Crocodile's violin practice annoys his neighbor, Elephant, so much that he takes up the trumpet in self-defense.

Following World War I, a generation of young architects in Japan took part in a movement toward "international architecture," or kokusai kenchiku, designing houses for people who blended Japanese and Western customs in their daily lives, and public buildings--from schools and hospitals to weather stations and golf clubhouses--that encompassed modern forms and new materials, especially earthquake-resistant reinforced concrete, yet systhesized the new with the old.--Ken Tadashi Oshima is assistant professor of architecture at the University of Washington.

One of Japan's leading architects examines notions of Japan-ness as exemplified by key events in Japanese architectural history from the seventh to the twentieth century; essays on buildings and their cultural context. Japanese architect Arata Isozaki sees buildings not as dead objects but as events that encompass the social and historical context—not to be defined forever by their "everlasting materiality" but as texts to be interpreted and reread continually. In Japan-ness in Architecture, he identifies what is essentially Japanese in architecture from the seventh to the twentieth century. In the opening essay, Isozaki analyzes the struggles of modern Japanese architects, including himself, to create something uniquely Japanese out of modernity. He then circles back in history to find what he calls Japan-ness in the seventh-century Ise shrine, reconstruction of the twelfth-century Todai-ji Temple, and the seventeenth-century Katsura Imperial Villa. He finds the periodic ritual relocation of Ise's precincts a counter to the West's concept of architectural permanence, and the repetition of the ritual an alternative to modernity's anxious quest for origins. He traces the "constructive power" of the Todai-ji Temple to the vision of the director of its reconstruction, the monk Chogen, whose imaginative power he sees as corresponding to the revolutionary turmoil of the times. The Katsura Imperial Villa, with its chimerical spaces, achieved its own Japan-ness as it reinvented the traditional shoin style. And yet, writes Isozaki, what others consider to be the Japanese aesthetic is often the opposite of that essential Japan-ness born in moments of historic self-definition; the purified stylization—what Isozaki calls "Japanesquization"—lacks the energy of cultural transformation and reflects an island retrenchment in response to the pressure of other cultures. Combining historical survey, critical analysis, theoretical reflection, and autobiographical account, these essays, written over a period of twenty years, demonstrate Isozaki's standing as one of the world's leading architects and preeminent architectural thinkers.

This expert guide to Japanese architecture is of enormous historical importance to the understanding of Japanese design and culture. Pioneering Japanologist A. L. Sadler's invaluable study of Japanese architecture first appeared in 1941. Considered a classic in its field, unequaled in clarity and insight, Japanese Architecture A Short History is a lucid and uncomplicated introduction to this important aspect of Japanese culture. Beginning with the earliest evidence from prehistory and ending with the Edo period, when Japan attained stature as a modern state, Japanese Architecture is as relevant today as it was in 1941. The book includes an overview of Japanese domestic architecture as it evolved through successive periods of history and perfected the forms so widely admired in the West. Of particular importance in this respect are the four concluding chapters, in which the distinctive features of the Japanese house are presented in clear detail. The architecture book also contains excellent illustrations, which show details of planning and construction.

Architects throughout the world hold Japan's best architecture in high regard, considering the country's buildings among the world's most carefully crafted and innovative. While many books, magazines, and exhibitions have focused on the results of architectural practice in Japan, this book is the first to explain the reasons for Japan's remarkable structures. Architecture does not occur in isolation; Japan's architects are able to collaborate with a wide variety of people from professional consultants to constructors. Dana Buntrock discusses architecture as a part of the construction community, moving from historical precedents that predate the emergence of the architectural profession in Japan through to contemporary practices.

Enter the world of the stylish Japanese house, where every object in sight is a work of art. Japan Style introduces 20 special residences. With more than 200 color photographs, this book showcases Japanese design in the stunning beauty of old homes and reveals how they are cared for by their owners. Traditional Japanese homes, with superbly crafted fine wood, great workmanship and seasonal interior arrangements, have an aesthetic of infinite simplicity. Unlike Japanese inns and historical buildings, the Japanese architecture featured in this book is on private property not open to public viewing. Japan Style offers a rare glimpse into the intimate world of everyday Japanese culture and fascinating insight into the traditional architecture of Japan.

Tokyo is one of the largest and most complex cities in the world and represents an intriguing proving ground for new ideas on architecture and urbanism. Working in Tokyo means working in the future, and often two sets of rules seem to apply to projects in Tokyo-on the one hand the city's growth is as protean as that of LA or Mexico City, yet this growth is channeled by Japan's rigid adherence to norms and rules and Japanese architecture's embrace of the theoretical and new. This book presents Tokyo as seen through its growth and design from the 19th century onward with a special focus on highlighting the deep roots of contemporary trends in Tokyo architecture.