Just Enough Book: Azby Brown

Read ahead to enter your name in a giveaway for this book

Here is part one of our book review and giveaway series, in collaboration with Tuttle Publishing. In this post, you’ll find my review of the fascinating book, Just Enough, and details for how you can enter to win your own copy. It’s quite simple… read ahead for more!

Just Enough: A Book Review

Just Enough: Lessons in Living Green From Traditional Japan is a meandering portrayal of life in Edo period Japan. There’s a whole lot of appeal for me in this book’s subject and style. First and foremost, it feeds my compulsive curiosity in Japanese culture and history, and the book’s careful attention to the intimate details of a life-once-lived provide a lot of fodder for one’s imagination to run wild.

The strength of Azby Brown’s book lies in his ability to paint a very vivid picture, both with words and beautiful illustrations, taking us back to a fascinating period of Japanese history (1603-1868) when there was more than a semblance of living in balance with the local ecosystem. Brown’s depiction of Edo Japan suggests that this former society was a lot closer to living sustainably than most of civilized culture is today. I would not hesitate to agree after reading.

Brown documents how Japanese society at the time found creative ways to live efficiently within the confines of the depleted, almost deforested landscape. Prior to the 1600s, much of the archipelago had been over-exploited, and society was faced with depleted forest and water supplies, and the need to feed a growing population to boot. (Sound familiar?) Incredibly, however, solutions were created and successfully imposed and people found ways to reverse the trends of exploitation and waste, both in the countryside and in cities, and on a micro and macro scale.

Just Enough Book

One example of the many awesome illustrations contained within ‘Just Enough’

The books begins by weaving its way through the countryside as our fictional host Shinichi takes us on a tour of the family farm operation, providing all manner of details about the typical agrarian lifestyle. Interestingly, a lot of what is described is not unlike what you might read about in a permaculture guidebook today. The accompanying sketches of the rural architecture and agricultural infrastructure are absolutely wonderful. I love the drawings of the “minka” (farmhouse) layout and construction, the orientation of fields and rice paddies and irrigation systems, all the way down to sketches of cooking stoves, tools, and clothing at the time.

We then find our way out of the countryside and into the city, touring the capital city of Edo itself. Brown’s depiction of the city is similarly stylized here as we follow another fictional host, picking up bits of information about the city infrastructure along the way. I was particularly wowed reading about how freshwater and wastewater were dealt with, and discovering that every bit of human “waste” was carefully transported out of the city (amazingly, mostly by cart and occasionally with animal power) back to the fields for use as fertilizer. Reading this chapter, I realized many of the dreams I have now about how cities can be better designed were in practice hundreds of years ago. It’s both exciting, but sad to realize how far we have slipped back into the cycle of over-exploitation and waste.

Just Enough: Edo Japan Illustration

Brown’s illustration of an Edo Japan tenement block

Brown interjects lessons throughout the book, examining how we can learn from Edo Japan to transform current day society to be more sustainable. My favorite aspect of the book, however, is the wonderful attention to detail and depiction of daily life at the time, and the truly excellent illustrations that draw you into the time and place. My only complaint is that I think Brown might be painting too rosy of a picture sometimes, ignoring the faults of Edo society. (For example, how did city peasants fare at the time?)

If you have any interest in sustainable or traditional living, Japanese history, architecture, or agriculture (or all of the above!), Just Enough is an inspirational feast for the mind and eyes.

Just Enough: Gyozui

An efficient Japanese bathing method

Win Your Own Copy of Just Enough

Okay, and now for the giveaway. Do you want to win your own copy of Azby Brown’s Just Enough? Follow these very simple steps (it’s just one step, really)!

  • Comment on this post, and tell us one reason why you’re excited about adding this book to your collection.
  • Please be sure to leave your full name and email address, or else your name will not be entered in the drawing.
  • The drawing will take place July 31, at 8:00 A.M., and the winner will be announced shortly afterwards. I will add giveaway participants to The Year of Mud newsletter.

So… go ahead, comment, and cross your fingers!

62 Comments

  • renata says:

    a book to bring world family together and closer to a more humane life as our ancients teach us. i would love to have it for our rural African library here in Mpumalanga

  • I am drawn to Japanese culture. Living in balance with my environment is what I aim to do in my everyday life, although I find it challenging.

  • Ger Cussen says:

    I’m doing my best at getting to the simple life….I believe it’s simple once you’re there, it’s just quite difficult to get there in this system/life.I live in a mobile with no electricity, a lot of reading about permaculture by candlelight …romantic?

