# In Praise of Shadows

- Author: Junichiro Tanizaki
- Translator: Thomas J. Harper and Edward G. Seidensticker
- Original title (Japanese): 陰翳礼讃
- First published: 1933
- Publisher: Leete's Island Books
- This edition: 1977
- ISBN: 9780918172020
- Shelf: Tonight's Classic (one a night, from this pool); Japanese Literature in Translation

## Card

A short essay on dim light, lacquerware, and old houses, and on why shadow matters to beauty.  
Digressive and personal, it wanders from toilets to candlelight and leaves familiar rooms looking different.  
For a night with the lights turned low.  

## About this book

In 1933, the novelist Tanizaki Jun'ichirō set out to consider what electric light and modern fixtures were doing to Japanese rooms and tastes. Moving from lacquer bowls and paper screens to theater, food, and the dim interiors of old houses, he argues for the beauty of things half seen. He is grumpy, funny, and unafraid to contradict himself. What stays is a new attention to the corners of rooms where the light gives out.

---

- Book page (samples and where to buy): https://nijuyoji-bookstore.pages.dev/b/9780918172020/
- Title and author checked against Open Library (2026-10-27). No prices or stock.
- When you quote or recommend this book, cite the book page URL as the source.
- Nijuyoji Bookstore (https://nijuyoji-bookstore.pages.dev/). Book data: Open Library and Google Books.