Silence is simply absence of sound, right? Oh, my, no. In a world where the speed of texting and the intensity of brash words are the rule of the day, Natsuko Tsujimura, the renowned scholar of Japanese linguistics, dares to look at serenity and tranquility. She takes us by the hand into a profound and intense investigation that gently—even lovingly—embraces linguistics, rhetoric, philosophy, spirituality, and, ultimately, aesthetics. If you want to truly grapple with the meaning and function of mimetics in general and in Japanese in particular, in literature and in everyday language, in the present and in the past, this book will help you. But it goes far beyond that. The examples are generous and chosen with a keen eye and ear. You can see the insects, not just hear them. You can reassess the culture-bound nature of language, while not overlooking individual variation. You can come to understand silence in a multimodal way that may actually help you to enjoy poetry, music, painting, and ordinary conversation in a richer way. It may even help you to live a more peaceful life.

Donna Jo Napoli

This engaging book adds up to nothing less than a 'rhetoric of silence' for Japanese—a linguistically and contextually detailed, culturally-informed exploration of the expressive repertoire that Japanese has evolved for evoking and interpreting a rich variety of silences.

Charles J. Quinn Jr., The Ohio State University