70 Japanese Gestures

70 Japanese Gestures, by Hamiru-aqui, covers the gamut of hand gestures and body language crucial to surviving your business trip to Japan. This book teaches readers to impress their Japanese counterparts with their cultural savvy, understand unspoken gestures in negotiation and everyday communication, and to avoid cultural faux pas.

One of the most common complaints about doing business with the Japanese is dealing with the language barrier. By learning to communicate without words, one gains the upper hand on competition by making the Japanese feel at ease doing business with you, because they understand you.

In negotiation, nonverbal cues and body language are almost more important than the actual words spoken. Familiarity with Japanese gestures and the meanings of Japanese body language grants insight into the real meaning behind the words that are spoken aloud. Additionally, some seemingly innocuous American gestures may carry embarrassing, differing, or even offensive meanings to the Japanese.

In addition to teaching important body language and gestures for the more serious side of communicating with the Japanese, this book also teaches readers how to flirt, insult, excuse oneself, agree, and make wordless-promises; all gestures that will make communication clearer, easier, and more pleasant!

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Shrinking-Population Economics –
Lessons from Japan: What a Shrinking Population Really Means

Japan’s population has been aging for years. And now it is shrinking. Policy makers and corporate planners are understandably concerned. A smaller and older workforce will mean a decline in productive potential. Declining tax revenues will starve already-strapped municipalities. Regions and industries accustomed to subsisting on public works spending will lose their traditional grubstakes. Japan’s pension and health insurance programs will become unviable.

Although the demographic writing has been on Japan’s walls for decades, Japanese have been largely oblivious to the impending change. The nation is utterly unprepared for the increasingly conspicuous implications of population shrinkage and aging. Government, business academia, and the mass media are rushing to come to terms with the new demographic realities. Their haste is all too evident in a flurry of unfounded pronouncements and half-baked theories about Japan’s social and economic prospects.

Matsutani Akihiko offers a refreshingly well-informed and far-reaching account of the economic and social implications of the demographic change under way in Japan. In Shrinking-Population Economics, he demonstrates convincingly that demographic trends will occasion socio-economic change even more sweeping than most pundits have predicted.

Matsutani exposes the futility of widely proposed measures for forestalling population and economic shrinkage, such as encouraging larger families and encouraging an influx of foreign workers. He urges Japanese, instead, to learn to live with a smaller, older population. Most strikingly, he argues persuasively that population shrinkage and aging promise to redress the great tragedy of Japan’s postwar economic surge: the failure of economic growth to deliver commensurate improvement in the quality of life.

About the author:

Matsutani Akihiko, a former official in Japan’s Ministry of Finance, is a professor at Japan’s National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies. He has written extensively about the economic and social implications of demographic change.

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Shutting out the Sun

The world’s second-wealthiest country, Japan once seemed poised to overtake America. But its failure to recover from the economic collapse of the early 1990s was unprecedented, and today it confronts an array of disturbing social trends. Japan has the highest suicide rate and lowest birthrate of all industrialized countries, and a rising incidence of untreated cases of depression. Equally as troubling are the more than one million young men who shut themselves in their rooms, withdrawing from society, and the growing numbers of “parasite singles,” the name given to single women who refuse to leave home, marry, or bear children.

In Shutting Out the Sun, Michael Zielenziger argues that Japan’s rigid, tradition-steeped society, its aversion to change, and its distrust of individuality and the expression of self are stifling economic revival, political reform, and social evolution. Giving a human face to the country’s malaise, Zielenziger explains how these constraints have driven intelligent, creative young men to become modern-day hermits. At the same time, young women, better educated than their mothers and earning high salaries, are rejecting the traditional path to marriage and motherhood, preferring to spend their money on luxury goods and travel.

Smart, unconventional, and politically controversial, Shutting Out the Sun is a bold explanation of Japan’s stagnation and its implications for the rest of the world.

