Impoverished Spirit

Very powerful collection of essays by leading Japanese writer, looks candidly, and without pulling any punches, at Japan's terrible treatment of its own minorities (the Ainu), the country's "collective amnesia" over its atrocities in World War II (in which twenty million ages were killed, along with thousands of European civilians) and "the poverty of modern Japanese political and intellectual life."I found this an extremely compelling read - I lived in the Far EAst (Singapore and Hong Kong), and this book helped me understand Japan a little bit better - I read it while I was out there and paying visits to Japan, and I recommend it to anyone planning to visit/live there, or simply visit from the armchair. Amazing read. Honda Katsuichi is a very impressive writer and person - he asks the reader to think about how the same kinds of crimes that Germany has admitted to are still denied in contemporary Japan! (Sadly, according to the introduction, he must travel Japan in disguise to avoid attacks from ultra-conservatives.)