The Great Wave : Gilded Age Misfits, Japanese Eccentrics, and the Opening of Old Japan

Rating:
Summary: Informative but boring
Review: I had great hope for this book -- what promise! Tying together "gilded age misfits, Japanese eccentrics." The first chapter on John Manjiro and Melville has great narrative power, unfortunately the rest of the book falls into a poor mix of ties between New Englanders and the Japanese. One of my big problems with the book is that the Japanese presence is hardly felt -- instead we have long, winding chapters on Henry Adams, Percival Lowell, Mabel Todd, etc. (interesting people in their own right) but whose ties to Japan don't have the sustaining narrative power as those like Melville or Manjiro.

Mr. Benfey's book is definitely informative. I found his list of sources and quotations to be appetizing -- yet I could barely force myself to finish the book. Its focus is more on what the New Englanders, ok white Americans, came away with from Japan even if it was the boiled down crack of Okukura's "Book of Tea" or Nitobe Inazo's "Bushido." Thank god Okakura existed -- otherwise, Mr. Benfey would have not had any glue to keep his American characters in this book.

Rating:
Summary: Informative but boring
Review: I had great hope for this book -- what promise! Tying together "gilded age misfits, Japanese eccentrics." The first chapter on John Manjiro and Melville has great narrative power, unfortunately the rest of the book falls into a poor mix of ties between New Englanders and the Japanese. One of my big problems with the book is that the Japanese presence is hardly felt -- instead we have long, winding chapters on Henry Adams, Percival Lowell, Mabel Todd, etc. (interesting people in their own right) but whose ties to Japan don't have the sustaining narrative power as those like Melville or Manjiro.

Mr. Benfey's book is definitely informative. I found his list of sources and quotations to be appetizing -- yet I could barely force myself to finish the book. Its focus is more on what the New Englanders, ok white Americans, came away with from Japan even if it was the boiled down crack of Okukura's "Book of Tea" or Nitobe Inazo's "Bushido." Thank god Okakura existed -- otherwise, Mr. Benfey would have not had any glue to keep his American characters in this book.

Rating:
Summary: How friends introduced Japan to America in mid-19th century
Review: OK.....we all know from our schooldays that there was a Boston Tea Party. We also know that in Japan they have a very elaborate tea ceremony. Early on in this very clever, erudite, and complex book, the author mentions these two facts. Is there a reason for him to do so? Well, yes, there is. It is one of the many interesting ways that Mr. Benfey shows the connection between Boston and Japan. Merchant ships from Boston (and the surrounding area) were deeply involved in the oriental tea trade. Also, ships from nearby ports were involved in whaling and frequently travelled to the whaling grounds off of Japan. Also, as the author shows, quite a few Boston Brahmins were interested in the culture of "Old Japan." They were disgusted with what they perceived to be the material crassness and lack of spirituality of America, as well as the jarring modernity of the Industrial Age. They wanted to go to Japan and to study the Japanese way of life before Japan, which had recently been "opened" by Commodore Perry, became "westernized." It was felt that there was much to learn by studying the religions of Japan, such as Buddhism and Taoism, as well as Japanese art and architecture. Mr. Benfey describes a few Japanese that travelled to the West, but most of the book details traffic going in the other direction. The author does an excellent job of describing how people as diverse as Henry Adams, Herman Melville, Frank Lloyd Wright, the artist John La Farge, the writer Lafcadio Hearn and the astronomer Percival Lowell (the man we mainly remember for his, erroneous, theory regarding the presence of "canals" on Mars) were shaped or influenced by their journeys to (or study of) the "mysterious East." Mr. Benfey weaves a magisterial tapestry, as he has purposely chosen people whose lives intersected. Thus, in a chain-reaction, one person who has fallen in love with Japan sparks an interest in another person, and so on down the line. So, for example, Percival Lowell influenced, through his writings on Japan, his poet-sister Amy Lowell. Dr. William Sturgis Bigelow, attempting to get Theodore Roosevelt to adopt a pro-Japanese stance, figured it would be best to appeal to the President's aggressive side. (Roosevelt was well-known for not believing that "the meek shall inherit the earth.) In Bigelow's view the smart thing was to steer clear of oriental art and Buddhism and get the President interested in judo and the warrior ethic of the samurai. If the President could be convinced that the Japanese were manly and not effeminate, he might be more inclined to favor them. Bigelow got Roosevelt hooked on judo by pinning him to the floor in his office. Roosevelt set aside a Judo Room in the White House and studied with an authentic Japanese judo master. The enthusiastic Roosevelt even mentioned at a cabinet meeting "that his 'Japanese wrestler' had throat muscles 'so powerfully developed by training that it is impossible for any ordinary man to strangle him.'" Another interesting section of the book details how Frank Lloyd Wright's ideas on architecture were influenced by the traditional Japanese belief in simple lines and the importance of empty space and lack of clutter. Likewise, we see how Ezra Pound's admiration for the succinctness of Japanese poetry was reflected in his own work. One thing that is very interesting about the book is "the eye of the beholder" aspect: people saw what they wanted to. Some people saw the Japanese as warriors and "masculine" , while others saw only the artistic, "feminine" side of the country. Some thought the Japanese were "mere imitators" while others recognized great creativity. Ironically, while some Westerners longed to see "mystical, unspoiled" Japan, the country was busy trying to catch up to the West- but trying to do so without abandoning its traditions. If the book has one weakness, it is that it is too heavily weighted with examples of Westerners travelling East. It would have been enlightening to have learned about the experiences of some more Japanese who journeyed to America. Still, this is a brilliantly conceived and executed book, which shows how culture is spread and that not only "nature abhors a vacuum"- people do, as well. No matter how creative we are, nobody is able to make something out of nothing. We all need something to build on, and to spark our creativity.