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Plastic Culture: How Japanese Toys Conquered the World

Why does growing up mean you have to grow out of your favorite toys? According to author Woodrow Phoenix, you don’t have to. Plastic Culture: How Japanese Toys Conquered the World is a colorful exploration in the world of plastic toys in both the US and in Japan.

Now that those lovers of the very first plastic toys are all grown-up there is a new breed of designers, artists, and fans on both sides of the Pacific. Plastic Culture opens with a brief history of American and Japanese plastic playthings from post-WWII to the present day. How both toy cultures influenced each other through cartoons, movies, and comic books is reflected on the toys created. For example, we can see how not only Godzilla had an impact on the west, but how American army shows, like “Combat!” influenced the modeling business in Japan.

Plastic Culture is divided into short chapters, each featuring an influential force on the culture of toys. Godzilla, Fast-Food Toys, Event Promotions…all these cultural influences lead to the meat of the book – the modern phenomenon of Urban Vinyl Toys.

Urban vinyl is the natural evolution of toys, as the adults who played with plastic toys in their youth want to recreate the experience, but from a grown-up angle. Several influences and artists are featured. More modern roots are explored, like the explosion of the toy industry with the introduction of Kenner’s Star Wars line in 1978, and Pee-Wee Herman in the mid-80s.  We meet artists from the US, Japan and other parts of Asia and can see how this history of trans-Pacific borrowing and expanding hasn’t stopped.

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The Haiku Apprentice: Memoirs of Writing Poetry in Japan

The Haiku Apprentice is a memoir of Abigail Friedman, a remarkable woman who lived as a diplomat in Japan for two years. In her book, the journey of a woman in Japan writing, discovering and exploring the ancient Japanese art of Haiku poetry is laid out in a style accessible to any reader. I highly recommend this book for anyone with even a passing interest in haiku or Japan.

I was immediately drawn to this book simply by the title. The Haiku Apprentice conjures up the image of a remote sanctuary; the student living side by side with the teacher, exploring the depth of their self identity and their passion for their art. And though this romantic image is somewhat different when finally compared to Abigail Friedman's honestly scripted experience, I think that parallels can be drawn between the image and the reality.

One thing that I appreciate about this book was that Friedman could have chosen to write a fascinating memoir simply about her experience as an expatriate and a diplomat in Japan. Her life story seems to be very unique, full of travel and adventure and she could have chosen to write about her experience from any number of fascinating aspects. However, she chose to tell a story via her very specific experience with haiku. By doing so, she brings haiku to the reader in a way that doesn't feel like a textbook or a lecture on the intricacies of an archaic art form. In fact Friedman lets the reader know that Haiku is an art form very much alive in contemporary Japan.

Friedman meets a member of a haiku group who invites her to join the group to see for herself what it is like. Despite her uncertainty Abigail's adventurous spirit guides her. Traveling to a part of the country she has never been to before she meets Momoko, the group's resident haiku master, and discovers that there is more to this coveted art form then a 5-7-5 syllabic structure. She starts to see haiku differently than before, and her understanding of this art form takes shape. As she describes her struggles learning to find the perfect kigo, or seasonal word, to make her haiku just right, the reader passes through the Japanese landscape along with her.

The book is organized in what seems to be a series of separate, but related, anecdotes or journal entries. I enjoyed this style because it gave me a sense of the reality from which the book came, that these were real memories from a real person. And in that sense, it felt as though I was being brought closer to the writer.

The haiku that are strewn throughout the book are written by a variety of people, from the old, revered Japanese masters such as Basho and Issa to Mrs. Friedman herself; she even includes a wonderful anecdote about a caption she read on the side of the bus. She writes 'Well, I knew it was an advertising jingle, but still, wasn't it an advertising jingle haiku?' As she encounters more haiku and begins to learn more about it, Friedman also gains a deeper understanding of Japanese culture

It is intriguing to read how Abigail's first impression of haiku is challenged as she uncovers more about this once elusive poetic style. Her story is charming and relatable, with tales about her work and life with her family mixed into her account of private meetings with her haiku and calligraphy teachers. She tells us about her experiences; her joys and frustrations while living in the foreign land and her personal relationship with haiku seems to thread through all aspects of her life, grounding her experience in Japan.

