Remembering Donald Richie: Keen chronicler of an ever-changing Japan

TOKYO -- Donald Richie wore many hats: film curator and critic, essayist, composer and cultural commentator extraordinaire. But his numerous talents revolved around a consuming passion: Japan. Hailing from Midwest America, he was also an inveterate traveler. Combing through dozens of old postcards sent to me over the years, I come across one dated 2007: "Just back from a couple of weeks in Burma, a lovely country with a lousy government." Another, written in 2004 as he was recuperating from heart surgery, reads: "Am now much recovered. Will be in Ulan Bator in August." And then, the wonderful understatement a few years later: "Am going to Shanghai next week to write. Have not been there since 1945. Expect a few changes."

Feb. 19 marks the 10th anniversary of Richie's passing. With nearly 70 books to his name -- nearly all about Japan -- he has left us an imperishable body of work. In textured writing of detailed beauty and intellectual verity, he turned to whatever appealed to his omnivorous tastes and needs. From his early books on Japanese film and filmmakers, through his character portraits in "Different People," the essays collected in "A Lateral View" and "Partial Views," and later works like "The Image Factory" and "A Tractate on Japanese Aesthetics," Richie shaped our view of Japan in words of surpassing eloquence. A hallmark of staying power is that his books can be profitably reread.