Fuji from afar. In one striking interior view, we see some surprised people looking at a miraculous vision of an inverted Fuji that floats on a screen before them. The explanation? A knothole in the house's wooden wall has transformed the building into a kind of giant camera obscura, and the morning sun is projecting an image of the mountain onto the screen. So... Fuji outdoors and Fuji indoors.

One has to make a firm distinction between the original project and this edition. Hokusai's "100 Views of Mt Fuji" first appeared in three separate volumes: this book reprints them in one handy paperback. There are several extremely nice touches about this version. For a start, all the prints are reproduced to scale, and organized in the Japanese manner (i.e. the first print appears at the back of the book, and the last at the front). Better still, the prefaces, colophons, and title pages are all included, too. In total, you actually get 102 views of the mountain, and many of these consist of two separate prints on facing pages. This book is certainly great value for money because it doesn't stop here. Placed at the back of the volume--so as not to interfere with the flow of the prints--are translations of the Japanese texts and a commentary for each view of the mountain. All of these are extremely illuminating, and manage to outline just enough about Japanese history and culture for the images to make perfect sense. There's also an excellent introduction, which goes into more detail about the rich cultural and religious significance of Fuji, and about the nature of Hokusai's project. Why, for example, were there 102 views, not 100? Here's Henry Smith's appealing theory:
"I think that that the two beyond one hundred were related to his underlying preoccupation with long life: they were like the 'one to grow on' candle that we stick in a birthday cake, a wish that he actually live on past his cherished goal of one hundred."

I have just two major gripes to make about this otherwise excellent version of Hokusai's "One Hundred Views..." The first is that the edges of each facsimiled page seem to have been cropped in such a way that some of the original material (generally Japanese writing) has been lost. More seriously, the original prints were made with black ink and a range of grays, but, here, many of these grays appear to be rather washed out. Sometimes this doesn't much matter, but sometimes it seriously effects the legibility of a print. An example: one of the most famous views of the mountain consists of a spider's web with a leaf caught in it. "Where's Fuji?" we wonder. (Hokusai is constantly making us mutter these words to ourselves.) In a good print, we eventually notice a couple of light gray zones at the top of the image, which represent the sky surrounding the top of Fuji. We're seeing the mountain through the web. But, in this book, these grays have almost entirely disappeared and, as a consequence, so has Fuji.

Nevertheless, you should absolutely buy this book. Rarely has so much inventiveness, wit and visual poetry been crammed into such a small space.

This book is the next best thing to having the original works. English notes are limited to the beginning and end of the book. I was concerned when I read the review mentioning the cut off Japanese text. Yes, they are cut off, but not lost. The originals would appear exactly the same way. That's because the originals were printed on only one side of double spreads which were folded down the middle, right through those columns of text. You only have to flip the page to see the other half of the text. As for the washed out grays, that is a shame, but I am peronally more interested in Hokusai's line work anyway, so it doesn't bother me. He used the best carvers, so we have a good representation of his original brush work. My one complaint is that the cover on my paperback copy was not well glued to the spine, and fell off in a few minutes. But now my pages spread out flat with no resistance, so maybe it's an improvement.

Hokusai is my second favorite Japanese print artist whose art reflects mostly nature. I have two pictures of his hanging on wall. 100 Views of Mt. Fuji is one of his most beautiful works. It depicts the seasonal changes and the things done on Mt. Fuji. If you are intrested in Japanese woodprint and love nature, I'd strongly advice you to get this book. Awesome!