Entries Tagged as 'Non-fiction'

The Japanese Have a Word for It

December 4, 2010

The Japanese Have a Word for It: The Complete Guide to Japanese Thought and Culture, written by Boye Lafayette De Mente, provides an interesting, if slightly dated, view of Japanese culture. The author is clearly well versed in the nuances of Japanese social constructs and the insane nuances of Japanese language. It is mostly aimed at those interested in possibly doing business in Japan or with native Japanese rather than the lay person, but De Mente writes in an easy to read and follow manner. Many of his insights are quite interesting and, for anime/manga fans like myself, can add a new level of understanding to events in your favorite series. Be warned, though, that the book was written in 1997, and some of the things noted is no longer true or are likely less common than it was when the book was written.

The biggest drawback I found with the book was its format. It is arranged as 230 "phrase-focused" chapters of 1-2 pages each, with each prodiving a bit of info on what De Mente considers to be "key words and expressions". With such an arrangement, the last 1/3 of the book or so became increasingly difficult to read because it became more and more repetitive. There are a small number of major points that seem to repeated in almost every chapter, and the latter chapters are more like mild variations of the previous ones. I think this book would have worked far better if it he done a different arrangement that focused on those different major aspects of Japanese culture. With the book supposedly targeted towards those who are new to doing business in Japan, I think such a method would have been far better than having it focused on these phrases that the reader would presumably not be familiar enough with to just to straight to one to study.

On the whole, I'd recommend this one for anyone interested in reading more on Japanese culture, but I'd suggest reading only the first half of it, then putting the rest aside for awhile before tackling part second half to avoid the tedium.

Rating: C+