Behind the mask: On sexual demons, sacred mothers, transvestites, gangsters, drifters and other Japanese cultural heroes

BRO-DART COVER. FIRST AMERICAN EDITION.1984 Pantheon Books hardcover, Ian Buruma (Year Zero: A History of 1945). Lots about the difference between Japanese Buddhist aristocratic culture and Shinto popular culture--with examples from films, plays, novels, prostitution--pegged, indeed chained, to the familiar idea that "hedonism is held in check by social taboos." I.e., "what one sees on the screen, on stage and in comic-books is usually precisely the reverse of normal behavior. - Kirkus Review