Other Japan: Voices Beyond the Mainstream
A Canadian broadcaster, author, and host of the TV series The Nature of Things, Suzuki has joined with Oiwa, a Japanese anthropologist and writer to compile these fascinating interviews with diverse Japanese. The first section of the book is devoted to the legacy of the past and features interviews with war survivors. Even more interesting is the second section, which is devoted to the "other" Japanese: the Ainu, the burakumin ("untouchables"), Japanese-Koreans, the Okinawans, and activist women. The final section deals with the back-to-nature movement, organic farming, and environmental issues. The interviews, ably fleshed out with background information, give us insight into a Japan at odds with its stereotypeAone filled with vibrant people struggling to force a country to recognize and exalt in its diversity rather than hide from itself and the world. Recommended for public and academic libraries.AKitty Chen Dean, Nassau Community Coll., Garden City, NY BiographyCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.