Dogs and demons
Subtitle: tales from the dark side of Japan
By: Alex Kerr
Edition: 1st ed
Publisher: Hill and Wang
Published: 2001
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 432
Subjects: Industries -- Japan; Japan -- History -- 1989-; Japan -- History -- 1945-; Japan -- Economic conditions -- 1945-
Description: "In an ancient tale, a Chinese emperor asks his court painter about the easiest and most difficult subjects to paint. The painter replies, "Dogs are difficult, demons are easy." To Alex Kerr, a longtime resident expert and observer, Japan's "dogs" are the vital activities that sustain an ecologically and culturally responsible economy, while the expedient "demons" are the million-dollar boondoggles that have bulldozed and cemented over so much of Japan today.".

"Dogs and Demons offers tales from the dark side of Japan's well-known modern accomplishments. For Japan's problems go far beyond its dire economic plight, beyond the failures of its banks and pension funds.

And Kerr discusses subjects that are all too often disregarded in the Western press when the focus is on finance and business: Japan's endangered environment (seashores lined with concrete, roads leading to nowhere in the mountains), its "monument frenzy," the decline of its once magnificent cinema, the destruction of cities such as Kyoto and construction of drab new ones, the attendant collapse of its tourism industry."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 387-419) and index