Product Description
Introduces the geography, history, religious beliefs, government, and people of Japan. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Very Interesting Book
This book was very interesting.I had to write a report on Japan and it helped me a lot.I learned lots of things from it. ... Read more

Product Description
Whether for a long-term stay or a lazy weekend, Culture Shock! Japan provides a fun-filled crash-course on etiquette do's and don'ts. The book educates readers through topics such as the language, food and entertaining, social customs, festivals, relationships, and helpful business tips, as well as sights and scenes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

A funny and interesting read
The book was a real page turner for me. It combined anecdotes, history and humor to explain the fascinating Japanese culture. Not only do we learn what certain traditions mean, but we also learn the history behind them. Here's an excerpt that exemplifies the type of writing you'll find in this book:

"My particular favorite (nonverbal communication), is the expression of "what you ask is absolutely impossible, but I can't directly admit as much." It's the sound of air inhaled through the mouth, sucking up the teeth -- the more incredible your request, the more oxygen will be drained from the room.

You'll find funny explanations of customs like this on every page in the book. If you do not find this funny and educational, than the book is probably not for you.

The book is very realistic
I've been living in Japan for 5 years now and just few weeks ago I came across this book. I finished reading it and I must say it's pretty entertaining for somebody who knows what the author is talking about and most of it is very much true. As I've been both studying and working in Japan, had many encounters with Japanese people (business, private) I think the book describes the reality very well. It's the reality you'll notice not after 3weeks holiday here, neither after 1year stay, but after few years and most of all understanding the language, too.
It's important to remember that Japanese tend to behave differently to tourists, people who come here for few months and people who come here for several years or forever. And they behave differently to somebody speaking English and somebody speaking Japanese.
I think the book is best for people who want to stay here longer and for businessmen.
the only shortcoming of the book - could be deeper explanation given to the behavior described, why is it like that, what historical or cultural reasons are there for the behavior in question

Very informative
I ordered several books for my grand daughter who was moving to Okinawa.She said that they were very helpful and made the transition easier.

You can do better!
The only reason this book gets one star is because there are some useful lists in the back of the book about food, vocabulary, etc.But that information does not make it worth it to buy this book.The same information can be found in MANY books out there, preferably something without the negative slant this author seems to take towards Japan.

Instead of simply showing the readers the differences between American and Japanese cultures, he insists on adding his own close-minded two cents.Though not overt, the author seems to look down on the Japanese people and culture, mostly because it is different from what he is used to.While there are many people out there who choose to believe a culture is wrong simply because it is different from what they are used to, I would prefer to read cultural books written by those that take a less judgmental approach.

Panic-inducing!
On the eve of moving to Japan for a year, I read Culture Shock! Japan, and wow, did it get my heart beating fast. It portrays Japan as a minefield of devastating cultural faux pas that will leave us either completely ostracized from society or deported.

But, upon arrival, it was quickly evident that the culture gap isn't nearly as big as the book claimed. Nor were the social consequences of making a slip-up.

It's true this book was probably written for American business men trying to close some big deal, and I guess it does contain a quite a bit of valuable information about Japan, but trust me: that info can be found elsewhere, and in a book that won't give you second thoughts about going.

Steer clear of Culture Shock! Japan. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
Health care in contemporary Japan - a modern industrial state with high technology, but a distinctly non-Western cultural tradition - operates on several different levels. In this book Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney provides a detailed and historically informed account of the cultural practices and cultural meaning of health care in urban Japan. In contrast to most ethnomedical studies, this book pays careful attention to everyday hygienic practices and beliefs, as well as presenting a comprehensive picture of formalized medicine, health care aspects of Japanese religions, and biomedicine. These different systems compete with one another at some levels, but are complementary in providing health care to urban Japanese, who often use more than one system simultaneously. As an unequalled portrayal of health care in a modern industrial, but non-Western, setting, it will be of widespread interest to scholars and students of anthropology, medicine, and East Asian studies. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

an excellent cultural study of Japanese attitudes toward health and the body
It has been quite a few years since I read this book, but it is one that comes to mind frequently.Ohnuki-Tierney does an excellent job of outlining fundamental cultural principles that shape Japanese attitudes (and behaviors) towards health and illness.I recommend this book for anyone who wants to understand medical pluralism as it occurs on-the-ground, in the daily lives of people who are living in a medical culture quite different from that of North Americans. ... Read more

