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

10 years after his death, words of US-born cultural commentator still resonate

Donald Richie on set with the cast of the play "Three Kyogen" in 1969. A habitue of bars, pink cabarets, and porno flea pits, he was equally at home among film archives, embassy receptions, or glittering parties for members of Tokyo's high society. (All photos from Donald Richie's collection unless otherwise stated)

STEPHEN MANSFIELD

February 17, 2023 08:00 JST

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."