Rating:
Summary: "To open Japan culturally meant to open themselves in turn."
Review: The Meiji emperor's opening of Japan to trade in 1868 led to a relentless wave of Yankee artists, writers, and scientists who gravitated to Japan for the peaceful and beautiful alternatives it offered in the aftermath of America's Civil War. A coarse, business- and trade-centered culture of commercialism was replacing what they saw as America's old values as the country rebuilt, and they sought solace and inspiration in a completely different, aesthetic world. In this story of the remarkable interactions of Japanese and American intellectuals from 1868 - 1913, Benfey shows how the two cultures viewed each other, learned from each other, and influenced each other's future, focusing on the literary, artistic, and aesthetic legacy, rather than on the hard political realities.

Like a wave spreading outward in concentric circles, the intellectuals of New England radiated their enthusiasm for Japan and its traditions. The American travelers knew each other, learned from each other, and influenced each other. Edward Sylvester Morse of Salem, Massachusetts, was one of the first to make a life commitment to Japan, attracting in his wake Isabella Stewart Gardner, William Sturgis Bigelow, Percival Lowell, and artist Ernest Fenollosa. Isabella Stewart Gardner, in turn, introduced T.S. Eliot, Edith Wharton, and Henry and William James to Japanese art and thought, while historian Henry Adams and painter John La Farge attracted William Morris Hunt, architects H. H. Richardson and Frank Lloyd Wright, and others. Kakuzo Okakura, journeying to the U.S., had similar influence.

Benfey brings American and Japanese cultural history to life, creating real people with real emotions, problems, and commitments. His insight into the creative process adds verisimilitude to his portraits, and his ability to describe and evoke moods, whether they be in his recreation of samurai life or his depiction of a tired climber's first glimpse of Mt. Fuji, give a liveliness to the prose usually more characteristic of fiction than non-fiction. His nature imagery is so vibrant that the reader experiences journeys to the countryside alongside the participants.

In an Epilogue, which focuses on the year 1913, Benfey ties up the loose ends and finishes the stories of the characters on whom he has focused. His limited time frame has allowed him to explore America's influence on Japan in great detail, along with the "Japanese phenomenon" in this country, bringing to life the individuals who were responsible for it and illustrating the long-term effects. The book is a thoughtful and lively account of one of the most important cultural exchanges in history, and Benfey makes it both understandable and exciting. Mary Whipple

Rating:
Summary: Swept away
Review: This is an excellent book on what Japan meant for the people who visited in the early days of the Meiji period. The author concentrates on a series of vignettes to explore the significance of Japanese culture in the lives of some of the leading US citizens of the period. It was not all just collections of fans and diets of raw fish. Some of these early travlers used a trip to Japan to acquire ancient artifacts (many of which are in Boston's Museum of Fine Arts), Henry Adams went on quest for nirvana, the artist John La Farge went with him and absorbed new artistic techniques that marked his subsequent work. The cast of characters also includes Isabelle Stewart Gardner and Theodore Roosevelt.
This is a very interesting book, sure to delight the reader who really wants to know what happens when west meets east.

Rating:
Summary: Swept away
Review: This is an excellent book on what Japan meant for the people who visited in the early days of the Meiji period. The author concentrates on a series of vignettes to explore the significance of Japanese culture in the lives of some of the leading US citizens of the period. It was not all just collections of fans and diets of raw fish. Some of these early travlers used a trip to Japan to acquire ancient artifacts (many of which are in Boston's Museum of Fine Arts), Henry Adams went on quest for nirvana, the artist John La Farge went with him and absorbed new artistic techniques that marked his subsequent work. The cast of characters also includes Isabelle Stewart Gardner and Theodore Roosevelt.
This is a very interesting book, sure to delight the reader who really wants to know what happens when west meets east.