Product Description
Americans are familiarizing themselves with Japanese food, thanks especially sushi's wild popularity and ready availability. This timely book satisfies the new interest and taste for Japanese food, providing a host of knowledge on the foodstuffs, cooking styles, utensils, aesthetics, meals, etiquette, nutrition, and much more. Students and general readers are offered a holistic framing of the food in historical and cultural contexts. Recipes for both the novice and sophisticated cook complement the narrative. ... Read more

Product Description
This title is suitable for ages 9 to 14 years. This updated book includes new information on the distinctive blend of traditional and modern ways of life in Japan, the challenges faced by Japanese society today, and leisure activities such as manga and karaoke. ... Read more

Product Description
A comparison of Japanese, Chinese and American preschools, discussing how these schools both reflect and affect philosophies of child-rearing and early childhood education and larger social patterns and beliefs in each society. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Nothing Natural about How We Treat Our Children
Tobin, Wu and Davidson's study of preschools in three cultures (Japan, China, US)is a must read for early childhood educators.I wish I could have seen the videos the authors took of the children in action--that would have allowed the reader to better evaluate the analysis.Despite the lack of access to the videos, the book still sheds light on not only how culture bound our views on children are, moreover, how entrenched these ideas are and, therefore, how difficult to change.The Japanese practices balance individual needs with group needs with an emphasis on empathy among the students and the collective good; therefore, I felt it would have been better placed AFTER the other two discussions.The Chinese example is at times overly critical, as in the example of the children having to give full attention to their meal when eating--such mindfulness comes off in the book as a burden, as if endless and senseless chatter during a meal was a value to pursue.In short, the book offers a lot of food for thought about how and why we treat children as we do--but like everything, it should be read with a disposition to understand other way of doing and an opportunity to learn from others.

Really helps understand the cultures...
The book is amazing.They go to three preschools, one in China, one in Japan, and one in the USA, and compare them by class size, structure, methods, materials and even philosophy!From my point of view it really is amazing to see how the kids are taught and to compare them to the full grown adults.For example, the Japanese kids have to deal with problems on their own.Not just because there are 30 students for each teacher but because the teachers want them to deal with conflict within the group WITHOUT running to authority every time there is a problem.Now think about the fact that there are less lawyers in Japan than in the USA and many Japanese prefer to handle things outside of the court system.On the other hand, we love lawyers and judges, just look at our television shows - how many deal with Law & Order?Remember the People's Court?Judge Judy?How many people always turn to the government to solve problems?Remember New Orleans?How many people just stayed in hotels, waiting for the Feds to save them?Is that because students in our schools always go to the teacher whenever something happens?
Best part about it is there was a follow up book, Preschool in Three Cultures Revisited, that is now available on Amazon.com and deals with the three schools from the first book and three NEW ones.Of course, read this one first.If you are interested in teaching, Asian culture or just human development, this is the book for you.

not too shabby
interesting for an academic book, easy to read, and straight-forward.also, liked how they kept opinions open instead of trying to only make one point about certain cultures/ideas

a useful perspective from interesting studies
I'm a father of a 1-year old.I ordered this book as preparation for the headache of nursery-kindergarten-school-selection process.I'm happy to find this book to provide detailed case studies of 3 schools in 3 different countries, while outlining the factors, environment, and other relevant considerations.Although the authors already pointed out that this is not comprehensive (and not intended to be), the book itself provides the context and opinions for those settings.These are what I looked for.The book helps me understand the cultural, the underlying context of each country, and how these influence the children and thus the society, e.g. why Japanese are what they are, and so on.Although it's quite dated, but I don't think society and particularly education change that quickly.In addition, previously a qualitative researcher myself, I'm quite satisfied with the methodology and the way this book is written in that sense. Buy one if you want to know how early education can influence the nation, the way it always does.

