Reviews for The Japanese Mind: Understanding Contemporary Japanese Culture

The average rating for The Japanese Mind: Understanding Contemporary Japanese Culture based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-10-12 00:00:00 Thomas Herrera This was a nice little introductory book to the functions of Japanese society. The questions formulated at the end of each chapter are particularly good for sparking interesting thoughts and conversations. However, I had a few problems with it. The author projects the moral biases of the liberal west onto Japan and constantly criticizes them for not being egalitarian and globalized enough. I think the authors should have thought about these criticisms more critically and evaluated the hierarchical nature of Japanese society better. But then again, I guess the work of evaluating whether an idea is right or wrong is not the objective of a cultural anthropologist, but rather of a philosopher. So what I'm really saying is that the author should have just stayed within his bounds. Instead of criticizing 4,000+ year old Japanese social norms according to the standards of egalitarian social norms (which are maybe a few hundred years old, at best), he should just keep trying to describe Japan neutrally and objectively.

Review # 2 was written on 2019-07-21 00:00:00 Thomas Hill This collection of 28 essays can serve as a text in cross-cultural communication. The writers are senior seminar students at Ehime University in Matsuyama, Japan in a cross-cultural class. Each essay covers a different theme and is named by the Japanese word for the custom or cultural value. The word is explained with context and examples; Research is cited. All essays are followed by discussion questions. Some essays have case studies and some present topics for further exploration. Harmony is shown to be an important value in Japanese life. It infuses almost all of the customs in these essays from the value of silence to seniority in personal and business relationships. Some of the essays define communication and customs that are universal, such as gift giving, showing how they play out in Japan. The longest chapter is on funerary customs which is very detailed (as are the customs themselves). Most of the essays speak to a diminished standing of the custom in modern Japan. As with any collection of essays some are of more interest than others. I found the essays on Aimai (ambiguity) and Amae (dependence) most helpful. The description of Wabi-Sabi was very good for helping to understand the simplicity and elegance in Japanese art. While this book is of interest to those who travel to Japan or work with Japanese people, its better use is as a text for cross-cultural studies.