Japan's Cultural Code Words (9780804835749)

Japan's Cultural Code Words offers a study of Japanese society through analysis of key terms and concepts that define Japanese attitudes and behaviors.

Japan's traditional culture is so powerful that it continues to be the prevailing force in molding and tuning the national character of the Japanese, resulting in a society that simultaneously emphasizes both the modern and the traditional.

The best and fastest way to an understanding of the traditional, emotional side of Japanese attitudes and behavior is through their "business and cultural code words"—key terms that reveal, in depth, their psychology and philosophy. The book features 233 essays, arranged alphabetically from "Ageashi / Tripping on Your Own Tongue" to "Zenrei / Breaking the Molds of the Past," that dive into these code words. Long-term expatriate and internationally-renowned Japanologist Boye Lafayette De Mente offers personal insights into the extremes of Japanese behavior and the dynamics of one of the world's most fascinating societies.


About the Author:
Boye Lafayette De Mente has been involved with Japan, China, and Korea since the late 1940s as a member of a U.S. intelligence agency, student, trade journalist, editor, and author working out of Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, and Singapore. He is a graduate of Jochi University in Tokyo and The American Institute for Foreign Trade (now Thunderbird: The School of Global Management). His 70-plus books include Instant Japanese, Business Guide to Japan, and Japan Unmasked.