36 views of Mount Fuji : on finding myself in Japan
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
36 views of Mount Fuji : on finding myself in Japan
Duke University Press, 2006
[2nd ed.] / with a new afterword by the author
- : cloth
- : pbk
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Note
Original edition published by E.P. Dutton, 1993
"Acknowledgments to the second edition"--P. 243
Description and Table of Contents
Description
In 1980 Cathy N. Davidson traveled to Japan to teach English at a leading all-women's university. It was the first of many journeys and the beginning of a deep and abiding fascination. In this extraordinary book, Davidson depicts a series of intimate moments and small epiphanies that together make up a panoramic view of Japan. With wit, candor, and a lover's keen eye, she tells captivating stories-from that of a Buddhist funeral laden with ritual to an exhilarating evening spent touring the "Floating World," the sensual demimonde in which salaryman meets geisha and the normal rules are suspended. On a remote island inhabited by one of the last matriarchal societies in the world, a disconcertingly down-to-earth priestess leads her to the heart of a sacred grove. And she spends a few unforgettable weeks in a quasi-Victorian residence called the Practice House, where, until recently, Japanese women were taught American customs so that they would make proper wives for husbands who might be stationed abroad. In an afterword new to this edition, Davidson tells of a poignant trip back to Japan in 2005 to visit friends who had remade their lives after the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995, which had devastated the city of Kobe, as well as the small town where Davidson had lived and the university where she taught.36 Views of Mount Fuji not only transforms our image of Japan, it offers a stirring look at the very nature of culture and identity. Often funny, sometimes liltingly sad, it is as intimate and irresistible as a long-awaited letter from a good friend.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations xi
Preface xiii
1. Seeing and Being Seen 1
2. Foreigners 9
3. After School 21
4. From the Best Families 37
5. Typical Japanese Women 49
6. Night Moves 69
7. Sacred Places 83
8. Accident 105
9. Going Home 123
10. Sea of Japan, Oki, 1987 139
11. Tatami Room in Cedar Grove 155
12. Festival of the Dead 169
13. Photo Album: The Fourth Journey 185
14. The Practice House 205
15. House Guest 217
16. Climbing the Mountain 227
Afterword (2005) 233
Acknowledgments to the First Edition 241
Acknowledgments to the Second Edition 243
Glossary of Japanese Words and Expressions 245
A Note on Japanese Names ix
by "Nielsen BookData"
