Legless In Ginza

Gerster is one of the few literate writers who came to Japan without specialised knowledge, and was able to write an incredibly pithy observation of the country from the perspective of an Australian.There is no rose coloured view of the country, rather a warts and all examination of what he saw and experienced. Gerster is also adept at describing observers and fellow foreigners(quasi observers, as opposed to Japanophiles or other), which anyone who has lived here in Japan would recognise.His comments on travel in Hokkaido, especially commentary on the Ainu, and Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Kyoto, are dripping with reason and honesty, not to mention scathing incisiveness.The book may upset people who otherwise like this country, but there are too few people who can courageously write of Japan as a country, nothing more, nothing less the way Gerster can.My only reservation is that, incisive though his commentary is, his observations suffer from a potentially fatal flaw.Gerster has received all information on Japan through an English filter. He is devoid of any linguistic ability in the Japanese language, and he is also devoid of reading and writing skills in Japanese. This is the only black mark on otherwise razorsharp and brilliant commentary.