By Alex kerr
Living in Japan
Travel literature
With photos by Reto Guntli, and text written jointly by me and Kathy Sokol, this book is a visual guide to Japanese home architecture.
From my homes in Iya Valley, Shikoku, and Kameoka near Kyoto, to restored machiya in Kyoto and old inns and onsen, we cover traditional houses in wood, tile, thatch, and tatami. Contemporary design features with Tadao Ando’s experimental 4×4 House, Shigeru Ban’s conceptual Shutter House, a modern artist’s homage to bamboo in Kamakura, and others.
This wide-ranging collection traverses the multifaceted landscape of Japan today.
Other Books
Lost Japan
Lost Japan is a series of autobiographical essays, experiences I had since coming to Japan as a boy in 1964, and how the country has changed.
Another Kyoto
Based on forty years in Kyoto, these conversations with Kathy Sokol, turn what we think we know about Kyoto inside-out.
Bangkok Found
Companion to Lost Japan, Bangkok Found is a mix of the essential and the quirky, as old culture meets global fusion in the crossroads that is Bangkok.
Dogs & Demons
Dogs and Demons combines a study of the financial, the bureaucracy, and culture, to get at the roots of Japan’s long malaise since the 1990s.