The Shogun Inheritance: Japan and the Legacy of the Samurai

Japan has since the Second World War challenged the industrial giants of the West on their own ground with triumphant success. Yet she remains a profoundly traditional — even feudal — society. The paradox is not simply that these two very different attitudes coexist in Modern Japan: it is rather that the one actually grows out of the other. Japan has become a mighty industrial power largely because of her traditional values and disciplines. Michael Macintyre has taken his camera in search of the evidence of Japanese tradition, and has found it in a variety of fascinating, and sometimes unexpected, places. In the heart of this modern industrial society the shrine festivals flourish, with their parades of samurai and courtiers. The age—old martial arts and the cult of the sword live on alongside the gentler pursuits of the tea ceremony and flower arrangement. The theatre of Noh, Kabuki and Bunraku continue their ancient traditions, and the geishas of Kyoto, though they are beco