Groundbreaking video ethnography
Tobin's book has been around for a number of years now.Nevertheless, it continues to set the standard in the creation of video ethnography.Graduate students across the nation use this book for its brilliant methodology and for his insightful readings of culture. ... Read more

Product Description
Music in Japan is one of several case-study volumes that can be used along with Thinking Musically, the core book in the Global Music Series. Thinking Musically incorporates music from many diverse cultures and establishes the framework for exploring the practice of music around the world. It sets the stage for an array of case-study volumes, each of which focuses on a single area of the world. Each case study uses the contemporary musical situation as a point of departure, covering historical information and traditions as they relate to the present.The website also includes instructional materials to accompany each study.Music in Japan offers a vivid introduction to the music of contemporary Japan, a nation in which traditional, Western, and popular music thrive side by side. Drawing on more than forty years of experience, author Bonnie C. Wade focuses on three themes throughout the book and in the musical selections on the accompanying CD. She begins by exploring how music in Japan has been profoundly affected by interface with both the Western (Europe and the Americas) and Asian (continental and island) cultural spheres. Wade then shows how Japan's thriving popular music industry is also a modern form of a historically important facet of Japanese musical culture: the process of gradual popularization, in which a local or a group's music eventually becomes accessible to a broader range of people. She goes on to consider the intertextuality of Japanese music: how familiar themes, musical sounds, and structures have been maintained and transformed across the various traditions of Japanese performing arts over time.Music in Japan is enhanced by eyewitness accounts of performances, interviews with key performers, and vivid illustrations. Packaged with an 80-minute CD containing examples of the music discussed in the book, it features guided listening and hands-on activities that encourage readers to engage actively and critically with the music. ... Read more

Product Description
Whether you're conducting business, traveling for pleasure, or even relocating abroad, one mistake with customs or etiquette can leave a bad taste in everyone's mouth. International travelers, now more than ever, are not just individuals from the United States, but ambassadors and impression makers for the country as a whole. Newly updated, redesigned, and resized for maximum shelf appeal for travelers of all ages, Culture Shock! country and city guides make up the most complete reference series for customs and etiquette you can find. These are not just travel guides; these are guides for a way of life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

A must-have guide for Westerners planning to live in Japan
I'm sure by this point, you all know about my obsession with Japan, and my desire to learn more about the culture. So when I got the chance to read this book, I couldn't pass it up.

I was immediately thrown off by the less-than-clear image on the cover, and flipping through I saw that all the pictures were in black-and-white. I almost put the book back of the shelf, thinking that it must have been written in the 60s or 70s and that a good deal of the information would have changed and be out-of-date. Don't let the lousy graphic quality throw you off, though; this book was only published in 2005.

This book is not a travel guide, nor is it really a memoir. The author drew upon his own experiences of living in Japan and told some amusing anecdotes, yes, but this wasn't a book about him.

Unlike travel guides, which do a good job of teaching you how to properly order sushi or how to hail a cab, this book prepares a person for living in Japan, not merely visiting. It covers things that travel guides won't, such as how to pay your bills, or how to get by at the office. As such, I learned a remarkable amount about daily life in Japan, from a westerner's perspective, that travel guides and memoirs often don't speak of. Travel guides assume you won't be there long enough, and memoirs assume that some tidbits would be too boring for the reader.

Thankfully, I'm the kind of anthro-nut who appreciates all the scraps of information I can gather.

I wouldn't recommend this book to everyone. It doesn't have enough information in it to appeal to a very wide audience. But for those who are curious about day-to-day tasks in Japan, or for those who are planning to move there for work, I definitely recommend this one. It may not be a definite resource, but it's certainly a big help, and will teach you things you probably never even thought to ask about.