Anyone can appreciate this book, having traveled to Japan or not. So, order a copy today, and then be the first one in the neighborhood to start your own haiku group!

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The Japan Journals, 1947-2004

Any English-speaking Japanophile certainly knows the name Donald Ritchie. Well known for his translations and analyses of Japanese cinema, Ritchie opened the door for Japanese movies to the Western world. He was not only able to analyze the films, understanding both Eastern and Western sensibilities, but also befriended the filmmakers, and could often speak of the film's production from a first-person perspective. However, Ritchie didn't write only about movies. He has written numerous essays and books on Japan and the Japanese people.

Now PDI is happy to present, in commemoration of over 50 years of writing on Japan, Donald Ritchie's latest offering, The Japan Journals: 1947-2004. This is a collection of writing which spans Ritchie's entire life in Japan, and how shows both the man and the country changed, grew, and adapted over the last half century.

As numerous as memoirs are in popular literature today, none can compare to the close reality of a journal done in real time. We can be assured that not only are the accounts accurate in content, but also in the perspective of the writer at the time of the writing. Even in the briefest of entries Ritchie is able to describe not only what is going on around him, but his personal take on the situation, often with a humor that is never disrespectful. Here is a portion of the entry from September 26, 1955:

'In the morning Beppu looks less garish, but also less attractive. It looks, in the new light, like a town with a hangover...When I look out I see the steamer coming in from Osaka, right on time. It will dock precisely when it is supposed to.

'The boat is crowded with school children, all leaving Beppu... to exotic Kansai. Yes, I have been there, I say when asked. I saw Kyoto live. No, the golden Pavilion is not made of real gold (this in answer to a first-year student), but it looks like it. No, I do now know how much a geisha costs (this in answer to a high school junior)-his chances of acquiring one are, in any event, slight.'

The book is wonderfully edited by Leza Lowitz. Her biographical notes add to the big picture the journal entries create, and her organization is refreshing. For example, instead of putting the entries strictly in chronological order, she sometimes orders them by other criteria. Early in the book there is a section where, thanks to his film writing which had appeared in Western publications, he was tapped to host many famous Western visitors to Japan in the late 1950s. How timely it was reading the entry about Truman Capote.

Over 70 black and white pictures are scattered throughout the text. Many of the photographs capture Ritchie with the famous names he worked and socialized with, such Akira Kurosawa, but there are also pictures of the close friends he describes in the stories he tells. Ritchi's talent as a photographer is apparant, and the pictures of writer Yukio Mishima are especially haunting.

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The Midnight Eye Guide to New Japanese Film

For those not familiar with Midnight Eye, it is the premier English-language website covering Japanese film (www.midnighteye.com). The writers have not only spent over four years researching, watching and writing about Japanese film and the film industry, but have performed amazing interviews with a variety of directors, actors, writers, and other players in the Japanese film industry.

Although this book is spawned from the efforts of Mes and Sharp, these is not simply a paper version of what is on their incredibly thorough website. This guide is made up of entirely expanded and original material and is truly a useful and fascinating guide for anyone with any interest in modern Japanese cinema. Ringu director Hideo Nakata wrote the foreword.

Like the deconstruction of the studio system in the US in the late sixties to seventies, Japan experienced a similar reconstruction in the 1990s. The Guide to New Japanese Film introduces us to the directors who have gained more and more exposure in the west since this revolution has begun. Although some of the directors started their work many decades ago (i.e. Seijun Suzuki and Kinji Fukasaku) their work continues into this new era.

The guide is intelligently divided into sections by director. Each director receives an in-depth introduction with filmography, and then close-up looks at selected titles are presented. This is a perfect organizational system for both new fans and longtime viewers. Readers just getting introduced to Japanese cinema can read some interesting introductions which don't require a degree from film school to understand, and more seasoned cinemaphiles can get caught up on their most admired directors as well as learning interesting stories about their favorite Japanese movies of the last fifteen years and beyond.

