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Summary: Very insightful view of modern Japan; easily best of genre
Review: Finally, a refreshingly balanced account of modern Japan free of tiresome cliches and prejudices. This is a truly enjoyable and entertaining book, not readily categorized, filled with perceptive and sympathetic insights into cross-cultural differences in general and Japanese/Western viewpoints in particular. Part travelogue and part autobiography, I recommend this book without qualification to anyone remotely interested in understanding modern Japan. You may be surprised to find yourself reflecting as much on your own cultural biases as on those of the Japanese
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Summary: A Sugar-coated Japan
Review: I am currently living in a small seaside city off the coast of the Japan Sea and have been living in Japan for approximately the same amount of time that Davidson lived here. I read Davidson's book when I first arrived here, when I was just as enamored with Japan as she was. Everything here was new, exciting and exotic. But now, a number of months later, I can't relate to this optimistic, sugar-coated view of Japan. This book is perfect for the tourist of Japan. But for anyone wishing to stay longer than three months here, this book presents a wholly unrealistic view of life abroad. Life in Japan is just that: life. Some days I want to stay here forever; other days I would leave in an instant, if I could. I would like to relate to the Davidson in the book who, despite her inability to learn the language and her rather short stay here, was able to create bonding relationships and form a complete, expert-like opinion of Japan. Yet I found this view of Japan (and all of the 36 other views) totally unrealistic and helplessly romantic.
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Summary: An Effortless Read
Review: I fell in love with this book the moment I touched it. I've never read a book that has stirred such strong emotions and ethical questions simultaneously.I am now living in Japan with my husband, on a military base. And this book has been valuable to me. Admitedly, the Japanese culture has advanced quite a bit, so it is now even more westernized than it is described in Davidson's book, which was published in 1993. However, most of what Davidson said is still very true. I feel I understand the Japanese culture better now.
YOU MUST GET THIS BOOK!!!
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Summary: Beautiful
Review: I had searched a long time for something readable--insightful but not academically dry-- about modern Japanese culture and found it with this memoir. The writing and storytelling are beautiful, honest, poignant, and funny. The author really takes you with her--from her fascination and even obsession with the Japanese culture to her ambivalence of ever feeling if she'll fit in. You feel like you are travelling with her, experiencing all the funny, touching, wacky things that she sees, as well as all the emotional shifts, decisions, etc. of someone trying to balance her cultural interests, academic career, and family. Any other author could be awkward about this, but she really does it naturally and subtledly, so it feels as though you are part of both her external and internal journey. I don't know if I've ever read another book that has touched me like this one. I've tried looking for more books to learn about the Japanese culture and about personal experiences in Japan, but I doubt if I will find any more beautifully and sentimentally done.
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Summary: Sensitive personal journal of exploring another culture
Review: I have been enjoying this book immensely. Yes, it reads easily. It does not attempt to be definitive, or be all things to all people. It is one woman's experience living and working in Japan on and off several times over a period of years. Cathy Davidson educates us by anecdote. Because of her talent for description and putting us in the scene, we share her embarrassments, struggles, heartaches, and successes, as she builds friendships and learns the give-and-take of Japanese language and interpersonal interaction. I learned a great deal about Japan from reading this book. I believe it must be a very accurate picture of Japan. I cannot imagine why anyone would be displeased with a purchase of 36 Views of Mount Fuji.
Rating: 
Summary: Must read for any Gaijin
Review: I have shared many of the sensations she describes in this book: the way the most mundane conversations can seem like a great accomplishment, because they have been conducted in Japanese, for example. The impulse to speak Japanese whenever you try to speak any foreign language. The feeling that you are "becoming Japanese." Ms. Davidson does not sugar-coat life in Japan whatsoever, and in fact a major theme of the book is explaining why she doesn't live there. I would give it 5 stars except that for a short book, it is a little hard to get through. Some of the observations on life, death, marriage, and photography seem a little sophomoric or naive. But highly recommended nonetheless; it would be a great book to pack on an extended vacation in Japan.
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Summary: Captures the essence of what it's like to be a gaijin
Review: I read this book before I went to Japan and was fascinated by all the nuances--yet unfamiliar--of living as a foreigner in Japan. I looked forward to some of these experiences, but I also wondered how what Davidson wrote would be reflected in my own Japanese life to come. I re-read the book while I was there and was amazed as I saw mirror images of my own students and my own experiences in her words. I have read it again since my return to the US to remind me how much I miss Japan and how badly I want to return.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Reading
Review: I think I also 'found myself' after reading this book. I recently visited Japan and could relate to her feelings about Japan and its' culture. I, like Cathy yerned to return and people found that I also had changed.
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Summary: Give me more!
Review: I was given this book as a birthday present by a friend of mine who knows of my passion for Japan. It is the best description I have come across of my feelings of connection and ambivalence with that culture. I really love this book. It has helped me to explore my relationship to Japan. Ms. Davidson discusses the contradictions she encountered there, and her efforts to come to terms with them. She also relates how her efforts to embrace Japanese culture and the things she connects with have caused her to create for herself an environment more Japanese than Japan, itself. I relate to this book so much and salute you, Ms. Davidson, as a kindred spirit. Thank you for writing so candidly, and from the heart, about your experiences. Please write more!
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Summary: Review of "36 Views of Mount Fuji" by Cathy Davidson
Review: I was looking for the collection of colored etchngs by Hokusai. Found Cathy's by fortunate mistake. Once I glanced into it, I was trapped into finishing it, and had no problem convincing my wife to do the same. We both thoroughly enjoyed it, and would have read on if it were twice as long.
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