ABSTRACT
From history books on Japan, we learn that the society has actively imported, adopted, and promoted new and advanced cultures, political systems, scientific technologies, and other knowledge and inventions from the most esteemed foreign countries at the time. Over the 200-year period from 630 A.D., Japan achieved epoch-making growth during a time at which Chinese culture and Buddhism were introduced from the Tang dynasty, one of the most sophisticated civilizations at the time. The Meiji era, starting in 1868, brought about the end of Samurai history and opened the doors for the New Government to start modernizing Japan. The adaptation was broad and diverse, transfiguring Japan into a modern country, the first Western-style nation in Asia. The ensuing years after World War II was a time of recovery from devastation and of advancement to a country capable of manufacturing world-class industrial products based on science and technology. The Japanese people have long adored, respected, and studied the civilizations, cultures, and scientific achievements of advanced countries. Japan, through sending out its own human resources to other countries and inviting highly skilled specialists from abroad, has effectively utilized the knowledge acquired toward the growth of the nation. The country has long been accused of being skillful at imitating foreign ideas; however, the Japanese have demonstrated a high sense of ingenuity and curiosity, and great enthusiasm to take on new civilizations and cultures, and adapt them in their own way. They also have shown the necessary motivation and talent to further advance imported ideas to make them fit their own styles.