The final chapter is titled "The Other Players" and has an exhaustive list of other directors and works who have not built up a large enough library to merit a chapter of their own. Many of these are the up-and-comers we will surely be hearing more and more in the years to come, and will likely have their own chapters in the next installment of this guide.

It appears that nothing gets past the editors of Midnight Eye. A few pages are even dedicated to a personal favorite, 1983's The Family Game, staring Juzo Itami and Yusaku Matsuda. This book is written for a western audience, not translated from Japanese, and essential information like DVD availability of titles are presented by country. (One of this writer's frustrations with the otherwise finely-detailed Eros Plus Massacre by David Desser was never knowing if it was possible to actually see the films so richly described.)

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The Way of Taiko

This terrific book is a thorough introduction to taiko and everything involved with discovering and practicing taiko drumming.

Don't miss the forward written by Seiichi Tanaka, founder and director of San Francisco Taiko Dojo, and the man who is credited with the introduction of taiko drumming to the U.S. This, along with the author's preface, sets the stage for understanding the book's inception, and gives the reader a more personal view of the presence of taiko in the U.S.

In an inspiring introductory section, Varian discusses the original use of taiko in Japan. She tells of how the drum came to be regarded as a manifestation of the gods. And how the drum was used in spiritual practices and in times of celebration of harvest, seasonal changes, ancestor worship, the New Year, and much more. For all of these occasions the drum was there to represent the gods or otherwise call them to the celebration. The origin of the drum and drumming in Japan is closely tied into its indigenous form of worship, Shinto. And the author makes a point of tying in the root spiritual aspect of taiko with the present day practice.

Varian goes into detail regarding the equipment used in taiko, from the different types of drums themselves to the traditional regalia worn when performing. Photos serve as great visual examples of these traditional elements. Other instruments seen and heard at a taiko performance are also introduced. And the instruments' history, as well as methods of creating these intruments and playing them, is expressed.

The most fascinating and meaty part of the book is the section on training in taiko. The physical requirements are detailed, including specifics about the importance of stance and how to properly hold bachi (drumsticks). The mental and spiritual aspects of taiko are also well covered, with emphasis on practice permeating life. This is the 'way' that the title suggests. Integral concepts, such as waza (action), karada (body) and rei (etiquette) are explained in depth with kanji characters included for those who have a concurrent interest in Japanese language. The author highlights the proper way to interact with your taiko sensei and fellow drummers, especially in regard to joining a dojo for the first time.

A glossary by David Leong is included in the end, making this excellent introductory text to taiko a wonderful reference text as well.

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The Anatomy of Dependence

The discovery that a major concept of human feeling -- easily expressed in everyday Japanese -- totally resisted translation into a Western language led Dr. Takeo Doi to explore and define an area of the psyche which has previously received little attention. The resulting essay, The Anatomy of Dependence, is one of the most penetrating analyses of the Japanese mind ever written, as well as an important original contribution to psychology that transcends the boundaries of cultures and nations.

Published in Japan as Amae no Kozo (The Structure of Amae), Dr. Doi's work is focused upon the word "amae" (indulgence) and its related vocabulary. Expressive of an emotion central to the Japanese experience, "amae" refers to the indulging, passive love that surrounds and supports the individual in a group, whether family, neighborhood, or the world at large. Considering the lack of such words in Western languages, Dr. Doi suggests inherent differences between the two cultures -- contrasting the ideal of self-reliance with those of interdependence and the indulgence of weaknesses. Yet, he finds that Western audiences have no difficulty in recognizing and identifying with the emotions he describes, and are even searching for a way to express this need.

While there is no doubt that the concept of "amae" is more developed in Japan and the feelings it engenders more profound, Dr. Doi's work is widely recognized as having a universal application. This translation of his most important essay has now been long welcomed as a major contribution -- not only as an insight into the Japanese mind, but into the minds of men everywhere.

