36 Views of Mount Fuji: 2on Finding Myself in Japan

Empathy infuses Davidson's reactions to the Japanese and lifts this graceful, balanced account of her experiences in their country above the ordinary. Her book's title, taken from the series of woodblock prints by the famed late-18th century artist, Hokusai, reflects her will to see many different and sometimes contradictory aspects of the culture, to avoid stereotypes and to admit a range of emotions. Between 1980 and 1990, she visited Japan four times, twice for year-long assignments as an English professor at Kanzai Women's University. She struggled with the language, made do with standard cramped living quarters, reached out within the acceptable social forms to fellow teachers, students and neighbors. She ate native foods, accepted the invitation of a male colleague to tour the pornographic boites of Osaka's ``Floating World,'' stayed overnight with the priestess of a matriarchal communal religion, and generally learned to feel so much at home that she occasionally thought of herself as Japanese. Through women friends, Davidson ( The Book of Love: Writers and Their Love Letters ) came to understand their power in this society as well as their needs. Her charmingly drawn word-pictures resonate. (Oct.)