Japanese Culture in Comparative Perspective

(Hardback)

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Japanese culture is inscrutablebut then, so is American culture seen from the viewpoint of the Japanese. As Hayashi and Kuroda make clear, the problem is one of perspective. Neither is really an enigma if the viewer can free him- or herself from the mother culture and look at the other culture from within its own context. Along the way, the authors answer many questions about Japan from the never-ending nature of its trade disputes to the reasons for the misconceptions of many Western writers. The authors challenge those who think every culture perceives, thinks, and expresses alike. They also challenge those who believe that Japanese culture has changed significantly in recent years. Hayashi and Kuroda look at ancient poems and 7th-century documents as well as the writings of Japan's Nobel laureate, Oe, to show that the essence of Japanese culture remains unchanged. By examining the use of language as well as analyzing modern statistical data, Hayashi and Kuroda show how the Japanese concept of self is indistinct and how the Japanese live in a mental world of multiple truths. Along the way the authors provide new interpretations and insights that are invaluable to all students of Japan, from policy makers to poets and painters.

Reviews

"[This] book should be read to understand modern society, not just Japan."-Seymour Martin Lipset Hazel Professor of Public Policy, George Mason University
"Essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand Japanese culture. It also serves as an excellent model, and challenge, for similar interpretative work which should be undertaken elsewhere in the world."-James A. Dator, Professor University of Hawaii at Manoa
"Here is a body of data on national character unique in its continuity over time and across populations, distinctive in its content, analyzed by methods innovative, complex, and subtle, raising this field of study to new levels."-Alex Inkeles, Senior Fellow Hoover Institution
"Kuroda...and Hayashi, with a remarkable ability to make data come alive and sing their song, have produced a book which will become a basic work in the field."-Johan Galtung, Professor of Peace Studies Universitat Witten/Herdecke, European Peace University, and Universitetet i Tromso
The authors are to be commended for selection and orgainzing their longitudinal data, presenting their complex findings logically, and relating them to other scholarship about Japanese culture.-The Journal of Asian Studies
This significant contribution to the literature provides a Japanese view of their own culture rather than an outsider's.-Choice
"This significant contribution to the literature provides a Japanese view of their own culture rather than an outsider's."-Choice
"The authors are to be commended for selection and orgainzing their longitudinal data, presenting their complex findings logically, and relating them to other scholarship about Japanese culture."-The Journal of Asian Studies

Author Bio

CHIKIO HAYASHI is Professor Emeritus at The Institute of Statistical Mathematics and President of the Japan Association for Public Opinion Research. He has had a long and distinguished career in statistical data analysis and survey research. YASUMASA KURODA is Professor of Political Science at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He has organized three major international conferences. Both have published widely on comparative cultures.