About the Author:
Takeo Doi (b. 1920), M.D., has served as a professor at the University of Tokyo and International Christian University, Tokyo, and is one of Japan's leading psychiatrists. Born in Tokyo, he graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1942. He held a number of posts at American institutes and universities, including fellowships at the Menninger School of Psychiatry and the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute, and was visiting scientist at the National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland. He also headed the psychiatric department at St. Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo. Doi has published a number of works and contributed to many more, including The Anatomy of Dependence. (Source: publisher.)

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The Anatomy of Self: The Individual Versus Society

Like Doi's renowned Anatomy of Dependence, The Anatomy of Self addresses the question of the Japanese individual and his or her integration into Japanese society. Its approach is based on an analysis of the Japanese perception of public and private. What kind of society is made up of individuals capable of a constant traversing between behavior based on two simultaneously held, mutually contradictory modes of perception? Doi discusses this feature of the Japanese psyche, often referring to Western psychology. He compares the individual trauma that classic Western psychology believes to result from such a split, to the Japanese sense that adulthood is only achieved by acknowledging and accommodating the difference. Finally, the wide-ranging references to history and psychology serve to provoke thought on Freudian notions of the unconscious.

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The Japanese Mind: Understanding Contemporary Japanese Culture

Westerners who come to Japan for the first time know immediately that everything is different, but understanding how it is different is far more difficult. This book offers Westerners an invaluable key to understanding Japanese culture from the inside out. The book is a collection of twenty-eight essays that offer an informative, accessible look at the values, attitudes, behavior patterns, and communication styles of modern Japan from the unique perspective of the Japanese themselves.

A noted academic who teaches in Japan, Roger Davies explores the intellectual, spiritual, and behavioral cornerstones of Japanese culture that can help foreigners understand the people, the politics, and the lifestyle. He holds a Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Wales, Bangor. He is Professor of Applied Linguistics at Ehime University in Matsuyama, Japan, and is Academic Director of Ehime Universtiy's English Education Center.

Osamu Ikeno holds master's degrees in linguistics and ESL from Kobe University and the University of Hawaii. He is Associate Professor of English Education in the Faculty of Education at Ehime University.

The Japanese Mind is an illuminating book for travelers, students, and anyone interested in building a familiarity with Japan.

Selections from the 28 chapter titles include:

• Aimai: Ambiguity and the Japanese
• Chinmoku: Silence in Japanese Communication
• Danjyo Kankei: Male and Female Relationships in Japan
• Giri: Japanese Social Obligations
• Sempai/Kouhai: Seniority Rules in Japanese Relations
• Soushiki: Japanese Funerals
• Uchi to Soto: Dual Meanings in Japanese Human Relations
• Wabi-Sabi: Simplicity and Elegance as Japanese Ideals of Beauty.

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Japan Unmasked: The Character & Culture of the Japanese

Despite the fact that Japan has had close relations with the West for over a hundred years, the amount of actual knowledge about Japan--as opposed to stereotypes or assumptions--is quite low. In Japan Unmasked, Boye Lafayette De Mente explores what it is that makes the Japanese "Japanese," and how Westerners can understand and deal with the fundamental differences in our ways of thinking and acting. Many of the points and issues brought up in the book will be interesting and enlightening even for the seasoned Japanophile, and is a good read for anyone wanting to increase their understanding of Japan and expand their cultural horizons.

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Japan's Cultural Code Words:
233 Key Terms That Explain the Attitudes and Behavior of the Japanese

In the maze of Japanese formalities, polite language, and culturally sensitive issues, it's easy for Westerners to become lost and confused about what exactly is "going on," and what Japanese people really mean when they say certain things. Japan's Cultural Code Words is an excellent guide to the meaning and connotation of many Japanese words that could potentially elude even Japanese-speaking Westerners. With Boye Lafayette De Mente's engaging writing style, precise definitions, and connotational background, this book is indispensable for those hoping to "decipher" the Japanese cultural and linguistic code.

