ABSTRACT
The image of Japan as a peculiar and unique society was thus established at the onset in the European mind. The common thread which binds a large number of works on Japan is the persistence of the age-old Orientalist representations, which sometimes appear as new discoveries when in fact they are recycled versions of existing stereotypes. For Japan, the 1980s and 1990s have been characterized by an unprecedented degree of internationalization, a fact which has resulted in the parallel growth of both academic and popular interest on the subject of Japan at large. Japan is attributed with qualities that are diametrically opposite of what supposedly characterized the West: while the West is conceived as muscular, rational, Japan remained feminine, and backward. The inherent variability of sensory perception itself can affect the resulting interpretation. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
