Japanese Culture: The Religious and Philosophical Foundations

(Paperback)

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Japanese Culture: The Religious and Philosophical Foundations takes readers on a detailed and thoroughly researched journey through Japan's cultural history. Based on a conceptual framework known as the multilayered model, which was developed by cultural anthropologists to explain the diverse religious and philosophical traditions that underlie modern Japanese culture, this book Japanese history and culture book begins with an investigation of the origins of the Japanese peoples, followed by an analysis of the most important approaches used by scholars to describe the essential elements of Japanese culture. Thereafter, each of the formative elements in the multilayered religious model are explored in chapters Shinto, Buddhism, Taoism, Zen, Confucianism, and Western influences of the modern era.

"Required Reading." The Times of London

"In this clear and concise guide, Davies explains the key religious traditions that influence life in modern Japan." Publishers Weekly

"This is definitely a book you need to pick up if you want to learn more about Japanese culture and would like more of an understanding of what influenced it." JLPT Boot Campblog

Reviews

"In this clear and concise guide, Davies explains the key religious traditions that influence life in modern Japan." --Publishers Weekly
"With his balanced air and refusal to indulge in glib theories, Roger Davies has produced a book that helps enormously in the demystifying of Japan." --Green Shinto blog
"This is definitely a book you need to pick up if you want to learn more about Japanese culture and would like more of an understanding of what influenced it." --JLPT Boot Camp blog
"Roger J. Davies has written a well-needed summing up of the philosophical underpinnings of Japanese culture. A well-rounded, succinct, and thought-provoking analysis that everyone in the Japan field can benefit from." Alex Kerr, author of Lost Japan and Dogs and Demons; Winner of Japan's prestigious Shincho Gakugei Literature Prize
"Immensely enlightening" Robert O'Neil, author and EFL textbook writer

Author Bio

Roger J. Davies is a committed advocate of lifelong learning with degrees in Linguistics (M.A. Ph.D.) and Business Administration (MBA) from universities in Canada, Great Britain, and the United States. He has taught courses in business management, intercultural communication, and Japanese culture at both postgraduate and undergraduate levels at some of Japan's leading schools, including Hitotsubashi University, The University of Tokyo, and Waseda University. He is also the lead editor of bestselling, The Japanese Mind: Understanding Contemporary Japanese Culture.