The Colors of Japan

Rating:
Summary: stunning photographs joined by valuable text
Review: Both at home and abroad, Sadao Hibi is known as one of Japan's foremost photographers, and his color studies of the details of Japanese artifacts, architecture, and gardens have appeared in numerous books. These books are invariably stunning and are usually bought solely for the strength of their visual appeal alone.

Now comes "The Colors of Japan," which not only meets the photographic and design standards of Hibi's previous books but also includes text provided by a distinguished Japanese scholar. That scholar is Kunio Fukuda, a professor of color theory at a Japanese college of art and design, and it is his writing--not previously accessible in English--that makes this book especially valuable. For readers familiar with Japan and its culture, Fukuda's text brings into focus what they have already observed about the Japanese use of color. Even more important, it provides technical information about the dyes and pigments available to the Japanese over the centuries, material not easily found in general-audience art books.

Rating:
Summary: Handsome void
Review: Gorgeous appearance, little content. Chapters organized by single color. I had hoped this book would offer some insight into the Japanese use of combined colors, which is so distinctive. Strictly for the coffee table, not a reference book.