An excellent book with misunderstood humor
Having known Sean Bramble since 1989, when he got me hooked on Strat-o-Matic Baseball over the July 4 weekend as my co-worker for a newspaper in Maryland, I can safely say that anyone who thinks Sean does not like Japan, or the Japanese, is dead wrong.

Sean has a very acerbic wit, and most of what he says and writes is tongue-in-cheek. I also point you to his Japanese WIFE, daughter and son, whom I refer to as Mini-Gaijin-Me, as evidence that he most likely doesn't hate the Japanese. Sean is a lifelong Monty Python fan, just like myself, and his humor reminds me of it at some times. And yes, some of the things one sees in Japan are laughable by American standards (and vice versa, like our inability to work together when times get tough, at least since, say, 1945).

If he didn't like living there or interacting with the people of Japan, I don't think he'd have stayed there for 15 years. Just a guess.

The book (since this is a book review, after all) is well-written, typical of the way Sean describes things -- with a laugh waiting around every corner -- and covers a great variety of things. In having the chance to speak with him over the Christmas break about his work on it, I see just how much time he has devoted to explaining and describing the experience of a roundeyed galoot in the Land of the Rising Sun.

It's worth the time and money. Of course, having an autographed copy might make me a tad biased, but if this book stunk, I'd certainly tell you so. It's 240 or so pages of interesting and unseful information on what it's like to live in Japan as a westerner. While geared toward the British by its verbiage, it's still clear, understandable, and, as I've said, a good read. I finished it in two just-before-bed sessions, and was a real page-turner. Birnbaum sucks. Go Bramble!

PS - A note to Sean: I *WILL* bat Pee Wee Reese third, whether you like it or not. Nyaah!!

Negative!!!
This *is* in reference to the P. Sean Bramble version.It's awful.I don't know why they would hire someone so disdainful to write a book about another culture.I find myself skimming this book just to find one comment that DOESN'T bash the Japanese.I read this book because I was excited to move to Japan and I think I am going to stop reading it because it is having the complete opposite affect on me.The author finds the need to commment endlessley on his opinions on Japan, which are 99% negative.I am reading the entertianment section now where he drones on about how much he hates Anime (um, I think most of the population disagrees with you there!) and how stupid Japanese TV shows are (as if American news is not as biased and gossipy as Japanese).Seriously, don't buy this book unless you want to be talked out of going to Japan!

Clarification re multiple editions
Note P. Sean Bramble's comment that his authorship of this book began in 2004.Amazon has scrambled his edition with what seems to be a previous edition by Rex Shelley in 1992.The images and the "look inside" links take you back and forth to wrong web pages...The Shelley book, which seems to be the one to avoid, is ISBN 1558680713.
I will order what I hope is the Bramble book, and hope that Amazon straightens out this mess.

The Reviews Below Do Not Match This Book!
To anyone who is considering purchasing this book: Please note that my edition of "Culture Shock! Japan" was first published 1 October 2004 and reprinted 30 November 2005.Thus, any review listed below that is dated previously cannot possibly be describing the actual book that I wrote!It is my understanding that those reviews describe a previous edition of the book.My edition was based on my long years in Japan, and it was written as gracefully, and with as much humor, as I could muster.I would respectfully ask anyone who is reading this now to kindly give my book the benefit of the doubt -- and if you would like to post your reaction after having read it, by all means be my guest.Sincerely, P. Sean Bramble (author)
... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

A film book masterpiece
One of the greatest film books of all time. Although many authors have a deep love of the films they write about, few have such an in-depth understanding of the medium they are writing about. And even fewer can share that passion and information through the written word. Michael Baskett manages all these things and more in The Attractive Empire. It's a book that appeals to everyone, and offers a better understanding of not just a film medium, but of a movement. This book can help anyone understand a part of the world and a part of world history that is rarely touched upon by any other authors. A compelling and fulfilling must-read with arguments and examples that truly outline an important history while offering subtle insight to the contemporary film mediums of all nations. One of the rare film authors that leave you wanting more chapters, and more information. ... Read more

