Japanese Portraits (Images Across the Ages)

Rating:
Summary: A dozen key biographies from the history of Japan
Review: The "Images Across the Ages" series explores the history and culture of various parts of the world through short biographies of people from different walks of life across history. "Japanese Portraits" by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler begins with "The Prince of Sacred Virtue-Shotoku Taichi," who sponsored the adoption of the high culture of China to "Salesman to the World-Akio Morita," who founded what is now known as the Sony Corporation. There is a nice balance in this collection between great figures such as Yoritomo the first Shogun and Saigo Takemori the last Samurai, and lesser known figures from history, such as Okuni the inventor of "kabuki" and the shrewd businesswoman Mitsui Shuho. I found myself wondering if I could pick a dozen figures from American history and do as well as the Hooblers did in selecting these twelve biographies to represent the history of Japan. These biographies are illustrated by Victoria Bruck, who makes a nice effort to reflect the art style of the period in which the person lived, or, with "`An Old Man Mad With Painting'-Hokusai" in the actual artistic style of the subject. Another important aspects of this volume is that each story contains excerpts from the writings of the subjects themselves. Other volumes in the series provide portraits of African, Chinese, French, Italian, Mexican, Russian, and South American people.

Rating:
Summary: A dozen key biographies from the history of Japan
Review: The "Images Across the Ages" series explores the history and culture of various parts of the world through short biographies of people from different walks of life across history. "Japanese Portraits" by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler begins with "The Prince of Sacred Virtue-Shotoku Taichi," who sponsored the adoption of the high culture of China to "Salesman to the World-Akio Morita," who founded what is now known as the Sony Corporation. There is a nice balance in this collection between great figures such as Yoritomo the first Shogun and Saigo Takemori the last Samurai, and lesser known figures from history, such as Okuni the inventor of "kabuki" and the shrewd businesswoman Mitsui Shuho. I found myself wondering if I could pick a dozen figures from American history and do as well as the Hooblers did in selecting these twelve biographies to represent the history of Japan. These biographies are illustrated by Victoria Bruck, who makes a nice effort to reflect the art style of the period in which the person lived, or, with "'An Old Man Mad With Painting'-Hokusai" in the actual artistic style of the subject. Another important aspects of this volume is that each story contains excerpts from the writings of the subjects themselves. Other volumes in the series provide portraits of African, Chinese, French, Italian, Mexican, Russian, and South American people.