Status
Available
Publication
Boston, Houghton Mifflin company, 1946.
Description
This World War II-era study paints an illuminating contrast between the culture of Japan and that of the United States.
User reviews
LibraryThing member MeditationesMartini
It's supremely dodgy as anthropology--researched from across the Pacific, the main informant a disgruntled nisei, and ultimately even when it has real insights mistaking a profoundly dislocated, damaged point in Japanese social history for business as usual--but so much of this has been so
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influential on my life: a myth of Japan that became a myth of another way to be, a way of stepping away from the things my own culture and upbringing took as so obvious as to be invisible. Looking into a mirror to see your soul; self-respect being not holding to a set of personal morals, but behaving appropriately, cleaving to the circumstances--the ultimate in/flexibility--and never letting the strain show; "thank you" as "It cannot be borne, the burden you place on me by putting me in your debt." This all remained latent as long as life was selfish and easy, but as I've tried to be a dad in difficult circumstances and work with my son's mum so carefully and cause no harm, it's come up again and again. I mean this book may only say an indeterminate amount about Japan, but it's the closest thing I've found to a manual for being stronger than you are. Show Less
LibraryThing member elahrairah
This was a really interesting read, I learned a lot. But I wonder how accurate it is sixty years on?
LibraryThing member kslade
Really good examination of Japanese values and character right after World War 2 ended. Makes it clear why they did not become vindictive.
I have read elsewhere that it has errors in terminology, etc., but it is still one of the best on Japan. It is a classic.
I have read elsewhere that it has errors in terminology, etc., but it is still one of the best on Japan. It is a classic.