This revealing book, generously supplied with 142 illustrations, including 33 in full color, places contemporary Japanese art in the perspective of its times. Among the subjects presented here are abstract art, art informel, action painting, pop art, sculpture, and architecture. Of particular interest is the analysis of abstract art — a form in which Japanese artist, no longer bound by their specific national heritage, have achieved a universality of expression that had not been possible within the confines of traditional realism. Modern Japanese architecture, which has commanded considerable admiration in the West, also receives its proper share of attention. The book has the virtue of having been written by a scholar who is versed in the civilizations of both East and West. All in all, it is a unique contribution to the understanding of modern Japanese art and its relation to the Japanese past and to world art in general.