The Bells of Old Tokyo

A gorgeous read a book of thought meditation a book of Old Tokyo of bell ringers of history .A book of the present a book of a special coffee house ,poetry in the way the coffee is poured in a daily ritual.A book to be savored so literary a book to be savored read slowly,#netgalley#macmillanpicador

“The Bells of Old Tokyo” is mesmerizing. Anna Sherman writes in a melodic way that mirrors what she finds in Japan, a blend of philosophy, beauty, dark and light. This is a travelogue that reads more like a philosophical novel and the author moves between the role of archaeologist and anthropologist to that of the storyteller. The girth of the book boasts of the author’s intense desire to bring together lyrical notes and poems, academic research, and raw observation. I appreciated her sensitivity to a city with such a rich history, where stories and lives intertwine with the past. The Bells of Old Tokyo will whisk you away on a journey that shuttles through the past and present with the author as your guide through time.

As a fairly new expat living in the land of the rising sun, it’s always interesting to hear the perspectives of seasoned expats who have called this place home for several years.

Anna Sherman moved to Asia in 2001 and The Bells of Old Tokyo: Meditations of Time and a City is her first book. In this part-memoir/ part travelogue, Sherman retraces the steps taken by composer Yoshimura Hiroshi in his book, Edo’s Bells of Time, listening for the chime of the old city’s bells in the silent spaces of her loud, 21st century metropolis. Her prose is both lyrical and clipped, as she meditates on seasonal time-keeping in old Edo and contrasts it with digital time-keeping in modern-day Tokyo.

She shows how the traditional Japanese conception of time as non-linear is constantly at odds with Japan’s adoption of progressive, mechanical Western time, a push and pull struggle that mirrors Japan’s juggling between its slick, contemporary image as a postmodern mecca and its ancient Eastern roots. This conflict is also evident in Tokyo’s constant reinvention of itself, forever destroying and rebuilding its spaces so that nothing ever remains permanent, even the author’s beloved coffee shop in the bowels of the enigmatic capital city.

Overall, The Bells of Old Tokyo is a fresh take on a much-admired and much-misunderstood city and highly recommended for anyone who wants to probe into what really makes the Japanese capital tick.

A fascinating, melodic and winding tale of time and the differences between East and West. soft and mesmerising, Sherman weaves philosophy and anthropology into a fine weave of a book.