There was this book I saw in a library, which was by a French
cartoonist who lived in Japan for awhile; it was full of wordless
cartoons about the Japanese way of life.

What is the name of this book?

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Request for Question Clarification by secret901-ga on 28 Jul 2002 23:12 PDT

You might be talking about Frédéric Boilet, a French cartoonist who
lives in Japan.  His web page is at http://www.boilet.net/ .  If his
drawings are reminiscent of the drawings that you saw, please let me
know.

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Clarification of Question by markabe-ga on 29 Jul 2002 19:19 PDT

Well, I looked at the list of his books at

http://www.boilet.net/am/albums.html

and I didn't see any that related to life in Japan. He does seem to be
more of a manga-type artist rather than a cartoonist. The book had
black-and-white cartoons similar to, say, Peanuts, for example.

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Request for Question Clarification by secret901-ga on 30 Jul 2002 08:34 PDT

How current is this cartoonist?  There's somebody named Georges Bigot
who lived in the Meiji era.  His cartoons are mostly social
commentaries on life in Japan:
http://www3.la.psu.edu/graphics/481/ch3/10.htm

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Clarification of Question by markabe-ga on 30 Jul 2002 23:26 PDT

Unfortuneately I am unsure of when the book was published, but judging
from the style of drawing and contemporary situations it explored, I
would say it was done in the 80's or early 90's.

The book you are looking for is:

Kamikaze by  Daniel Zabo 
first published by John Weatherhill, Tokyo in 1966, 14th impression
1983.
The book contains 80 pages. ; 23 cm 
“Kamikaze : a French cartoonist takes a satirical look at  Japan
today.”

I found this using the search strategy: French cartoonist Japan 
This search gave the following results:
http://ilc2.doshisha.ac.jp/users/kkitao/library/resource/book/japan9.htm
http://int-office.engg.nagoya-u.ac.jp/news/newbooks-e.html 

I then searched without success on Amazon.com, and then moved to
Alibris.com
Five secondhand copies, from various dates including a first edition,
are currently available from http://www.alibris.com (just search on
Zabo in the author name field).  The prices range from $4.90 to
$12.45.

Zabo has also published "Hong Kong Sweet & Sour: Dollars Billets Doux"
- "Humorous cartoon illustrations in black & white capturing the
cartoonist's year in Hong Kong" - also available from Alibris.

I'm unable to find the book, but it sounds like the right answer to me.