Japanese Culture, 4th Edition (Updated and Expanded)
"This is a masterpiece of much in little space.  It neatly surveys over 2,000 years of the arts, religion, and cultural peculiarities (e.g., the tea ceremony) of one of the most cultivated of nations.  It leaves virtually no major individual, religious sect, genre and style of visual art, form of literary expression, variety of theater or influence of extra-Japanese origin unconsidered.  It nonetheless admirably retains its focus, ignoring the temptation to relate history that doesn't impinge on cultural developments.  What's more, Varley writes superbly lucid prose and avoids long-winded annotation...A superior one-volume introduction to Japanese culture." --Booklist