A year in Japan 日本の一年 by Kate T. Williamson
Over the past two months or so I have been reading many, many books - many, by my usual standards. And surprisingly, most of them weren’t photographic pictorial books! So it’s quite unusual, by my usual standards. Aside from maximising my library membership borrowing quota, I have also made an unusually larger amount of book purchases.
I’m choosing to write about this one particular book for a start for this new little blog - A Year in Japan, by Kate T. Williamson.
I came to know about this book from Danny Gregory’s blog, which talks about mostly things related to illustration and creativity (and more). Danny made a hearty recommendation for A Year In Japan, and I was compelled (by the inner consumerist perhaps…) to look for the book. Most happily, the staff at Page One at Kinokuniya helped me to locate a new copy.
On the same day I bought three other books at Borders. A Year In Japan wholly captured my attention when I got home. It’s easy reading, er browsing if you like. I love the drawings and the colours. Some of the drawings are based on photographs Kate took while spending a year in Japan on a post-graduate fellowship. Apparently, for consistency her book editor suggested that her book to be made up of just illustrations, so photos were eventually taken out.
By and large it’s a journal, more than a guide. Kate spent most of her time in Kyoto, a fine balance of the modern and the traditional culture of Japan. She went to Japan to study sock design btw (the subject occupies exactly 4 pages out of 192 pages in the book :)
Yes, I recommend the book!