About this site
As our friends and colleagues never fail to mention: "There is not enough time in the day." That's what we commonly hear when trying to elicit discussion on a work of Japan-based fiction, thought-provoking non-fiction or stranger still: "non-fictional fiction."
The book review seems to be a dying art in the English-speaking world. Book reviewers frequently insult the intelligence of their readers by resorting to book jacket blurbs and mind-numbing hagiolatry rather than engaging the reader in an honest discussion of the substance (or lack thereof). Other reviews simply revert to the third-grade book report format: "I like this book and it was about [x]." Full stop.
What insights can be drawn from a rubber-stamped title? Good question. The answer is "not much", of course. The act alone can just as easily turn the general reader off as if you had not said anything at all.
We therefore believe that books (especially good ones) deserve an honest assessment; with even the most provocative and outrageous thesis having some merit if it elicits genuine dialogue, furthers our insight or better still—forces us to re-examine our basic beliefs. Having the opportunity to write for some major newspapers and journals on the subject gave us the chance to indulge our Japan-related backgrounds and puts this theory to work. From there it was just one small step to the internet and voilà—JapanReview.Net was born.
http://www.japanreview.net/reviews.htm