  • Ronen Hirsch says:

    Living in a village in Romania I watch every week how the teusday market parking lot is filled with horses and carriages. I often wonder how progress can look like from this setting. Does it have to go through the typical cycles of waste and excess that modern cultures have taken (which is the default path I am already witnessing) or is there another healthier path we can take.

    Many of the solutions currently in fashion, permaculture included, feelt out of touch and out of reach within the socio-economic and cultural settings I see around me. They seem to be built upon excess and waste that is readily available and taken for granted in modern/developed countries.

    Also Curious to read “Just Enough” together with Fukuoka’s “One Straw Revolution” which just made its way to me.

  • Eve Bentley says:

    I have a real love for traditional Japanese architecture and culture, this book would definitely be a great source of inspiration and information for me when designing my off grid eco home.

  • Brina Burke says:

    This looks amazing (romanticized or not). When I’m not building with cob, I love reading about how various cultures fulfill the need for comfort and shelter we all share. I’m also seriously crushing on the hand drawings à la Lloyd Kahn. “Just Enough” will have a happy home alongside my ever-growing collection of natural building titles!

  • Nadine Zdanovich says:

    I have always loved Japanese architecture and culture. I would love to build a workshop with Japanese joinery! This would be a wonderful book to read!

  • Freya Lumb says:

    I am intrigued discover more about Japanese architecture and culture, this combined with sustainable living should make for an interesting read and fill a hole in my bookcase!

  • Mark Angelini says:

    Good call… A month ago I cam across this book at a friend’s house and spent an hour so pouring over the pages. An incredible piece of work and a testament of how humans can act as a part of earth. I’ve had it in my mind since. Definitely a potent one to have around.

  • Jan Hoogervorst says:

    Besides working at an architecture firm and wanting to build my own strawbale house with a large permaculture foodforrest. I’m also interested in learning about the history of how the world used to be. This book seems like an excellent mix of my interests!

  • Tracy says:

    I just added the book to my Amazon Wishlist 🙂 Sounds fantastic. I love Japanese woodworking, architecture and the traditional culture of respecting and being mindful of every day life, bringing reverence for the sacred into everyday life and everyday tools and objects. The book sounds like a great way to get a deeper look into that life, and I’m fascinated to hear about this story of the development of sustainable practices in the 16th century as a response to their islands’ man-made ecological crisis.
    Thanks for the ongoing Japanese woodworking, architecture etc articles – keep ’em coming 🙂

  • rich james says:

    I have always liked japanese design and simplicity. I am also very interested in permaculture and sustainable living.

  • Paul Williams says:

    Im in the process of figuring out what i should do with these oaks and maple trees covering my building site . and how i should used what God has provided me with. Love the snippet’s cant wait to add this to my library. minimalist at heart…….

  • Kevin Naylor says:

    A good review of a way to live and do much more. Read as sonn as possible .

  • Living on a small organic farm in California provides a lot of opportunities for alternative structures — but something is missing — Perhaps the minimalism of the Japanese design ethos? I think so!

  • matt says:

    Would love to incorporate these ideas into daily life. 🙂

  • growforest says:

    From traditional Green: “Just never enough Japan living lessons on my shelf…”

  • Scott Haney says:

    I’m really interested to read about the creative ways they lived in a nearly-depleted environment, as our current society could greatly learn from the techniques.

  • John Oszajca says:

    I have visited Japan many times and am a fan of Japanese culture and traditions. I have read about the minka but never visited one though I have been to the Edo Museum. Reading this book while sipping some Sake sounds like a perfect combination.

  • kim staples says:

    I have always believed that the farther we move from the primitive roots that developed our species, the less health and happiness we experience. I continue to be fascinated by the answers we once had, and have lost, to ways to live with purpose and simplicity. Each era loses some of those answers, and finds others.

  • Wade Austin says:

    “Those heaps of filth at the gate-posts, those tumbrils of mud which jolt through the street by night, those terrible casks of the street department, those fetid drippings of subterranean mire, which the pavements hide from you,–do you know what they are? They are the meadow in flower, the green grass, wild thyme, thyme and sage, they are game, they are cattle, they are the satisfied bellows of great oxen in the evening, they are perfumed hay, they are golden wheat, they are the bread on your table, they are the warm blood in your veins, they are health, they are joy, they are life. This is the will of that mysterious creation which is transformation on earth and transfiguration in heaven.” – Victor Hugo, Les Miserables

    Not too surprising to find that the minka dwellers practiced humanure recycling. It would certainly be enjoyable finding out more about that period. Thanks for your work. Keep up the reviews!

