The psychology of culture in Japan

This chapter describes the development of the psychology of culture in Japan, from a chronological perspective. From its culture and personality roots, through scrutiny of Western hegemony in methodology and its lack of fit in studying the Japanese of recent years, we have outlined the evolution of this area of psychology. Theoretical developments are traced, including fudoron, amae, tateshakai, kanjinshugi. Those indigenous theories are referenced with regard to the high context character of the Japanese culture, which renders traditional reductionist research methods inadequate in accurately tapping Japanese-ness in cross-cultural research.