Product Description
Nishiyama Matsunosuke is one of the most important historians of Tokugawa (Edo) popular culture, yet until now his work has never been translated into a Western language. Edo Culture presents a selection of Nishiyama's writings that serves not only to provide an excellent introduction to Tokugawa cultural history but also to fill many gaps in our knowledge of the daily life and diversions of the urban populace of the time. Many essays focus on the most important theme of Nishiyama's work: the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries as a time of appropriation and development of Japan's culture by its urban commoners. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an updated edition of Conrad Totman’s authoritative history of Japan from c.8000 BC to the present day.

Customer Reviews (4)

Comprehensive and accessible
I had the good fortune to use (the first edition of) Conrad Totman's "History of Japan" in a series of introductory Japanese history courses for which I also read large parts of the two works with which it is often compared by other reviewers: George Sansom's three-volume history and the encyclopedic Cambridge history.This let me compare all three works and identify the strengths that each has relative to the others.Although I read the first edition, few major changes seem to have been made in the second edition, the main one being an expansion of the epilogue to discuss pressures associated with the war on terror and invasion of Iraq.

As a one-volume work, Totman's history can't hope to include as much detail as the other two multi-volume histories.However, it nevertheless manages to present a comprehensive and very accessible history of Japan from prehistoric times to the twenty-first century.Unlike the Cambridge history, it is actually affordable, and unlike Sansom's work it includes events following the Meiji Restoration.Totman also spends considerably more time exploring Japanese society and economy than does Sansom, who focuses mainly on political, military and high-cultural affairs.

Totman's main conceit is taking an 'ecological' approach to Japanese history that governs the book's structure even if it doesn't dominate the narrative as a whole.He divides Japanese history into four rough and somewhat overlapping periods, based on the dominant means of production: pre-agriculture, dispersed agriculture, intensive agriculture, and industrial.Each of these periods, he argues, exhibited an early high-growth phase when the spread of new techniques and technologies led to rapid increases in production and population, followed by longer periods of stasis.As a result of this approach, for instance, Totman considers the Meiji Restoration a less crucial transition than the process of industrialization that followed it later in the nineteenth century.

Totman's interpretation is plausible, and I appreciated how he uses it to provide structure to his account, without forcing all aspects of Japanese history to fit into some overarching model.His writing was also quite accessible, and often a pleasure to read.The supplemental tables, glossary, index, annotated bibliography and limited notes were also helpful.Sansom and the Cambridge history may make more complete references, but of the three I found Totman's "History of Japan" the most interesting, accessible and enjoyable to read.

A failed attempt
The basic concept of this book of focusing less on the key people and events of history and more on the environmental, social and cultural impacts is not new and could have produced an interesting and insightful analysis of a country that is still a mystery to most Westerners.However, Totman fails to achieve this. His writing style can be tedious and he seems intent in showing off his impressive vocabulary - he certainly must get the prize for the most use of the word "adumbrate" in a book.

Ironically, therein lies the problem.He sketches over some complex issues,cultural themes and whole periods of history that without an existing deep knowledge of Japanese history and society leaves this reader, at least, more confused than enlightened.His approach of laying a lot of emphasis on the geographic and environmental influences, again, could have been very interesting but it finally degenerates into a rant about the war in Iraq and how destructive and corrupt the Industrialized world is.Rather than a diatribe against the Bush administration, it would have been useful to see an analysis of the factors that have caused the Japanese economy to stagnate compared to Europe and particularly the U.S.

In the end this book really does not give either a helpful overview of the history of Japan nor any insight into its future.

Interesting approach, chaotic results
Totman tries ever-so-hard to liberate his history from traditionalist binaries such as East vs. West and industrial vs. pre-industrial.He does this by examining history from an ecological perspective, examining the interaction between man and the environment.At first, this approach seems to work remarkably well.It is possible, it seems, to deduce pre-historic settlement patterns from the environmental record alone.

