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October 18, 2023
FCCJ Book Break. November 6. 18:00. Alex Kerr, author of "Hidden Japan: An Astonishing World of Thatched Villages, Ancient Shrines and Primeval Forests"
From: FCCJ Library <library@fccj.or.jp>
Date: 2023/10/13
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan (FCCJ) is pleased to announce the upcoming Book Break event on Monday, November 6, 2023
Book Break: "Hidden Japan: An Astonishing World of Thatched Villages, Ancient Shrines and Primeval Forests"
By Alex Kerr
Monday, November 6, 2023 from 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm
(The talk will be in English)
Schedule:
Doors open at 6:00 pm.
Dinner is served from 6:15 pm.
The presentation starts from 7:15 pm.
Admission:
3,000 yen/ 4,000 yen (member/ non-member, including tax, a set dinner with a drink)
550 yen (Online attendance via zoom, including tax)
Menu: TBD with Coffee or Tea with One Drink. (Please check the FCCJ Website for the latest information)
https://www.fccj.or.jp/event/
Please sign up by email (front@fccj.or.jp) and pay by Wednesday, November 1st, 2023.
Venue:
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan
5F Marunouchi Nijubashi Building
3-2-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0005
(https://www.fccj.or.jp/
Hidden Japan is the story of ten little known or less visited places in Japan. It was inspired by one of the author's mentors, writer Shirasu Masako 白洲正子, whose 1971 book Kakurezato (『かくれ里』, "Hidden Hamlets") focused on the rich history of small towns and old temples off the beaten path. For Alex Kerr, this was a chance to revisit and rediscover the Japan he had loved since coming to Yokohama with his family as a boy in the 1960s. The book was written originally in Japanese with the title Nippon Junrei （『ニッポン巡礼』, "Japan Pilgrimage", 2020）.
In 1993, Alex published Lost Japan, a love letter to "beautiful Japan." This was followed a decade later, in 2001, by Dogs and Demons, which described Japan's dysfunctional bureaucracy and the damage done to the natural environment due to ill-considered public works. In Hidden Japan, Alex comes full circle, back to the beautiful Japan which is still there, but seen against the background of modern changes.
Alex Kerr first came to Japan in 1964. After returning to the USA in 1966, he studied Japanese and Chinese Studies at Yale and Oxford Universities. From 1977 he has been based in Kameoka, outside of Kyoto. Since buying an old thatched house "Chiiori" in Iya Valley, Shikoku, in 1973, Alex has gone on to renovate more than 40 old houses around Japan. He consults with local townships and speaks around Japan on issues of landscape protection and sustainable tourism. Alex writes in both English and Japanese, with his other books including Living in Japan (2006), Nippon Keikanron (『ニッポン景観論』 , "Theory of Japanese Landscape", 2014), Another Kyoto (2016), Kanko Bokokuron (『観光亡国論』, "Destroying the Nation with Tourism", 2019), and Finding the Heart Sutra (2020).
In his talk, Alex will read passages from two chapters of Hidden Japan, and speak about Japan's countryside, and the discoveries that can still be made there.
Doors open at 6:00 pm. Dinner is served from 6:15 pm. The presentation starts from 7:15 pm.
Menu: TBD/ Coffee or Tea with One Drink. Book Break charges are 3,000 yen/ 4,000 yen (members/ non-members) per person.
FCCJ members can sign up at the reception desk. Reservations cancelled less than 72 hours in advance will be charged in full.
Non-members can reserve at the reception desk by email (front@fccj.or.jp). Payment is in advance till Wednesday, November 1st, 2023. No refund is available unless the event is cancelled by FCCJ.
Online attendance (via Zoom) is available at 550 yen per person. Please indicate the intention to attend online when signing up. Details on how to join online will be sent to individual emails after their reservations are confirmed.
Attendees with food restriction should inform the reception desk (front@fccj.or.jp) three days before the event.
Thank you.
https://www.fccj.or.jp/event/
Library, Archives & Workroom Committee
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan (FCCJ)
Approved by ssjmod at 04:15 PM