http://pixxiefishbooks.blogspot.com/2...

OK, I admit it up front: this is a cookbook. But it's quite lovely. In-between the many and varied traditional Japanese recipes are pages of information on Japanese culture, history, religion, geography, etc. I must admit to being a bit of a Japan-o-phile, and there is certainly much in here to keep me going for a while. It's been too hot to do any adventurous cooking this summer, but I plan on testing many exotic recipes from my many cookbooks as soon as the weather cools down, including a number from here (for example, rice soup, simmered pumpkin, and asparagus with egg yolk sauce - and sushi, of course). The recipes are by Jane Lawson and Charlotte Anderson has provided the complementary texts. Also (and this is very important in a cookbook, and all too often overlooked), it has beautiful accompanying photographs (both of the food and of Japan). ( )