The Emperor and the Wolf
Comments: 5
A few weeks ago on Tower Record’s book floor in Shibuya I saw a paperback copy of “The Emperor and the Wolf” by Stuart Galbraith IV. Subtitled “The Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune,” the book is an 820-odd page examination of the greatest artistic collaboration in the history of cinema. I didn’t buy it. The ¥3,400 price tage dissuaded me (Tower is expensive), but I regretted not buying it and — book budget be damned — was on the verge of going back and picking up a copy.
The rain saved me. I took a load of clothes to a coin laundry this afternoon for machine drying and I passed the time waiting in a nearby second-hand bookstore where, of course, I found a hardcover first edition of the book for less than half the price Tower wanted.
What’s more, it’s a presentation copy, given to a very famous director by the author (who wrote a note of thanks on the flyleaf for the interview the director provided in the course of writing the book). Mr Galbraith, in the unlikely event that you happen to read this, I wouldn’t take offence. It’s a very large book after all and, well, surely you know how space considerations in Tokyo impose a harsh ruthlessness on one’s library.
(It’s not the first time I’ve bought a signed book from that store, either. Years ago I bought a huge book on the graphic art of Yokoo Tadanori and took it home to discover that he’d signed it.)
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Posted to Books • 2003.08.17 (Sun) • 17:34
Comments
Posted by MacDara 2003.08.17, 19:14
I bought a paperback edition of that book well over a year ago, but it's such a doorstopper - it must weight at least a kilo - I still haven't gotten around to reading it yet.
Posted by Gary 2003.08.18, 11:17
Jeremy,
Do you mind telling me where the bookstore is? I'm looking to buy and sell some second-hand books. Thanks,
Gary
Posted by jh 2003.08.18, 15:46
Gary — The bookstore is in Kyodo (on the Odakyu Line). It's just a regular, suburban second-hand bookstore. Nothing special. They do have a reasonable number of English-language books, but they're primarily a Japanese-language store.
Take the South Exit and walk down Nodai-dori a couple of blocks until you come to a liquor store on the right-hand side. Turn right there and you'll see the bookstore right behind the liqour store.
Being a hoarder, I have no experience in exchanging books with them so can't give you any idea of what their rates are like. You may want to try Good Day Books in Ebisu (an excellent English-language bookstore) if you're interested in exchanging old books for unread ones (I think they only give credit for books, not cash).
Posted by eric 2003.08.19, 01:34
And what would your favourite Kurosawa movie be?
I quite liked Yojimbo, Red Beard and High and Low. Ikiru was great as well.
Posted by Jeremiah 2003.08.27, 05:21
Little late on this, but I did a Senior paper project on Kurosawa - The Emperor and the Wolf was one of the books I used for source material, and I found it fascinating. I read through nearly all of it, though at 820 pages or so it was fairly daunting, especially since I didn't get it until about 3 weeks before the paper was due!
Anyway, I recommend reading it.
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