This review originally appeared on Goodreads on September 23, 2012.

Dogs and Demons: Tales from the Dark Side of Japan

By Alex Kerr – Hill and Wang – January 1, 2001

Review by Robin Marx

As someone living long-term in Japan, this was, hands-down, the most depressing book I've read all year. Kerr's argument is that Japan is in the midst of “cultural malaise,” with no real end in sight. The book is an impassioned laundry list of the (mainly structural) problems facing modern Japan.

Kerr raises the following as the foremost issues at the heart of Japan's perceived decline: – pointless pork-barrel construction projects – garish, misguided architectural design that ignores local flavor – an educational system that focuses on mindless obedience and rote memorization – an economy on the brink of collapse, plagued by creative accounting and fraud – infantile pop culture (the cult of kawaii and the prominence of anime and manga) – a monolithic bureaucratic juggernaut unconcerned with public need – skepticism and resistance of internationalism

The list goes on, and it paints a very bleak picture. (I regret reading the bulk of this book on a gloomy, rainy Sunday.)

While the issues Kerr cites are—to some extent—visible to this longtime resident, his argument is far from ironclad. He presents a civilization circling the drain, while frequently using the United States as a counterpoint. However, since this book's publication in 2001, America has undergone a dramatic decline while Japan has more or less muddled through.

Kerr is careful to cite specifics to support his arguments, but he has a tendency to resort to a pretty broad brush when drawing conclusions. The Japanese educational system has some pretty glaring flaws, for example, but my experience with public education in the US certainly didn't leave me with any fond memories of freedom and acceptance of diversity.

The biggest turnoff about this book comes from Kerr citing the Edo period (1603-1868) as some sort of ideal for modern Japan to aspire to. Kerr must not be a student of history. The Edo period brought stability, popular culture, and the initial rise of a middle class, yes, but it's arguable that most of the positive aspects of Edo society developed despite the government, not because of it. It's simply bizarre to me that Kerr can spend much of a book bemoaning self-perpetuating bureaucracy, the rejection of internationalization, social “ossification,” and mindless obedience to authority, only to get misty-eyed about a military dictatorship with an inflexible class system.

In the end I'm forced to conclude that, like many disillusioned foreigners, Kerr yearns for a Japan that never really existed. The problems he cites with Japan's society and government are certainly present (all the things that get me down about this country), but he offers no satisfying solutions, and his platonic ideal for Japan (Edo feudalism!) is only appealing when viewed through rose-tinted welding goggles.

★★☆☆☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #BookReview #Nonfiction #Sociology #History #Japan #DogsAndDemons #AlexKerr

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on September 21, 2012.

Wizzywig: Portrait of a Serial Hacker

By Ed Piskor – Top Shelf Productions – July 4, 2012

Review by Robin Marx

This comic is like a hacker version of Forrest Gump, with fictional character Kevin “Boingthump” Phenicle taking readers on an abbreviated tour of hacker history.

The story starts with the early blue-boxing and phone phreaking days, up through the rise of BBSes and the Internet, finally touching upon Wikileaks and Adrian Lamo. Real historical events are woven into the narrative (from Kevin Mitnick's exploits and the Morris Worm to comparatively obscure topics like the Secret Service's raid on Steve Jackson Games over the GURPS Cyberpunk RPG supplement), and like Forrest Gump, Boingthump often finds himself directly involved or tangentially associated with the events of the time.

While the history lesson is fun, the original parts of the story are compelling as well. While flawed and lacking impulse control, Kevin is an appealing character and his exploits were likewise engaging.

The artwork is excellent throughout. There's an artful ugliness to a lot of Piskor's portrait work that seems influenced by Mad Magazine and underground comix.

Ed Piskor's more recent work has been popping up on BoingBoing, with both sporadic, stand-alone Brain Rot strips and the consistently excellent Hip Hop Family Tree series.

WIZZYWIG is a quick, fun read and recommended to people with an interest in computers.

★★★★☆

#CapsuleReviewArchive #ComicReview #Technology #History #EdPiskor #WizzywigPortraitOfASerialHacker

This review originally appeared on Goodreads on January 15, 2013.

Yoshitoshi's Women: The Woodblock-Print Series Fuzoku Sanjuniso

By John Stevenson – University of Washington Press – 1995

Review by Robin Marx

This handsome volume offers an in-depth look at one of Yoshitoshi Tsukioka's most remarkable series of woodblock prints. The book opens with an excellent summary of Yoshitoshi's life as well as the ukiyo-e creative process, making it appropriate for both newcomers to Japanese art and the already initiated.

Each print in the series is given a full two page spread, with one page devoted t