Author Boye Lafayette De Mente is legend among students of Japanese culture. He published the very first book on doing business with the Japanese entitled Japanese Etiquette & Ethics in Business in 1959. He has written over 30 books on Japan, Korea, and China, with more constantly on the way. Many of his books fall into the category of tour guides and language guides (The Pocket Tokyo Subway Guide, for example), and are generally for those with little experience in Japan. Other books like culture and etiquette guides are for those with some foundation to build upon for example, Kata: The Key to Understanding and Dealing with the Japanese. He also writes at a level for those with a solid understanding of Japanese language and culture can learn from and enjoy as in Japan's Cultural Code Words: 233 Key terms That Explain the Attitudes and Behavior of the Japanese.

The structure of Japan's Cultural Code Words is made up of a collection of short essays on the nuances of the Japanese language and culture. De Mente gives definitions, the historical context, and usually an explanation as to "what this means for you" for non-native Japanese readers. The chapters are concise and entertaining, as well as informative. But make no mistake; this is not an introductory course in Japanese culture, but a broad look at over 200 "Japan-isms" that make the Japanese who they are. The target audience is readers (business people or otherwise) who have had some experience with Japan.,

The book covers a wide range of topics, and the use of "code words" in the title might imply that the book is limited to essays on language, when in reality there is much more. Some of the topics covered are more broad, like Bukkyo, or Buddhism, and Bushido, or "the way of the warrior", and some are very specific, like Kanban, the "just-in-time" parts delivery system developed at Toyota Motor Corporation.

Japan's Cultural Code Words opens with a too-brief introduction on the value of silence in Japanese communication (certainly an ironically valuable subject to cover in a book about cultural code words). De Mente's tone is of one who indeed understands the intricacies of both Western and Japanese culture and thinking. Even though there is little doubt the level of his achievement is shared by few, his approach is never condescending to those from either side of the Pacific. De Mente does not, however, reserve the right to pass educated judgments when necessary. There are historical and cultural reasons for the way Americans and Japanese behave and conduct business. For example, De Mente doesn't pull any punches in his chapter entitled "Gaijin Kusai: Smelling Like a Foreigner". Despite the clear historical and geographical reasons for Japan's attitudes towards foreigners (and Japanese that embrace foreign concepts and ideas), the attitude really is a hindrance to individual progress in this modern world. De Mente laments that "it will, unfortunately, be several more generations before [these prejudices] will finally be diluted down the to the point that anti-foreign feelings will no longer be a problem," (p70). Over a course of a few sentences he can clearly give a historical context to a given concept, say Mon or "family crests", in which he traces the modern tradition of religiously wearing company logos on suit lapels back to the traditions of the Heian Period (794-1185). To give a clear range of the topics covered would require more space than allowed here.

Japan's Cultural Code Words is not a reference guide, despite the fact that the chapters are arranged in alphabetical order. Each chapter is brief, generally only a page or two long, yet it can be read cover-to-cover or in short spurts when the reader wants a quick insight into some aspect of Japan.

One of the nicest aspects of the book is the author's occasional inclusion of personal stories to add depth and a personal touch to the concept he is addressing. De Mente has a wealth of experience, and to not include it would have been a disservice to the reader. The author's sense of humor also comes through in many of the stories. For example, the chapter "Hiru Andon: No Light in the Eyes" gives a hilarious account of the root of the term that is the chapter's title as "Daytime Lamp" and it's double meaning of an unnecessary office worker, originating in over-crowded government offices, and also as the English equivalent of a "dim bulb" (but this usage is more commonly covered by the Japanese for a florescent light, which takes longer to light than an incandescent bulb).

Overall, Japan's Cultural Code Words is an interesting, entertaining, and valuable book. People with experience in Japan who wish to expand and deepen their knowledge will find this book fascinating. Japanese associates may also enjoy discussing some (certainly not all) of the lighter topics covered, and without a doubt, some of the facts shared in the book will be new to even the most experienced Japanese native and Japanophile.

