A Circle Round the Sun: A Foreigner in Japan, Inc.

The author, a British investment banker in Tokyo, writes that he thought of Japan as ``a labyrinth which anyone who wants to understand the Japanese has to enter in order to find the secret of Japan.'' Having lived there as a student, Hodson ( Under a Sickle Moon) spoke the language and felt at home in the culture. Quoting from his undated diary, he here enters the labyrinth with euphoria. In spare prose reminiscent of Japanese brush strokes, Hodson conveys details of place, the manners, dress and quirks of those he met. To his surprise, he finds himself isolated in the office, his colleagues paranoid, dull or vacuous; and old friends who are longtime residents are cynical and anxious to leave the country. Hodson himself leaves at the conclusion of this journal--a searcher for the ``heart'' of Japan who discovered, in puzzlement and disaffection, only emptiness. (Apr.)