Leila Philip

Travel The Road Through Miyama with Leila Philip and forget for the moment about bullet trains, electronics, and all the rest that has come to define Japan in Western eyes. Here is a book about the "other" Japan that lies off the track beaten by most tourists and travel writers.

Miyama is a centuries-old pottery village of Korean heritage at the tip of Southern Kyushu, where Philip spent two years as apprentice to a master potter. She also waded through rice paddies, took part in religious rituals, and kept her eyes and ears trained to the craftsmen and other villagers around her. In the process, she came to understand not only her craft but also the nuances of character and culture she so richly depicts in this absorbing, resonant account.

"Leila Philip has written one of the rare books about living in Japan that is neither uncritically admiring nor soured by minor frustrations. Instead, she describes with grace and humor two years spent in a remote village as an apprentice to a potter, gradually mastering the art and at the same time learning to live in totally unfamiliar surroundings. We certainly get to know the Japanese of her village and it is to be hoped that they got to know this extraordinary young writer as well as we do in her book."

-- Donald Keene

"... a lovely, lyrical memoir of two years spent as an apprentice to a Japanese potter. Philip writes knowledgeable adn sensitively of Japanese history and culture. The little-known story of Miyama's Korean potters is particularly fascinating; her own account of her struggles with pottery and Japanese culture touching and humorous.... Philip has an enviable maturity and delicacy in her writing that takes this beyond a book for potters and artists and Japanophiles."

-- The Albany Times Union

"A splendid book, to be read in leisure and savored for its insights."

-- Denver Post

"The Road Through Miyama is Philip's absorbing account of trying on a different way of life for two years...."

-- Glamour Magazine

"I found Leila Philip's book The Road Through Miyama an entirely authentic and fascinating glimpse into one of the more unusual crannies of Japanese society. It is as perceptive and evocative as a Japanese haiku and a delight to read."

-- Edwin O. Reischauer

"Ms. Philip's report of her experiences covers intriguing encounters with Japanese culture -- events were sometimes totally surprising and sometimes very much like home. She enjoyed Miyama and its people and so will readers of this quietly absorbing memoir."

-- The Atlantic Monthly

"In this enchanting book, Philip recounts her trip with sensitivity and clarity. The reader will learn much about potting, but also about Japanese history, social mores, rural life, modern youth, religion and much else."

-- The Library Journal

"Philip is a deft observer, and The Road Through Miyama is filled with diverse insights into modern Japan. Her descriptions of how Japanese see Westerners is particularly perceptive...."

-- Kansas City Star
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