Japan: A ReinterpretationThe Japanese are in the process of re-creating themselves--an endeavor they have undertaken at intervals throughout history, always prompted by a combination of domestic and global forces. In this landmark book, Patrick Smith asserts that a variety of forces--the achievement of material affluence, the Cold War's end, and the death of Emperor Hirohito--are now spurring Japan once again toward a fundamental redefinition of itself. As Smith argues, this requires of the West an equally thorough reevaluation of the picture we have held of Japan over the past half-century. He reveals how economic overdevelopment conceals profound political, social, and psychological under-development. And by refocusing on "internal history" and the Japanese character, Smith offers a new framework for understanding Japan and the Japanese as they really are. The Japanese, he says, are now seeking to alter the very thing we believe distinguishes them: the relationship between the individual and society. Timely, measured, and authoritative, this book illuminates a new Japan, a nation preparing to drop the mask it holds up to the West and to steer a course of its own in the world. Jacket image: The Great Wave of Kanagawa, from 36 Views of Mount Fuji (detail) by Katsushika Hokusai. Private collection. |
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Page 107
... coffee table covered with a plastic doily , over which business was done . The room measured six tatami , a standard size , about the dimensions of a large Western bath- room . The front window was plastered with scribbled sheets ...
... coffee table covered with a plastic doily , over which business was done . The room measured six tatami , a standard size , about the dimensions of a large Western bath- room . The front window was plastered with scribbled sheets ...
Page 132
... coffee Koiso expanded on this point . " When you enter a firm , substantially what takes place is a giri - on relationship , the old type of relationship in which obligations are created and then must be ob- served . By giving on to ...
... coffee Koiso expanded on this point . " When you enter a firm , substantially what takes place is a giri - on relationship , the old type of relationship in which obligations are created and then must be ob- served . By giving on to ...
Page 291
... coffee . The city lay amid a flat , treeless landscape . Nurul knew of five Sri Lankans in the area , the only foreigners . I said , " You must feel as if you're walking on the moon . " Nurul smiled . " It's very strange . Whenever we ...
... coffee . The city lay amid a flat , treeless landscape . Nurul knew of five Sri Lankans in the area , the only foreigners . I said , " You must feel as if you're walking on the moon . " Nurul smiled . " It's very strange . Whenever we ...
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