Yet, the novelty of his approach begins to break down when he tries to fit all of Japanese history into four distinct stages defined by the ability of the society to extract and process resources (e.g. crops, minerals, forests, etc.).This is just old-style development theory dressed in a new suit.Also, Totman conveniently abandons the ecological model when examining such items as culture, even though he vainly tells the reader that he has not forgotten his approach!When the author has to remind the reader that he hasn't strayed from his theme, it's a sure sign that he has!

The result of all this is a highly fragmented account that is difficult to read without prior knowledge of Japanese history.If I were a professor in this field, it would be an agonizing decision to go back to Sansom's venerable 1960's volume instead of turning to the current scholarship used in Totman.And yet, Totman's book is so difficult to digest that it would probably be worth it.

An outstanding history.
Conrad Totman's A History Of Japan conceptualizes four major "ages" grounded in the material resources that sustained Japanese society: the age of foragers, dispersed agriculturalists, intensiveagriculture, and industrialism. Totman beings with Stone Age society inJapan, and then moves through developments in agriculture, state-building,the blossoming of classical arts and letters, socioeconomic growth andchange, domestic and diplomatic politics, social issues of class, genderand ethnicity, cultural production and the environmental effects ofagricultural activity. A History Of Japan provides detailed coverage of thetwentieth century when Japan grew into a much larger society and its roleon the international science became militarily, economically, andculturally influential. A History Of Japan is a highly recommended,informative, scholarly, comprehensive, and "reader friendly"introduction and historical survey that will be much appreciated bystudents of Japanese history and culture, and has a wealth of material forthe non-specialist general reader seeking to understand the Japan ofantiquity as well as a contemporary and influential society. ... Read more

Product Description

How Confucian traditions have shaped styles of being modern in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore presents a particular challenge to the intellectual community. Explorations of Confucian network capitalism, meritocratic democracy, and liberal education have practical implications for a sense of self, community, economy, and polity.

Seventeen scholars, of varying fields of study, here bring their differing perspectives to a consideration of the Confucian role in industrial East Asia. Confucian concerns such as self-cultivation, regulation of the family, social civility, moral education, well-being of the people, governance of the state, and universal peace provide a general framework for the study. The Confucian Problematik--how a fiduciary community can come into being through exemplary teaching and moral transformation--underlies much of the discussion. The contributors question all unexamined assumptions about the rise of industrial East Asia, at the same time exploring the ideas, norms, and values that underlie the moral fabric of East Asian societies.

Is Confucian ethics a common discourse in industrial East Asia? The answer varies according to academic discipline, regional specialization, and personal judgment. Although there are conflicting interpretations and diverging perspectives, this study represents the current thinking of some of the most sophisticated minds on this vital and intriguing subject.

Customer Reviews (2)

Confuciunism works!?
Some questions we cannot explain by "Confucian Traditions"

Q1.Given that Confuciunism is not a modern invent and a culture of long duree, then why "Confucian Traditions" didnt work out in late Ch'in dynasty(that is why people initiated May Fourh movement) and only worked out after WWII?

Q2. this book cannot explain why north Korea is poor while south rich; China is poor while Taiwan, Hong kong is rich.are koreans in north and in south share DIFFERENT culture? Are Chinese in mainland china and in Taiwan, HK share different culture?

this book is sort of self-narcissism of Confuciansm and reverse-orientalism. Confuciansm contributes, but not as much as Tu and other scholars praise. (and we must not forget what his profession is).

