Spring Travel to Japan

Cherry blossoms have fallen to the ground like confetti, and the orchards are now turning full and green with leaves, but our hearts are still full of the annual festival feeling the flowering orchards bring to the Leelanau countryside. In Japan, of course, cherry blossoms are the occasion for many festivals and pilgrimages, so it’s natural my thoughts should take an eastern turn in springtime, especially when I also have these beautiful books to feature. Please forgive the lamplight's glare. 

How to Wrap 5 More Eggs: Traditional Japanese Packaging, by Hideyuki Oka, is a sequel to his How to Wrap Five Eggs, a surprising and delightful journey in words and images. Whether or not you’ll be using any of the traditional Japanese methods for wrapping eggs, you’ll be charmed by this book, with its lesson that “our inner, spiritual satisfaction cannot be found merely in material abundance.”

How to Wrap 5 More Eggs: Traditional Japanese Packaging, by Hideyuki Oka

With photographs by Michikazu Sakai

NY & Tokyo: Weatherhill, 1975; 4^th printing, 1978

(now out of print)

Hardcover with protected dust jacket, VG/VG

$80

*  *  *

Autumn Grasses and Water: Motifs in Japanese Art, from the Suntory Museum of Art (founded in 1961) is a journey into traditional Japanese aesthetics, featuring objects from teapots to clothing, as well as paintings. Four important essays (by Shuji Takashina, Masakazu Yamazaki, Shigenobu Kimura, and Toyomune Minamoto) introduce the subject, and full-color illustrations include breathtaking detail.

Autumn Grasses and Water: Motifs in Japanese Art

NY: Japan Society, 1983

Paper with dust jacket, VG/G+

$25

*  *  *

Katsura: A Princely Retreat I have described elsewhere on my blog “Books in Northport.” My photographs there are better than the ones here, so follow this link for a fuller introduction to this gem.

Katsura: A Princely Retreat

Text by Akira Naito

Photographs by Takeshi Nishikawa

Tokyo, NY & San Francisco: Kodansha International, 1977, 1^st ed.

Hardcover/dust jacket/ slipcase, VG/VG

$80

*  *  *

And finally, here is a lovely budget item that can be put to practical home use. A Japanese Touch for Your Garden describes various traditional Japanese garden elements, illustrates them with lovely color photographs, and includes invaluable lists of garden plans and plant names.

A Japanese Touch for Your Garden

by Kiyoshi Seike, Masanobu Kudo, and David H. Engel

with photographs by Haruzo Ohashi

Tokyo, NY & San Francisco: Kodansha International, 1980; 10^th printing, 1987

Hardcover with dust jacket (lightly sunned), VG/VG-

$8

Noteworthy Survivals

As well as new books, Dog Ears Books stocks many volumes that have stood the test of time. That, after all, is what books do. Given proper treatment, a physical library is near-forever. Here, then, are some recent additions to our eclectic collection of old and rare titles:

(HISTORY; CIVIL WAR; MEMOIR)

MY STORY OF THE WAR: A WOMAN'S NARRATIVE OF FOUR YEARS PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AS NURSE IN THE UNION ARMY, AND IN RELIEF WORK AT HOME, IN HOSPITALS, CAMPS, AND AT THE FRONT, DURING THE WAR OF THE REBELLION, WITH ANECDOTES, PATHETIC INCIDENTS, AND THRILLING REMINISCENCES PORTRAYING THE LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF HOSPITAL LIFE AND THE SANITARY SERVICE OF THE WAR, by Mary A. Livermore. Superbly illustrated. Hartford, CT: A. D. Worthington & Company, 1889. Full leather. Light wear, as is to be expected. Very good condition. $80

(OUTDOOR; CAMPING; SURVIVAL)

HOW TO GET OUT OF THE RAT RACE AND LIVE ON $10 A MONTH, by George Leonard Herter & Berthe E. Herter. Revised 7th edition, 1975. Hardcover, silver covered boards, front board illustrated. Many illustrations within. 656pp. Excellent copy. $80

(Hint: Porcupines make good eating.)

(LITERATURE; FICTION)

DOCTOR DOGBODY'S LEG, by James Norman Hall. Boston: Little, Brown, 1940, 2nd printing. This is a very rare edition of an uncommon title by the co-author of the famous MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY. There is mild bumping to spine ends and one small nick to top of front board, with some code numbers ffep; otherwise, a very clean, tight copy. $400

PORGY, by Du Bose Heyward. Grosset & Dunlap reprint by arrangement with George H. Doran Co., in same year as original printing: 1925. Illustrated with woodcuts by Theodore Nadejen. This is the novel that became the stage play that became the musical.  Black cloth/no dj. Near VG. $50

(ARCHITECTURE; TECHNICAL)

WOODWARD'S COUNTRY HOMES, by Geo. E. Woodward, architect and civil engineer. NY: Geo. E. Woodward, 1865. Dark green cloth, gilt title on spine. 188pp, generously illustrated with floor plans, details, and views of finished homes. Light wear. Nice copy. $45