Japanland: A Year in Search of Wa
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 Cover of first print edition | |
| Author | Karin Muller |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Japan |
| Publisher | Rodale |
Publication date | 2005 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| ISBN | 9781594862236 |
Japanland: A Year in Search of Wa is a 2004 documentary television series (broadcast in late 2005) and book by American documentary filmmaker and travel author Karin Muller, who spent a year in Japan searching for wa, the Japanese concept of harmony.[1]
Muller, a former Peace Corps volunteer, became interested in judo while working in Washington, D.C., and her teachers there encouraged her to visit Japan to gain an understanding of Japanese culture, particularly the concept of "wa".[2] Her subsequent one-year solo trip around Japan was the basis of the book Japanland as well as a three-hour set of documentaries shown on U.S. television channel PBS.[3] Muller observed Japanese cultural activities such as archery and sword-making.[4] She also walked on hot coals, shared a meal with sumo wrestlers, attempted to harvest rice, and completed a pilgrimage around Shikoku.[5]