A lot of visiting researchers that come to Harvard from Japan are often shocked at the level of gayness that is the norm here. Many return with negative views of the University here because of it.

The purple hues of the covers of English language Tale of Genji books are not just an accident of the publisher.

Part of the problem with going past what Richie has done is that there is now damn little to write about. The Japanese film industry has been on its knees for decades. How can anyone make a name writing about something where there is just so little to write about?

I stand by my statement that Richie remains usurpassed in his area.

I think what happened was that for decades there was only one Donald Richie – a gaijin qualified and connected enough to speak with authority about Japanese culture. Now, there are many. Just take a look at that blogroll to the right…

My problem with most of the post Richie film critics is that they tend to lack any formal journalistic training (the Midnight Eye being among the worst offenders) so most of what they write has little to no asthetic value beyond supplying information and filmographies. Richie at his best could actually write. If only he had bothered to try and stay relevant.

Richie might not be in tune with great films such as “Ichi the Killer” and “Visitor Q”, but his works on period directors such as Kurosawa and Ozu are still considerably good. Richie is an old man, and he excels at stuff that happened in his era. It is understable that he has no understanding of Japan as it is today. It’s okay to rip on his interpretation of today’s society, but to discount his memoirs of the 1940′s to 1980′s isn’t exactly fair.

If I want to read about the “classic” days of Japanese cinema, I’ll read a Richie book. If I want to read about Mike, I’ll probably read a book by the guy who runs midnight eye. Even if Richie writes books about seducing young men, he remains an expert on Japanese cinema of the olden days.

Are you kidding? This is a guy who, by his own admission, has been sitting on the sidelines of Japanese pop culture since the late sixties. *Everyone* has surpassed him simply by not hating manga, Star Wars, and Takashi Miike films on principal alone. Those who doubt the “Richie is irrelevant” argument should be forced to read his 2004 book Image Factory: Fads and Fashions in Japan. Imagine a whole book on modern j-pop written by someone with absolutely no aptitude or affection for it.

The reviewer’s conclusion is also a red herring. Richie has mostly produced works of non fiction about fiction, not “literature”. That end comment is about as relevant for criticizing Carl Sagan published poetry.

I have to admit, I was really surprised. When I was reading Richie’s film books in college, I had no clue that Richie and large portion of gaijin scholars in Japan were engaging in homosexual sex fests.