Review
A good book dealing with the question of to what extent the Confucian cultural traditions of the societies of the East Asian developmental states affected their growth paths. The economic successes of East Asia can no longer be attributed merely to neoliberal economic policies, and there is a growing recognition to acknowldge the part played by the cultural background from which growth emerged. ... Read more

Product Description
Handmade Culture is the first comprehensive and cohesive study in any language to examine Raku, one of Japan's most famous arts and a pottery technique practiced around the world. More than a history of ceramics, this innovative work considers four centuries of cultural invention and reinvention during times of both political stasis and socioeconomic upheaval.It combines scholarly erudition with an accessible story through its lively and lucid prose and its generous illustrations. The author’s own experiences as the son of a professional potter and a historian inform his unique interdisciplinary approach, manifested particularly in his sensitivity to both technical ceramic issues and theoretical historical concerns.

The story of Raku begins in the late sixteenth century with the alleged meeting between Sen no Rikyû, Japan’s most famous tea practitioner, and Chôjirô, a tilemaker and potter who may have been part of the larger community of Chinese artisans responsible for bringing the fundamentals of the Raku technique to Japan. (In the seventeenth century, Chôjirô’s workshop would emerge as the most influential producer of Raku ceramics.) By foregrounding the web of interactions between potters, tea practitioners, merchants, warriors, and eventually modernizing intellectuals, the present volume tracks broader developments in the culture of early modern Japan. The iemoto organizational system, for example, which came to dominate many art and performance professions in the eighteenth century, is explored through a series of letters and other exchanges between Sen tea masters and Raku potters. The publishing boom of the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries serves as background for an analysis of a secret manual of Raku production printed in Osaka and distributed across the archipelago. The role of elite warrior patronage of tea and ceramics at the end of the Tokugawa and the profound implications of the collapse of this patronage with the Meiji Restoration of 1868 also come into focus. The work concludes by examining the repercussions of modernity, particularly in the multiple reconfigurations of tea and ceramics in early art exhibitions, art historical writings, and nationalistic publications on Japanese culture.

Handmade Culture makes ample use of archaeological evidence, heirloom ceramics, tea diaries, letters, woodblock prints, and gazetteers and other publications to narrate the compelling history of Raku, a fresh approach that sheds light not only on an important traditional art from Japan, but on the study of cultural history itself. ... Read more

Product Description
For centuries the accommodation between Japan and Christianity has been an uneasy one. Compared with others of its Asian neighbors, the churches in Japan have never counted more than a small minority of believers more or less resigned to patterns of ritual and belief transplanted from the West. But there is another side to the story, one little known and rarely told: the rise of indigenous movements aimed at a Christianity that is at once made in Japan and faithful to the scriptures and apostolic tradition. Christianity Made in Japan draws on extensive field research to give an intriguing and sympathetic look behind the scenes and into the lives of the leaders and followers of several indigenous movements in Japan. Focusing on the "native" response rather than Western missionary efforts and intentions, it presents varieties of new interpretations of the Christian tradition. It gives voice to the unheard perceptions and views of many Japanese Christians, while rais!ing questions vital to the self-understanding of Christianity as a truly "world religion." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent study based on original research.
A good book, in my view, is one that provides new information about a worthy theme. A fine book is one that provides a new perspective from which to understand a significant body of information. A superb book is one thatprovides both new information about a worthy theme and a new,thought-provoking perspective from which to understand a significant bodyof information. This is a superb book.Mark Mullins, professor ofsociology of religion and Christian studies at Meiji Gakuin University inTokyo, has devoted years of research to pursuing an answer to the questionof "what happens to a world religion when it is transplanted from oneculture to another." More specifically, he focuses on "made in Japan" formsof Protestant Christianity-not its mainline forms but its indigenousmovements. "My primary concern," he says, "has been to understand whatJapanese Christians have done with Christianity, independent of theauthority and control of the mission churches." ... And let it be said atonce: he has done a magnificent job. -- David Reid, Former editorof the Japanese Journal of Religious Studies ... Read more

Product Description
The growing globalization of world business, culture and communication — and Japan’s increasingly important role as a leader in that world — makes understanding Japanese culture critical for business people, diplomats, students,educators and anyone else with an interest in Japan.
In Japan Unmasked veteran Japanologist/author Boyé Lafayette De Mente explores the social, cultural and
psychological characteristics responsible for the unique nature of modern-day Japanese culture—the real "face" behind the "mask"—and demonstrates how they have brought the Japanese to their central role on the world stage. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Interesting unsupported opinions
This book is a quick read and does provide a quick outline about stereotypical Japanese beliefs and behaviours, as well as some interesting insights into Japanese culture. Unfortunately it does little to support them. Time and time again the author says something interesting about Japan, but fails to give an example or statistic to back it up. The result is that this appears to be a collection of one man's opinions, but gives no basis for believing them.

