Donald Richie

Biography

Donald Richie was a renowned American author and film critic who wrote extensively about Japanese culture and cinema. Born in Lima, Ohio in 1924, he served in the US Merchant Marine during World War II before visiting Japan for the first time in 1947. He became fascinated with Japanese culture, particularly its acceptance of LGBTQ individuals and traditional theater forms like Kabuki. Richie was awarded the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun in 2005.