ABSTRACT
Researchers in Western academia have sought to determine the national character of the Japanese. The most famous of these in anthropology is Ruth Benedict’s 1946 book, The Chrysanthemum and the Sword. Benedict argued that Japanese culture was built on a hierarchical structure of obligation, which created a “shame culture” (as opposed to the United States, which had a “guilt culture”). As a result, the Japanese had a Janus-like character that incorporated both the polite and charming cultivator of chrysanthemums and the fanatical warrior. In psychology (and sociology), researchers aggregated the results of standardized personality tests across a number of Japanese people to provide a modal personality, which was taken as a measure of their national character. Comparing the results with other nationalities showed the Japanese to be both introvert and neurotic. While superficially consistent, I criticized both approaches for assuming a consistent national character, which I argued is counter to the historical evidence, which the present book sets out to demonstrate. I also argued that the Western view of the Japanese relates to their different cultural expectations (as culture-in-mind) and the intercultural relationship between them.
