Pointed at a wall, pointed at a ceiling

Saraba Edward Seidensticker. My favorite of the ex-pat Japan writer-translator guys. His two-volume history of the sprawl, Low City, High City and Tokyo Rising, are out of print but essential reads. The dude loved the Taisho as much as we do the Showa, and he made me see the light. Long afternoons crawling across Asakusa looking for the scarlet gang...