A short treaty on aesthetics, first published in 1933, bemoaning the Westernisation of the then modern day Japan. Taking in architecture, toilets, jade, food, lacquer bowls, the beauty of the complexion of Japanese women, and the warm use of shadows in old buildings Tanizaki wanders amongst the beauty of the past. He welcomes the darkness of old style Japanese houses lit only by the duskiness of candlelight casting layers of shadow amongst the rooms. A book of minutely observed beauty.
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The review of this Book prepared by John Marcel
