Japanese Portraits

The private collections of longtime Japan resident Donald Richie capture the personalities of certain Japanese people—some famous, some unknown—with insight and humor. Richie, who considers himself a foreigner despite living in Japan for over 53 years, is a keen observer of human nature. In Japanese Portraits, he provides an elegant and perceptive vision of Japan through precise, intimate portraits of ordinary and extraordinary Japanese people. Portraits include such notable Japanese as acclaimed filmmakers Akira Kurowasa and Yasujiro Ozu, famed novelist Yukio Mishima, and celebrated actor Toshiro Mifune.

The private collections of longtime Japan resident Donald Richie capture the personalities of certain Japanese people--some famous, some unknown--with insight and humor. Richie, who considers himself a foreigner despite living in Japan for over 53 years, is a keen observer of human nature. In Japanese Portraits, he provides an elegant and perceptive vision of Japan through precise, intimate portraits of ordinary and extraordinary Japanese people. Portraits include such notable Japanese as acclaimed filmmakers Akira Kurowasa and Yasujiro Ozu, famed novelist Yukio Mishima, and celebrated actor Toshiro Mifune.

Donald Richie was born in Lima, OH in 1924 and has lived in Japan since 1947. The author of thirty books and dozens of essays, Richie is especially well-known for his travel memoir The Inland Sea which has been adapted into a popular PBS documentary. His best-known collection is The Donald Richie Reader, which contains 50 years of his writings on Japan.