Modern Japanese Culture: The Insider View

 (1 customer review)

Generally speaking, this is an interesting and handy book. It covers a wide range of material in a clear and concise form, and should be useful for both the beginning student as an intro and to the longtime student as a good reference and summary (as well as a guide to further research). I especially found refreshing Morton's approach of focusing on the thoughts and opinions of Japanese cultural critics on Japanese culture in general and cultural productions in particular (hence "the Insider's View"). A lot of this material has been relatively ignored in English-language studies, and, well, it shouldn't be.

Chapter 1 is a useful overview of various writers trying to define Japanese culture, from the philosophically sophisticated to the unabashedly essentialist "Nihonjinron" types (who are handled with admirable tact while not given a free ride)--this includes a good discussion of such figures as Nishida Kitaro, Watsuji Tetsuro, Kuki Shuzo, Maruyama Masao, Kawai Hayao,...Read more