Ian Buruma's unflinching account of his journey into the heart of Tokyo's underground culture as a young man in the 1970s.

A Tokyo Romance is a candid look at Ian Buruma's time in Japan during the 1970s, set against a backdrop of simultaneous hedonism and repression.

With his signature insight, and drawing from his personal experience in Tokyo, Buruma brilliantly weaves in the historical underpinning of tensions between east and west.

The book proves to be, ultimately, a moving story of alienation, and the desire to freely cross boundaries, whether of sexuality, cultural mores, or countries.