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This book had an unusual origin. The author is an expatriate American and long-time resident of Japan, and this book was written originally in Japanese for a Japanese audience. It was translated subsequently into English, but not by the author, who apparently found it difficult to reformulate his book in English. The theme of the book is the decay of traditional Japan. Kerr is an aesthete, and both devoted and clearly knowledgeable about many aspects of Japanese culture. He is also a man who worked for almost a decade for a large American corporation and became knowledgeable about business. He came to Japan in the early 70s, just as the final remnants of traditional rural Japan were being swept away by development. He explores his theme from a number of angles. Each chapter is devoted to an aspect of traditional Japanese culture that is vanishing or under siege; Kabuki, traditional urban architecture, rural beauty, Zen temples, the city of Kyoto; the traditional rambunctiousness of Osaka. These topics are explored in the form of brief memoirs of Kerr's initial encounters with each aspect of Japanese life and/or travels in Japan. Kerr is a good writer and each chapter is both well constructed and contains interesting information. He does a very good job of conveying the unique features of traditional Japanese culture and the rather bland, pseudo-Western culture that has replaced it. He is not entirely pessimistic either; he clearly views Japanese society as possessing considerable capacity for responding creatively to external challenges and internal decline. What this book lacks is a really good analysis of what causes this phenomenon. He identifies the conformist nature of Japanese society as a major culprit but this is an incomplete answer. Homogenization of culture is a worldwide phenomenon, perhaps more obvious in Japan because of the very distinctive nature of Japanese culture. While the loss of traditional culture is regrettable, to some extent it is an inevitable consequence of marked rises in the standard of living and the erosion of a largely authoritarian, defence based society. These are not phenomena unique to Japan though the speed of the transition is very rapid.

"Lost Japan" is a fascinating book on several levels.

In some respects, "Lost Japan" is the thinking reader's companion follow-on to James Clavell's "Shogun", minus the sex and fighting, which means several hundred pages lighter.. The swashbuckling Blackthorne of the blockbuster novel is replaced by the fastidious, aesthetic author in "Lost Japan". But in both cases the reader has the pleasure of accompanying an outsider as he develops an insider's view of Japan's unique culture. In both cases, the tone is ultimately elegiac as the outsider mourns the passing of a nobler Japan. And in both cases, being an outsider with deep insider insights enables the protagonists to stand head and shoulders above the locals. But let's not push the comparison too far - "Shogun" is cliched while Kerr's book is full of original thoughts and observations, based on lengthy immersion in Japanese culture.

On another level, there's an historical irony. Throughout the 70s and 80s, the myth of Japanese superiority grew to enormous proportions - their products were wonderful, their companies bestrode the world and their management, production methods and social practices were held up as examples for the rest of us, with little regard to the downsides. Kerr gives his view of what this effort actually cost the country and how the deadened aesthetic sensibilities of Japan Inc overwhelmed the finer culture of earlier times. Yet by the time "Lost Japan" was first published in 1993 (Kerr wrote it in Japanese), the mighty post-war Japan of concrete and ugliness was also on the wane.

On yet another level, this book is an engrossing study of one man - the author. His cultural sensibilities are honed to a samurai sword edge far sharper than the average salariman could aspire to. He gives us some very selective insights into his cultural passions such kabuki and household decoration. His idea of a fun evening is to get a few drinks in ,do calligraphy and watch the fireflies. The overall impression is of a hugely refined and cultured individual unburdened by mundane considerations. In the absence of any reference to significant others in his life (unlike Blackthorne in "Shogun"), he often comes across as being deeply self-indulgent. His insights are precious in every sense of the word.

"Lost Japan" is often compared with "The Road to Sato", which I subsequently bought. I haven't yet finished it after two years, whereas I polished off "Lost Japan" in just a few sittings. Strongly recommended.

I really enjoyed Kerr's book for its insights into little understood aspects of Japanese traditional and contemporary culture. The book moves across a wide range of topics with Kerr's life as its unifying element. Like most travelogues, the reader learns as much about the author as about the country. Kerr's advantage is that he is able to write about experiences over three decades rather than just a short trip of a few weeks. Japan has changed greatly during those decades. But they are subtle changes that even residents of the country may not perceive. Perhaps that explains the popularity of the original Japanese version of the book. Kerr has helped the Japanese better understand the changes taking place around them.

