Tokyo Tango

Formerly a professional jazz musician, Uwe Schmitt became a junior editor at the high-profile German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) in 1985 and from 1990 to 1997 served as East Asia correspondent based in Tokyo. TOKYO TANGO, first published in German in February 1999, provides a mesmerizing account of the author's personal experiences and observations during his sojourn in Japan, a period corresponding to the aftermath of the bubble economy and the annus horribilis of 1995 when Japan was rocked by the Kobe earthquake, the terrorist attack by the cult Aum ShinrikyÅ, and international criticism over the lukewarm parliamentary resolution on the 50th anniversary of the Pacific War. Underpinned by meticulous scholarship and imbued with humor and affection, the book delves into a wide range of political, cultural and social topics, from the question of responsibility in Japanese governance to the plight of "office ladies," the ethos of yakuza gangsters, and the pleasures of hot-spring resorts. Aside from material related to the hundreds of articles submitted to the newspaper, the author provides an intimate description of everyday encounters and predicaments, the challenges faced in marrying a Japanese woman and raising children of mixed descent, and even a touching confession of love for Japanese cinema's "eternal virgin" Hara Setsuko. His interviews with Nobel laureate Åe KenzaburÅ, political scientist and sociologist MushakÅji Kinhide, Nagasaki Mayor Motoshima Hitoshi and other movers and shakers of the 1990s are a testament to a vital interlude in modern Japanese history.