  • Curt says:

    Love the whole Japanese idea of being in balance with nature. Would love to read more of this book.

  • Mike Bird says:

    Wow. Crazy book. I love “Farmers of Forty Centuries” and reading Fukuoka pretty much changed my life when I was younger. This would prove a very useful and educational book on the farm. Thanks for bringing this title to my attention.

  • Emile says:

    I am fascinated by all things green and sustainable. I also love the simple, serene design language of Japanese architecture.

  • yann courcelle says:

    Will permit me to finish my house with some major improvements from Japanase people whom inspire me a lot.

  • Max Edleson says:

    Examples of cultural and agricultural systems that are harmonious and in balance with their ecology are always inspiring. Plus, it’s fun to participate in your drawing!

  • Michelle Makowiecki says:

    Hello! I found your blog after attending a cob building workshop in Tennessee with Christina Ott. I have become very intrigued with timber framing, and would like to some day (soon I hope) study traditional Japanese timber framing and landscape design. This book sounds amazing! I would be thrilled to add it to my collection and to start delving deeper into the relationship between Japanese homes, outdoor spaces and living style. Thanks for reviewing!

  • Dana Haycox says:

    This book is a dream come true! I’ve always had a more than passing interest in Japanese culture from times long past, but had no idea there was so much info about their living and building practices. This would be a wonderful read, and an incredible resource to assist my designs for building my own natural self-sufficient homestead! Oh, please, oh please, oh please pick me! lol

  • Pauliina Oksanen says:

    I´m very intetested in Japanese arcitecture and history. I´m actually interested in all kind of history but Japanese excites me most of all. This book would be a great piece to add to my collection 🙂

  • Jay C. White Cloud says:

    Fukuoka set a foundation on permaculture, and Azby San has been a wonderful teacher, author, and mentor for many decades. This is a wonderful opportunity for anyone interested in “simplicity of design,” natural living, and traditional building modalities…as are all of Prof. Browns publications.

    Thanks Ziggy for providing this gateway into Asian mindset of “less is more.”

    Regards,

    j

  • Leidi says:

    This book would be very useful and inspiring to me, I have a couple of year arraging my lifestyle to simple life, I love Japanese culture, and this is a perfect guide to add to my simple lifestyle goals readings.

  • joseph walker says:

    Well to tell you the truth, I hope the person from Africa with the library wins, but for me just a thanks for the heads up on the book. Amazon next stop for me.

  • Linda says:

    I am reaching the end of my “work” career and seek to do other things upon my retirement. One of the big things I am planning is to move and, in so doing, reduce and simplify. I would think that this book would be both inspirational and helpful with this process.

  • Verna Buchanan Hasse says:

    The review forms the idea of community, communial gardening and clean and simple living where less is more. In Cape Town South Africa, there is always inspiration and interest in implementing a simple and sustainable lifestyle It appears that the Japanese had the perfect idea for clean, simple and happy living. Who could want more than that.

  • John Giroux says:

    This book sounds amazing. I would like to learn how they did things back in the 1600s. Thanks for introducing it to your followers.

  • Terry says:

    I’ve browsed this book on my library—-it’s a keeper! Full of great ideas, & interesting to see the history.

    Terry thefingerpainter@gmail.com

  • Conor LaCreta says:

    My girlfriend and I are in the process of purchasing our first plot of land to really begin our lives together. After we have our land we will need to design and build our first home. I couldn’t think of a better book to help us in that process.

  • Jason Lohbeck says:

    Love what you do. Keeps the dreams alive.

  • Rene Ammundsen says:

    This sounds like another “less is more” fascinating read. We are in what many call the “far north”. We have less in the way of summer requiring a lot of attention to what works well while the ground is free of frost and snow. “High-tec-low-tech” has over and over been the answer for us. This books sounds like it will provide a fresh look at a culture and its agricultural strategies providing ample gleaning for applying to our “modern” conditions.

  • Jacqui Garcia says:

    I am trying to simplify, and to create a community based in simplicity.

  • Mike Scharf says:

    I am trying to work towards living a simpler life, the text, and illustrations from 1600-1800s could prove to be very useful.

  • Ted Brown says:

    My wife and I have hosted Japanese students for many years and are fascinated by much of the simplicity found in that culture. Having this as a resource would be great as we remodel our farm.

  • Jordan Stull-Barnes says:

    As a former student of Historic Preservation & Restoration, and as a current proponent of natural building and permaculture, this book sounds fascinating! Add in the fact that it is centered around traditional Japanese culture and I’m sold. Thanks for the great book review!

