JAPANLAND

Traveling the country and living among ordinary people, she studies judo, zen archery, and taiko drumming; explores geisha, kabuki, sumo, and pachinko; participates in religious festivals; and watches people at work—farmers, fishermen, restaurateurs, papermakers, a forger of samurai swords, and the owner of a home-based car-parts assembly business, to name a few. "Muller is brash, intrepid," says the New York Times, "determined not only to track down what remains of traditional Japan but also to experience it herself." (A 307-page companion book records her adventures in more detail.)