I'll have to differ with 'Yellow Dog's' evaluation of Kerr's
recent book, 'Dogs and Demons'. Kerr has seen Japan's
Construction Ministry (a group of bureaucrats who control
vast resources and government revenues with little account-
ablity to anyone outside their fiefdom!) at work. You have to know
that bureaucrats in Japan are not very accountable to
politicians or anyone else. MacArthur failed to purge these
powerful mandarins at the end of WWII and they've gone their
merry way ever since. Think of Roosevelt's New Deal and the
WPA, for example, and then magnify this fifty times and you
have an idea of how powerful the Construction Ministry is today.
Did Kerr mention that most major construction projects in Japan
still have to pay an extortion fee to the local Yakuza gang
to insure that the project goes smoothly? I digress.
Much of Japan's architectural beauty is being destroyed, along
with much of its natural beauty - the Ministry loves concrete.
And the new glass and steel buildings look like they were
designed by someone who never got beyond the 'Logo' blocks
school of architectual design. Even thousands of Japanese
lament the massive destruction of so many culturally significant
buildings all over Japan. I think Chairman Mao would understand,
he attempted somewhat the same sort of things during the
destructive days of the so called 'Cultural Revolution'. In
Japan it is done far more quietly and far more effectively
with hardly a whimper from the public. Many Japanese who care
about landmark buildings and have a nostalgic sense of the past
agree with Kerr's thesis and have thanked him profusely for
saying what they dare not. Still, the Ministry doesn't have to
heed Kerr or public opinion in Japan and the public will
continue to pay through the nose for all those white elephants
and boondoggle projects!! Japan has written a new chapter in
'Pork Barrel' politics that would put most American politicians
to shame. I have lived in Japan for nearly twenty years and
can better appreciate the truth of what Kerr has to say. Yellow
Dog lives in New York and certainly has not seen the destructive
force of modern 'progress' that we are witness to today in Japan.
Sadly, most Japanese remain ignorant of these matters and
cannot challenge the construction ministry very forcefully.
Japan has been ruled by one political party for over fifty years.
They face little opposition.
I can't wait for Kerr's next book. He, at least, may prove to
be a sharp thorn in the very tough hide of the Construction Ministry.

This deeply pessimistic book about contemporary Japan is often repetitive, but I still recommend it for any person who is interested in the subject. Japan has been very good to Mr. Kerr, both personally and professionally. Therefore, Mr. Kerr's case for Japan's current malaise cannot be dismissed as the opinion of an embittered expatriate. This is how negative books about Japan written by foreigners are typically viewed. Nor can one say that Mr. Kerr does not know Japan well enough to write about it; he lived there for 35 years from the time he was a little boy, and I presume he is fluent in Japanese. This book is something to be taken seriously.

I think a good measure of a book's quality is how quickly or eagerly one reads it. Well, I basically put aside all other business and read "Dogs and Demons" in a few days. I didn't want to put it down.

I had read Alex Kerr's first book, 'Lost Japan,' shortly after arriving in Japan 6 years ago. At that time, I was impressed with his writing and observations. Well, 6 years later, I'm still here, and his writing is as on the mark as it ever was. Having listened first-hand to the empty promises, year after year, of a succession of impotent governments, seeing the wasteful gov't spending and ineptness of the system, I can only sadly agree with what Kerr says in this very lucid, intelligent book.

Another reviewer called it 'shrill,' but I also noted that reader had come here on a two week holiday. Hardly a position from which to develop any sort of balanced perspective, much less write such a criticism. Read Kerr's first book, and it lacks the harsh tone. This second book is intended to sound the alarm (it will be published in Japanese in May), and seems to really be intended as a wake up call. There are dozens of books out there that lack any kind of criticism AT ALL of what is going on in this country, but the majority of those of us who live and work here will likely welcome this book, surely in the hope that the Japanese public and some enlightened individuals or groups in the government (if there are any) will have the guts to tough it out and turn this baby around before it hits the rocks.

I would have to say that this book has far more 'objectivity', being written by a 35 year resident of Japan who most definitely loves the country and its people, than a review written by a 2 week tourist.
Buy this book and see the real thing, the Japan nobody ever talks about.