When Ian Buruma arrived in Tokyo in 1975, Japan was little more than an idea in his mind, and the city proved to be a feverish and surreal metropolis where nothing was understated—neon lights, crimson lanterns, Japanese pop, and cabarets. In a cultural whirlwind, Buruma frequented the same murky bars that author Yukio Mishima had frequented, and visited Akira Kurosawa on set. Through his adventures in the world of avant-garde theater and his encounters with carnival acts and fashion photographers, Buruma recounts here how he underwent a radical transformation of his own, transgressing cultural, artistic, and sexual boundaries.