Five Seven Five [Hardcover]

Celeste Heiter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2003

An artfully designed gift book presenting beautiful color photographs of everyday life in Japan, each accompanied by a haiku. Four sections, one for each season, are followed by a discussion of Haiku, Past and Present, as well as a description of each photograph, allowing the armchair traveler to explore the various facets of Japanese culture.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

With her lifelong love of Japan, its people and its culture, Celeste Heiter believes that she may have been Japanese in a previous incarnation. In this lifetime however, Celeste was born in Mobile, Alabama, where she earned a Bachelor's degree in Art and English from the University of South Alabama. Inspired by a lifelong dream to visit the Great Buddha at Kamakura, she moved to Tokyo in 1988, where she spent two years teaching English conversation. Celeste now makes her home in California's beautiful Napa Valley, with the most treasured souvenir of her life in Japan: her son Will, who was born during her stay in Tokyo.

Throughout his eighteen-year residence in Japan, photographer Robert George worked in film and video production while traveling extensively throughout Asia honing his craft as an international travel photographer. Robert returned to the U.S. in 1999 and now lives in Sacramento with his wife Mayumi and his son Alex, but continues to travel to Asia for his work.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 116 pages
• Publisher: ThingsAsian Press (July 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971594015
• ISBN-13: 978-0971594012
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 6.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,596,493 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

With her lifelong love of Japan, its people and its culture, Celeste Heiter believes that she may have been Japanese in a previous incarnation. In this lifetime however, Celeste was born in Mobile, Alabama, where she earned a Bachelor's degree in Art and English from the University of South Alabama. Inspired by a lifelong dream to visit the Great Buddha at Kamakura, she moved to Tokyo in 1988, where she spent two years teaching English conversation. Celeste now makes her home in California's beautiful Napa Valley, with the most treasured souvenir of her life in Japan: her son Will, who was born during her stay in Tokyo.

Celeste is the author of Ganbatte Means Go For It, Vignettes of Japan, Five Seven Five, The Sushi Book, and Fashion Asia, and is the editor of To Japan With Love. Please visit Chopstick Cinema, Celeste's daily blog about her adventures in Asian food and film. www.chopstickcinema.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 7 5, December 1, 2007

By 

E. Yap - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Five Seven Five (Hardcover)

Five Seven Five describes the number of syllables in each line of the much-loved Japanese haiku. Haiku is a unique literary art form that is more than 400 years old and cherished by all circles in Japanese society.

Be it a building with a shady tree in the foreground, traditionally -clad children carrying a shrine during a Shinto festival, sumo wrestlers having a blissful stroll, a Zen Buddhist monk in full garb or cherry blossoms flickering in the wind; photographer Robert George skillfully captured these snippets of life in Japan in artistic detail.

One would agree that the Japanese culture which seems so esoteric is one that deserves portrayal. Conversely, Five Seven Five is a deserving book to convey such a fascinating society to the rest of the world. It is an adequate snapshot of the deep and profound world of haiku and the various colors of Japan. I admire the apt haikus Ms Heiter presented. They resonate with appreciation of nature and people; and in itself is truly a timeless form of art.

Numbering more than thirty poignant photographs of life in Japan accompanied by reflective haiku, Five Seven Five serves as an excellent gift for the Japan-curious and an inspiration to those poised to explore the Land of the Rising Sun someday/

I suspect the average Japanese might find this book quite amusing; putting on a pedestal what seems to be everyday life to them. I also suspect he might be secretly proud as well.