ian buruma jaanse mirror
William Leith16 August 2012
A Japanese Mirror
by Ian Buruma
(Atlantic, £9.99)
The Japanese keep asking themselves a question. It is: “Why are we so different?” They think they’re different from everybody else, and so do lots of people who are not Japanese, says Ian Buruma. This book tells us how, and why. It’s scholarly but approachable. Buruma gives us a picture of the peaceful Japanese streets: “the disciplined crowds, the piped music, the plastic flowers, the tinkling bells, the pretty colours ...’” But he also tells us that men openly read sado-masochistic porn on subway trains, and pictures of “nude women trussed up in ropes” are uncontroversially printed in national newspapers. Yes, Japan is different — and Buruma’s analysis is fascinating.
