Another Kyoto

Alex Kerr a well-known Japanologist has just come out with another compelling book on Japanese aesthetics, Another Kyoto (2016). Kerr has previously written about Japanese arts in his seminal book Lost Japan and most recently he analyzed the arts of his new home Thailand in Bangkok Found. One of the strengths of the book is that Kerr writes authoritatively about South East Asian, Chinese, and Japanese culture seamlessly drawing comparisons between the three based on his experiences and expansive [...]

I'm a bit torn on how to explain this book.In some senses if you think of it as "next step Kyoto", you'll start in the right frame of mind.This is not step one. (If you want a simpler read, pick up Lost Japan, which works well as an intro to the artistic beauties of the country as well as the author's world).I am not a Kyoto expert, though have spent weeks there in total, and though I can say I knew 1/2 the references, I had to google many others as I read in order to fully paint a picture in my [...]

This is the third of Kerr's books I've read. The first, I found vital, the second not so much. So this sits neatly in the middle, for me. Where it departs from the first two books, though, is in its level of personality: in Another Kyoto I think the reader receives much more of a sense of the author as a person. Why? Because this book focuses on parts of a city - Kyoto, as you've guessed from the title - and scrutinises them with exquisite focus. This is a at once travel book and a little treati [...]

I'm not sure how to explain what makes "Another Kyoto" so marvelous. The best would be to say that it's like wandering a city with an amazing guide. As a teenager, I once went to England with my dad, an art history professor, who didn't just know the facts about each place we went, but also loved them. This same feeling of deep knowledge all cradled in love of a place and its culture is exactly what shines through Alex Kerr's wonderful book. I'd recommend this as a MUST for anyone planning to vi [...]

When this first popped up in my recommendations, I immediately went out and bought it. Kyōto is my favorite major city in Japan next to Hiroshima, and I've been there half-a-dozen times. They were all with different people, though, so every time we went we'd make a circuit of the major attractions like Kinkakuji, Ginkakuji, Nijō Castle, Sanjūsangen-dō, Yasaka-Jinja, Gion, Kiyomizu-dera, Hanamikoji Street and so on. Some of them are fantastic (Sanjūsangen-dō, Ginkakuji) and some of them ar [...]

Kerr is a detail oriented fellow with an immense depth of knowledge on (and perhaps more important, love for) Kyoto, and these essays read like a chat with him about some of his pet topics. They lean heavily towards architecture and design elements, but also how these tie into religious and historical periods in Japan. Maybe the biggest strength of the book is the way it teaches you to pay attention to details you would have otherwise missed.I lagged in different parts that were less interesting [...]

Absolutely superb, exceeded my already-high expectations from Kerr’s “Lost Japan” from the mid-90s. After reading the boring English-language Kyoto guides and ad-infected blog posts (“top ten poops in Kyoto”), this was a gale of fresh air, and completely revamped my Kyoto itinerary.The paintings, of shrines and temples and paintings and fusuma, are ravishing.

What a treat this book is for those with an interest in Kyoto. For too long I've admired much of Kyoto, but found a lot of it impenetrable - much of that due to lack of translations. This book does a lot to pull back the curtain of mystery.A great book to re-read before another trip to Japan.