Reviews for Japan: Its History and Culture

The average rating for Japan: Its History and Culture based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-06-22 00:00:00 Earnest Thomas 4.5 stars I first read this book about 30 years ago. It's a well-written, well-researched concise history of Japan. My 1984 print edition includes interesting and useful illustrations, glossary, chronology and an extensive selected reading list.

Review # 2 was written on 2015-01-25 00:00:00 Laura Lalor Japan: Its History and Culture (Paperback) This book was written by W. Scott Morton and J. Kenneth Olenik. Critically Inaccurate Information. I never want to purchase anything from these authors again. The material in the book contains very incorrect and slanderous information, as well as a failure to provide relevant information concerning Nichiren Daishonin and Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism, which the author references and has a lot to say about it, although it is obvious that he must not have researched it and threw together misinformation into the book only to write a book. I know this for a fact because I am a member of the Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism, which is True Mahayana Buddhism, with the Head Temple based in Japan. I have been to the Head Temple twice before, and to the temples in the United States, several times since joining in 1984. The Nichiren Shoshu is NOT political, as the authors present in their book. And Nichiren Daishonin was not political, either, as the authors present. Nor do the authors present the material in a responsible and informative manner, which would be the only suitable manner, especially for persons of their standing in the educational field. To understand the times and the culture of the country at the time, and the circumstances that Nichiren Daishonin was contending with, and to obtain CORRECT information on the actual beliefs and practice, the only reliable source would be the Nichiren Shoshu temples themselves. The Soka Gakkai International was previously a lay organization of the Nichiren Shoshu, organized by a teacher in Japan during the World War II turmoil and oppression. This is the organization which later became headed by Daisaku Ikeda, and is no longer in any way connected with the Nichiren Shoshu. Their practices do not follow the teachings and the lineage of the Nichiren Shoshu, and the SGI is also very politically involved, and greedy. The SGI was kicked out of the Nichiren Shoshu, and this split was very well known to the government officials here in the good o'le USA, as well as other countries. This Buddhism came to the USA in the early 1960s, and there were annual World Peace Parades in which USA politicians sometimes attended and well-known, award-winning entertainers that were members of the NSA-SGI (which it was at that time) also participated in. There is no excuse for someone so closely associated with and involved with, the educational system to write a book with such blatantly false or misleading information. Considering the interwoven relationships of religion and politics, and their supportive or non-supportive roles in research, science, medical, etc. fields, and their overrall effect on influencing societal behaviors, this is an extremely serious error of the authors. Not only am I so very dissatisfied with the information they presented, I am also very dissatisfied with their presentation of it. Based on this, I cannot trust their other information either, especially in reference to comments concerning the corruption of U.S. contractors, and the Japanese government, and similiar topics. Even if the information presented on those topics were correct, my question then becomes "Who is the corruptive force behind it all?". I refuse to provide support of any kind to the authors.