A View from the Chuo Line and Other Stories

A View from the Chuo Line and Other Stories (2005) is a collection of twenty-seven stories by Donald Richie. Richie was an authority on Japanese film and culture and is well known for his travel book The Inland Sea (1971). He passed away in Tokyo on February 19, 2013 at the age of 88.

These stories, some of which are no longer than a couple of pages, are centered on moments of realization or small shifts in understanding. They focus on everyday Japanese people. A few reflect aspects of Japanese culture that Richie must have found intriguing, while others explore cultural clashes, often through the prejudices of middle-aged Japanese women.

Differences between areas of Tokyo appear as a minor theme as well. In one story, a foreign woman who has just moved to Yanaka may have been watched through an open window, whether intentionally or not. Her neighbor sees her with her Japanese boyfriend and, although we’re told such a reaction would be unlikely in Harajuku, bluntly suggests that she either leave the boy or leave Yanaka.

A few of the stories, or parts of them, are interesting, but I had the sense that Richie put far less effort into these than into his other work. The edition I picked up, from a used bookstore in Asakusa (600 yen, near-new condition, and signed by Richie), contains dozens of typos, including missing words and glaring punctuation errors. These distracted from the reading experience and made it harder to follow the writing and picture what was being described. Aside from that, the stories are okay, especially for readers interested in Japan and in Richie himself.