  • pam says:

    After reading the review and comments from interested folks this sounds like an interesting book for an online book club kinda thing. Many have shared how this would help with various aspects of their adventures with permaculture and sustainable like living. I would like to have this book continued into today for each of us in our own unique lifestyles, environments and opportunities. We could each and together work to create something better. Not perfect, but better….

  • Bob Cummings says:

    I would love for my 3 daughters to have a book like this in our home library. They loved the architecture and design in some of the houses at Dancing Rabbit. All in all its all about my girls, ages 7, 11 and 15.

  • Aileen Lind says:

    The reason is to simple, i do not like the fast pase living and would like to conect to the old was more.

  • Kate Lewis says:

    For the last 5 years I have been living in the former Transkei, South Africa, teaching children how to grow food and introducing rocket cook stoves to homes and villages across the area. The Xhosa people have truly sustainable lives, living in the same rondavel mud huts for hundreds of years possible perceived as the original eco-building, and something that both me and my boyfriend from the area would love to explore when we return to try and make a sustainable life for ourselves back in Wales.
    Our lives have been dedicated to helping others create more efficient and sustainable homes and now we want to start building a home for us! We would love this book to be one of our first (of many one day!) books on our reclaimed wooden bookcase.

  • Larry says:

    Interesting book.

  • Elissa Michaud says:

    Many years ago I stayed in a beautiful natural home in the countryside of Japan. I’ve always wanted to learn more about this style of home and building. Over the years, I’ve studied permaculture design, and food forestry & very much appreciate the art of natural building.

  • Stephanie Frischie says:

    Just re-reading Gary Snyder’s interviews from when he returned from Japan in the late 1960s. The world is wonderful.

  • Paige Jacobson says:

    One reason I’m excited to read this book is

    I’m at a point in my life where I can have, and even build, my own house,

    and I want to incorporate as much of this Japanese wisdom into the land and house as possible.

  • Hamit Tatari says:

    I’m very excited to read this book!!

    because I have some land and I’m in the process of rethinking every aspect of how I manage it and my life,

    and I’d incorporate all the lessons I possibly can from this book into my life and space!!!

  • Hal Terran says:

    i’m SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS BOOK

    because theyearofmud is the most awesome website and I love mud building,
    and i LOVE JAPANESE architecture and culture

    i’m in process of building a cob structure in my back yard and i’d totally use all the knowledge i get from this book into making it more sustainable and smarter, roof and all!

    i’m going to wait on starting the project until i learn more about japanese building!

    thanks so much theyearofmud you guys seriously rock

  • Ben says:

    I want to win because I know so little about Japanese architecture, and have never ever seen one on their version of green specifically, and it’s so dang hard to find a great book on the subject. I am hoping that the contest is random choice, not by best response, because my sole purpose in winning is due to my ignorance on this subject.

  • ziggy says:

    Just to be clear… yes, the winner will be selected at random.

    It’s great to read everyone’s entries, however… I wish we had books for everyone!

  • Lauren says:

    I would love to win this book because it sounds truly inspiring! I’ve spent a lot of time in rural Japan, and have also done a permaculture certificate, and this book sounds as though it combines these two interests! What a welcome edition to my bookshelf it would be!

  • Titti karma says:

    Am preparing my family for simple sustainable living and always wonder and scetch on what such a life would look like, love japanese design especially the part which is a simple nonconsumerist aproach. Book looks great. Would love to have it to support our big step. Fingers crossed.

  • I have always had a passion for Japanese history and culture. While learning about sustainable living and how to build my own natural living space some day, I believe this book can add some interesting details to my own plans.

  • Kevin whetstone says:

    Wow, just when We thought we were ready to start building..another obvious read to consider. Thanks for sharing, it will definitely be added to the library.

  • chitra says:

    I have missed the deadline..I want to know where I can buy this? It is a wonderful book. We practice this kind of lifestyle in our small home in Urban India.

  • Jacqueline Bale-Johnson says:

    I am an artist-designer in mixed media. Throughout my life I found that every media I studied referred back to Japanese Masters, and so I began to study Japan, art, literature, theatre metal-smithing, textiles, ceramics, garden design, music, cooking, Building and construction. carpentry, history. It took me almost ten years, and I am still learning. In all these years I am still amazed at the intricacy of design and craftsmanship. This book would be a treasure for me, on which I can use to teach, and as a reference for the carpentry and construction, bringing the genius of Japanese craftsman-ship tp the modern day world..