Drawing on the author's personal experiences of life in Japan over a period of 30 years, Lost Japan takes the reader on a backstage tour of the country's cultural icons. The book explores different facets of Alex Kerr's cultural involvement: friendships with Kabuki actors, buying and selling art, studying calligraphy, exploring rarely visited temples and shrines. The author's experiences underscore the fact that Japan is heading towards environmental and cultural ruin.About the AuthorAlex Kerr is an American who lives in Japan. He holds degrees in Japanese Studies from Yale University and Chinese Studies from Oxford University, and is a passionate and knowledgeable collector of East Asian art. He writes and lectures in Japanese, and is associated with the Oomoto Foundation, a Shinto organisation devoted to the practice and teaching of traditional Japanese arts.