Let me give you an example "It has long been symptomatic for the Japanese to blame others for their problems..." Really? So what? Give us an example! Prove it to us! Unfortunately he fails to do so.

Very frustrating because he does have some interesting things to say.

A great number of topics, but superficial
The book covers quite a number of topics about Japan, but unfortunately, all of them are treated quite superficially. ... Read more

Product Description
Wrapping Culture examines problems of intercultural communication and the possibilities for misinterpretation of the familiar in an unfamiliar context. Starting with an examination of Japanese gift-wrapping, Joy Hendry demonstrates how our expectations are often influenced by cultural factors which may blind us to an appreciation of underlying intent. She extends this approach to the study of polite language as the wrapping of thoughts and intentions, garments as body wrappings, constructions and gardens as wrapping of space. Hendry shows how this extends even to the ways in which people may be wrapped in seating arrangements, or meetings and drinking customs may be constrained by temporal versions of wrapping. Throughout the book, Hendry considers ways in which groups of people use such symbolic forms to impress and manipulate one another, and points out a Western tendency to underestimate such nonverbal communication, or reject it as mere decoration. She presents ideas that should be valid in any intercultural encounter and demonstrates that Japanese culture, so often thought of as a special case, can supply a model through which we can formulate general theories about human behaviour. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Japanology Classic
This is an excellent book about Japan - one of the best books of Japanology, up their with Benedict's Chrysanthemum, Doi's Amae/Dependence, and Nakane's Verticle Soceity and other sleeper, Nakashima Yoshimichi's "Urusai Nihonjin no Watash".

This book reads a little like a series of lectures, upon which I guess it was based going for breadth, and a considerable degree of repetition. I would have liked to read more about "why" (but then see below). And the style is couched in antrhopologist speak (e.g. calling her friends and aquaintances in Japan "informants," ho ho) but then scholars have to tow the jargon if they are to be accepted as scholars.

I would recommend this book to anyone as a fun and informative back door to understanding Japanese society, and as food for further thought.

If I might be allowed to highlight one point, that I wish Hendry had addressed further... She cricises Barthes' (and Maruyama Masao's?) "empty center" theory with reference to the imperial palace, saying (in a moment of enlightenment, about herself too on p109) "In fact, contrary to Barthe's expectation, I think that the place does irradiate power of a certain sort, and the problem may lie in our Western propensity to want always to be unwrapping, deconstructing, seeing the objects at the center of things." Here I think that Hendry really hits the nail on the head, but in so doing she challenges the notion of Japan being a "Wrapping" culture. Japan is a "wrapping culture" so long as you are a Westerner that expects there to be something inside. To the Japanese wrapping is not wrapping, but the real deal. The problem is that we attempt to find something inside. Perhaps the same criticism could be leveled at this review.
... Read more

Product Description
Tropics of Savagery is an incisive and provocative study of the figures and tropes of "savagery" in Japanese colonial culture. Through a rigorous analysis of literary works, ethnographic studies, and a variety of other discourses, Robert Thomas Tierney demonstrates how imperial Japan constructed its own identity in relation both to the West and to the people it colonized. By examining the representations of Taiwanese aborigines and indigenous Micronesians in the works of prominent writers, he shows that the trope of the savage underwent several metamorphoses over the course of Japan's colonial period--violent headhunter to be subjugated, ethnographic other to be studied, happy primitive to be exoticized, and hybrid colonial subject to be assimilated. ... Read more