I have an old copy of this book that got so worn out that I had to buy a new one. If you want to be able to make the essential Japanese dishes this is the book. It is just incredibly easy to use. It covers all of the major types of Japanese dishes and sauces.

This book is a great introduction to Japanese cooking. It covers everything from sushi to noodles to soup. If you want to learn about what kind of plates to serve dinner on, look here. There's even information about how to hold your chopsticks. I was so inspired I went out, bought the ingredients, and made dinner out of the book the first night I had it.

This book has numerous color photos, and includes clearly written step-by-step procedures for making many of the dishes you'll find in a Japanese restaurant. The range of recipes span from appetizers, to rice dishes, to miso soup, to sushi and dessert. There are so many photos to guide you through the cooking process, that you are left with few (if any) questions. I've looked at a lot of Japanese cookbooks written in English and this is easily one of the best that I've seen.

American Lesley Downer supplies the text and reverent mood for this book. Japanese Minoru Yoneda demonstrates, in elegant color photos, the classic preparatory and cooking procedures. Not just an authentic Japanese cookbook, but a triumph of publishing. Should be declared a Japanese National Treasure.

This is the only good vegetarian Japanese cookbook I have found. The author is a British woman who lived and worked in Japan for several years, and developed vegetarian recipes with the Japanese women she lived with. She is creative and successful in the way she modifies traditional Japanese recipes to fit into a vegetarian lifestyle. She incorporates personal stories and Japanese history into her recipes, making this book fascinating as well as useful!

I picked up Lesley's Downer's "Madame Sadayakko: The Geisha Who Bewitched the West" with great apprehension. Earlier in the month, I had read another geisha biography which failed to bring the geisha culture alive for me. A close look at the author's name should have erased any doubts in my mind.

Much like her "Women of the Pleasure Quarters", Lesley Downer's lastest effort is well-written and a wonderful read. I kept turning from the text to the photos to gaze at the creature who was so enchanting.

With each change of her name, Madame Sadayakko morphed into another creature who managed to survive the blows and upsets life sent her. Her pre-geisha and geisha life is fascinating but what truly captured my attention was her and the troupe's struggles to stay afloat once Japan was far behind.

Madame Sadayakko by Lesley Downer is a great read for a sultry day or during some quiet time for those who love biographies and things Japanese.

Ms Downer's book is about a young lady who was very much a pioneer in her days in women's liberation in a Japan still ruled by tradition. The book bridges the 100 years between Sadayakko and us, enthralling us with the excitment of her days.

Sadayakko began her life as a geisha, married a young upstart of an actor, Otojiro and thus began an adventure that brought her and her compatriots traipsing over a good part of the Western world. It would be fair to say that her and husband, made a great contribution to the West's fascination with Japan. Two thirds of the book is on Sadayakko's life as an actress, her change in fortune and the whirlwind that surrounds it. However,the real Sadayakko seems to be a misty figure within these chapters. Sadayakko's character is cleverly captured but not her soul.

The real woman starts emerging only in the later part of the book covering the period upon the death of her husband and Sadayakko's life with her first love, Momosuke. In these last pages, tantalising glimpses of the Sadayakko's personality starts showing through, leaving the reader thirsty for more. Perhaps the private Sadayakko will never be uncovered due to the loss of her diaries and papers but the picture that emerges is one of a woman who was remarkable for her achievements in her time and ours. The graceful smile that enchanted many 100 years ago still has the same effect on us today.

Cunningly released a year before the centenary of Madama Butterfly's first performance, this wonderful book is part love story, part adventure and part theatrical memoir. Sada Yakko was the first woman to step onto a Japanese stage in centuries, and also the first Japanese woman to achieve international fame. Painted by Picasso and an inspiration to Puccini, her first lover was the Japanese prime minister, and her husband was a leading light of the New Wave in the Japanese theatre. From early days in penury, when her troupe had to literally sell off some of the younger actors, to the heights of stardom and her finding of true love in later years, this is a wonderful biography from Lesley Downer. It has TV series written all over it.

I'm probably typical in that, after first hearing about geisha, I developed a whole bunch of misconceptions about who these women are, what they do, and how important their contribution is to the long tradition that forms the Japanese culture and society. Thanks to author Lesley Downer, this fine book has given me an understanding and appreciation of a mysterious world within a fascinating country.

"Women of the Pleasure Quarters" begins with a first person account of Ms. Downer's attempts to gain the "inside" perspective to what has been for centuries a virtually secret society. Throughout the book, I found captivating her recounting of meetings and conversations with those connected with the geisha life: proprietors and "clients" of the tea houses, teachers, artists, wig makers, and the maiko and geisha themselves. The diversity of aspects woven into Ms. Downer's journalistic endeavors (mostly from time spent in Kyoto and Tokyo) are impressive, encompassing folklore, poetry, theater, music, fashion, art, and the geisha's mastery of charm and conversation. It's an entertaining read, more so than I expected, and her photos add a nice, diary-like touch to the writing.

Aside from the author's documentation of geisha life, there's also much to be told about Japanese history and legend, and the evolution of the role of geisha and maiko, beginning with the 17th century tea houses and ending with the present times. While I found the history and literature lessons to be mildly interesting, I was much more fascinated with the participation of Ms. Downer in her ventures behind the gates of the "flower and willow" world. To me, the bouncing around between first and third person story telling--present, then past, and again--upset the flow of this book, but only slightly (my only criticism). I wanted to read more about the author's tales.

All things considered, I'd recommend this book to just about anyone. By her curiosity and persistence, Ms. Downer gives us much more than just an acquaintance with the women behind the painted faces.

Those who have blasted this book must have read a different version than I did...I found this book a great complement to "Memoirs of a Geisha". I, in fact, thought "Memoirs" mediocre in comparison to this beautiful, informative book about the history of the Geisha and the mores that exist around the "flower and willow world". If you're interested in Japanese culture, are a book club or individual who are thinking of reading, or have just read "Memoirs of a Geisha", this book is a THE place to start!!

Along side Liza Dalby's "Geisha", this is the best book on the subject that I've read. It is a concise and engrossing introduction, written from a skilled hand. I appreciated in particular the history that Downer integrated into a book which is largely based on her experiences. It provided wonderful background, and I learned much from it. Her accounts are detailed and provide intriguing insight into the social lives of the Japanese.

Women of the Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History of the Geisha is a valuable edition to your geisha collection - don't pass it up!

As a foreign woman who also lived in Japan for some years, I was interested to read Lesley Downer's book. I was disappointed, however, by the seeming lack of sympathy and "connection" with the Japanese people she met along the way and by her apparent inability or unwillingness in key situations to pay respect by "doing as the Romans do." As a J-E translator, I also wondered about the absence of credits for all the haiku and other quoted English text in the book --- it is clear that not all the translations are hers, yet no one else is referenced.
Her accounts of the northwestern mountains did make me want to visit that area, however. In general, however, I felt the book was overshadowed by a negativity about the Japanese and their values and ways. I wonder if she has ever wished she could rewrite the book with a bit more sympathy.
On a practical note, I think parts of the book are rendered unnecessarily difficult to understand and follow for someone with no Japanese language ability. For example, she continually refers to cicadas as "semis," when the English word would suffice and be clearer.
Nevertheless, I think this book would be interesting for anyone who has spent time in Japan and who has some Japanese language ability.

Lesley Downer retraces Matsuo Basho's famed 17th century journey to unknown northern Japan documented in his book "On the Narrow Road to the Deep North." Ms. Downer rediscovers a "lost" Japan. The journey and the writing are well worth the effort.