The Wise Bamboo

The Wise Bamboo is an amusing, light-hearted memoir, telling of the author's six years as the General Manager of Tokyo's Imperial Hotel during the Allied Occupation following WWII. Beyond being a tremendously entertaining read, it is invaluable as a first-person account of the strengths and shortcomings of one of the architect Frank Lloyd Wright's most infamous buildings, as well as a fascinating glimpse into the clash of American and Japanese culture at this pivotal period in Japanese history.