Book & Film Groups
Lost Japan, by Alex Kerr
Participants will read Lost Japan: Last Glimpse of Beautiful Japan, by Alex Kerr, respond to two discussion prompts on Moodle, and participate in a webinar with Kerr on February 11, 7-8pm ET. Participants who successfully complete these requirements will receive a professional development certificate of completion for three contact hours.
The February 11 webinar with Alex Kerr is open to the general public and will be hosted by the UMass Fine Arts Center Asian Arts and Culture program. Information on accessing the webinar will be available soon.
“Originally written in Japanese, this passionate, vividly personal book draws on the author's experiences in Japan over 30 years. Alex Kerr brings to life the ritualized world of Kabuki, retraces his initiation into Tokyo's boardrooms during the heady Bubble Years, and tells the story of the hidden valley that became his home. But the book is not just a love letter. Haunted throughout by nostalgia for the Japan of old, Kerr's book is part paean to that great country and culture, part epitaph in the face of contemporary Japan's environmental and cultural destruction.”
Alex Kerr is an American writer, antiques collector and Japanologist. His other works include Dogs and Demons and Living in Japan. He was the first foreigner to be awarded the Shincho Gakugei Literature Prize for the best work of non-fiction published in Japan.