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A Practical Guide to Living in Japan: Everything You Need to Know to Successfully Settle in

Stone Bridge Press

Well written and insightful, A Practical Guide to Living in Japan is quite possibly one of the best books ever written on the subject. This is not simply because it is difficult to find many books on the topic. Author Jarrell Sieff gives the reader so much detailed and valuable information about what to expect going to Japan that any foreigner who has spent time in Japan will find his observations both accurate and nostalgic. From bowing on the phone to local holidays, Sieff helps foreign nationals prepare against culture shock by giving an in depth account of what to expect in Japan.

This guide goes into great detail about the things every foreigner will need to know about living in Japan. You can learn what to expect in matters of immigration procedures, finding a place to live, setting up and paying for utilities, bank accounts, postal services, healthcare, finding schools and jobs, transportation, etiquette, and customs. Sieff covers all of those topics and goes into detail about information necessary to foreigners. In the sections on transportation alone, the book details information on getting around on trains and subways, buying commuter passes, buses, taxis, bullet trains, airline tickets, traveling to and from the airport, obtaining a driver's license, buying and owning a car, traffic violations, motorcycles, and more.

A Practical Guide to Living in Japan lives up to its title: the book presents useful information in a practical manner. Yet it is not dry reading. Sieff's writing style keeps the reader wanting to learn more. And, with so much detailed information about life in Japan, from what to expect for earthquakes to Internet access, this guide is a must read for those traveling to Japan.

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The Book of Five Rings

Setting down his thoughts on swordplay, on winning, and on spirituality, legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi intended this modest work as a guide for his immediate disciples and future generations of samurai. He had little idea he was penning a masterpiece that would be eagerly devoured by people in all walks of life centuries after his death.

Along with The Art of War by Sun Tzu, The Book of Five Rings has long been regarded as an invaluable treatise on the strategy of winning. Musashi's timeless advice on defeating an adversary, throwing an opponent off-guard, creating confusion, and other techniques for overpowering an assailant was addressed to the readers of earlier times on the battlefield, and now serves the modern reader in the battle of life.

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Bushido: The Soul of Japan

Kodansha America

Written over one hundred years ago, not long after the fall of the feudal social system in Japan, Bushido The Soul of Japan is a historical exploration of the origins of Japanese ethics and morals. The author, Inazo Nitobe, cited Bushido (way of the samurai) as a source from which turn-of-the-century Japanese ethical and moral ideals had developed. He draws on many aspects of Japanese historical social realm that he saw as contributing factors to the development of the bushi (samurai) psyche and code of behavior, including the influences of Buddhism, Shinto, and Confucianism. Nitobe also dips into his own particular background in Western studies in order to draw out comparisons with renowned thinkers of ancient Rome, and Greece. This gives the book a surprisingly broad range in this topic and really strengthens the discourse of the writer.

For a non-native speaker or English, Inazo Nitobe writes with a rare grasp of literary English, and an accessible style. This is impressive alone, beside the fact that even now the book retains this accessibility more than one hundred years after it was first published.

Chapters of discussion include 'Sources of Bushido', 'Politeness', 'Honour', 'The Duty of Loyalty', as well as other related subjects elucidating the character of the samurai of feudal Japan. The book culminates in chapters discussing the influence, presence, and future of Bushido from the perspective of Nitobe's present-day Japan.

This work gives insight into Bushido that is unique. It goes without saying, that a present day writer would not have the same access to historical perspectives as Inazo Nitobe did in pre-world war Japan. And being alive in Japan as close in time as he was to the re-opening of Japan and the start of the Meiji era, also contributes to the unique voice of the author.

Perhaps if a person has only a small interest in Bushido they may yet find this book to be an interesting insight into social perspectives in turn-of-the 20th century Japan. It is a small window into what was the world of a rapidly changing and growing national identity, and the background of the author, and the included first and tenth edition preface is as interesting as any chapter in the book itself.

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