Mary Elizabeth Berry

This fascinating volume examines Kyoto's culture during the period surrounding the Onin War. Berry is a powerful writer with a true talent for making arcane, highly specialized topics gripping and engaging reading. The volume's highlights include discussions of how Kyoto's elites and tradespeople (re)negotiated social standing through official protest, through the formation of neighborhood associations, and through "leisure" activities such as public dance and tea gatherings. In fact, Berry's discussions of these and other areas are so compelling I found myself wanting her to delve into them in even further detail, as well as wishing she had explored elements raised only tangentially in the text (Sen no Rikyu's manipulation of the chado market is one obvious example) more fully. Any reader with an interest in medieval Japan or the city of Kyoto should make an effort to seek out this book.… (meer)