Tag Archives: Japanese

Tsundoku

Posted on November 21, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

The term “tsundoku,” in Japanese, refers to the habit of acquiring more and more books and allowing them to accumulate on shelves and pile up on the floor. This is not viewed as a manifestation of neglect, but rather one … Continue reading →

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Waving, not drowning

Posted on September 10, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

I have had the opportunity to see original prints of Katsushika Hokusai’s iconic work The Great Wave Off Kanagawa at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Now, the Art Institute of Chicago, which … Continue reading →

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Are you guilty of tsundoku

Posted on July 14, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

The Japanese word tsundoku means buying books and letting them pile up unread. The word dates back to the very beginning of modern Japan, the Meiji era (1868–1912) and has its origins in a pun. Tsundoku, which literally means reading pile, is … Continue reading →

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