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Title: Interesting, plus the preface is great
Review: I recommend this book to any Western dilettante who, like myself, is intrigued by anything called "a Japanese tradition" but prefers the comfortably exotic world of the tea ceremony and "Memoirs of a Geisha" to the disorienting and totally unfathomable features of current Japanese pop culture. It's as much a look at the ceremony itself as a portrait of a certain romanticizing interpretation of Japanese culture, written by a scholar who was straddling both worlds and sought to explain one to the other. The introduction is immensely readable, not to mention informative - many amusing turns of phrase in there which I wish I remembered for occasional use (need to reread the thing!). A treat rarely offered at this price, even if you read it only once.
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