Empire of Signs

by Roland Barthes

Barthes went to Japan without really knowing anything much about it. He simply let the impressions of Japan sink in and made something of them. In fact, I think he says at the beginning of the book, ‘This is not about Japan, it’s about an imaginary country I call Japan’ – so it’s very much his take, based on random impressions. He was such an intelligent and observant man that they’re still very much worth reading, even to someone who knows Japan well.