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Japan Hinter Dem Lächeln: Götter, Gangster, Geishas
Subtitle: ON SEXUAL DEMONS, SACRED MOTHERS, TRANSVESTITES, GANGSTERS, AND OTHER JAPANESE CULTURAL HEROES From the back cover: After reading this book, you will never look at Japan and the Japanese in quite the same way again. For you will see Japan as more than a land of Toyotas, transistors, tea ceremonies, and flower arranging. You will understand it also as a land of people with dreams and fantasies, and a morality and an immorality all their own. BEHIND THE MASK is an exploration of that Japan -- as expressed in its pornographic movies and comic books, massage parlors and strip joints, popular TV shows and entertainment idols, and other manifestations of Japanese attitudes and activities in the realm of the psyche and the senses.
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First published January 1, 1989
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About the author
Ian Buruma
90 books259 followersIan Buruma is a British-Dutch writer and academic, much of whose work focuses on the culture of Asia, particularly that of 20th-century Japan, where he lived and worked for many years.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
April 20, 2022
Slashing swords, sob stories and sex
Starting with the origin myths of ancient Japan, Ian Buruma traces patterns of Japanese culture as revealed in popular forms. If those myths, folk tales and stories of old-time samurai heroes are now somewhat passé, if the famous kabuki theatre has congealed into time-worn, but still beloved stories, many patterns of thought, action, and feeling continued up to the 1980s, when this book came out. American anthropologist Ruth Benedict wrote a book called “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword”, published in 1946, which examined far more formal aspects of Japanese cultural behavior and sensibilities. While the tea ceremony, flower arranging, cherry blossom viewing and so on are widely known to be Japanese proclivities, talking about them does not in any way cover the world of Japanese popular culture.
A JAPANESE MIRROR deals especially with the ties between men and women, not only sexually, but in terms of family relations. While men sometimes appear as tough, even murderous samurai or yakuza (gangster) heroes, they also can be portrayed in films, comics, or literature as weaklings, dominated by “demon women” who turn out to be mothers or wives. There’s an entire chapter called “Making Fun of Father” with a very sadistic twist to some of the examples. There is a long chapter about prostitution and attitudes towards it. Unimbued with Western morals and Christian principles, the Japanese pop culture contained much more violence, sadistic torture, and non-heterosexual views of the world than the West did up to very recent times. Males played all the female roles in kabuki from long ago. The famous Takarazuka all-female theater did the opposite. Image is everything, according to Buruma, and form is much more important than content. The most murderous samurai hero or gangster has to have style. The fact that he’s a killer is far less important—that is, unlike most Western pop culture, there are no moral lessons to be learned. If you read this book, you are going to find endless interesting examples from a very different pop culture, which has nevertheless exerted its influence on the Western variety, especially through animé films and manga styles.
Japanese society tends to be far more group-oriented than Western ones. The individual continually bows to social pressure and conforms. Buruma discusses tatemae---the outward form of behavior in which conformity to group positions and group standards is paramount---and contrasts it with honne—the true feelings that one has, but seldom exhibits. Characters who step out of tatemae and living apart from groups, continually give their actual opinions, are often idealized but seldom emulated---from Botchan (Natsume Soseki’s character in a novel by that name), to Tora-san, the unlikely hero of around 50 movies in a film series (Otoko wa Tsurai yo---It’s Hard to Be a Man!)
Buruma, like Ruth Benedict, discusses some of the Japanese cultural concepts that underlie a lot of behavior….on, giri, wa, and so forth…concepts not much favored in more individualistic societies. Many people, both Japanese and foreigners, pronounce Japan’s culture, and so, Japanese people, to be unique, unfathomable by outsiders. I would not agree at all. Of course, to understand another culture takes time, it takes effort, but in all cases it can be done. We are all human beings. Kekkyoku no tokoro ne, watakushi-tachi wa minna ningen da. There are no separate species!
Starting with the origin myths of ancient Japan, Ian Buruma traces patterns of Japanese culture as revealed in popular forms. If those myths, folk tales and stories of old-time samurai heroes are now somewhat passé, if the famous kabuki theatre has congealed into time-worn, but still beloved stories, many patterns of thought, action, and feeling continued up to the 1980s, when this book came out. American anthropologist Ruth Benedict wrote a book called “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword”, published in 1946, which examined far more formal aspects of Japanese cultural behavior and sensibilities. While the tea ceremony, flower arranging, cherry blossom viewing and so on are widely known to be Japanese proclivities, talking about them does not in any way cover the world of Japanese popular culture.
A JAPANESE MIRROR deals especially with the ties between men and women, not only sexually, but in terms of family relations. While men sometimes appear as tough, even murderous samurai or yakuza (gangster) heroes, they also can be portrayed in films, comics, or literature as weaklings, dominated by “demon women” who turn out to be mothers or wives. There’s an entire chapter called “Making Fun of Father” with a very sadistic twist to some of the examples. There is a long chapter about prostitution and attitudes towards it. Unimbued with Western morals and Christian principles, the Japanese pop culture contained much more violence, sadistic torture, and non-heterosexual views of the world than the West did up to very recent times. Males played all the female roles in kabuki from long ago. The famous Takarazuka all-female theater did the opposite. Image is everything, according to Buruma, and form is much more important than content. The most murderous samurai hero or gangster has to have style. The fact that he’s a killer is far less important—that is, unlike most Western pop culture, there are no moral lessons to be learned. If you read this book, you are going to find endless interesting examples from a very different pop culture, which has nevertheless exerted its influence on the Western variety, especially through animé films and manga styles.
Japanese society tends to be far more group-oriented than Western ones. The individual continually bows to social pressure and conforms. Buruma discusses tatemae---the outward form of behavior in which conformity to group positions and group standards is paramount---and contrasts it with honne—the true feelings that one has, but seldom exhibits. Characters who step out of tatemae and living apart from groups, continually give their actual opinions, are often idealized but seldom emulated---from Botchan (Natsume Soseki’s character in a novel by that name), to Tora-san, the unlikely hero of around 50 movies in a film series (Otoko wa Tsurai yo---It’s Hard to Be a Man!)
Buruma, like Ruth Benedict, discusses some of the Japanese cultural concepts that underlie a lot of behavior….on, giri, wa, and so forth…concepts not much favored in more individualistic societies. Many people, both Japanese and foreigners, pronounce Japan’s culture, and so, Japanese people, to be unique, unfathomable by outsiders. I would not agree at all. Of course, to understand another culture takes time, it takes effort, but in all cases it can be done. We are all human beings. Kekkyoku no tokoro ne, watakushi-tachi wa minna ningen da. There are no separate species!
August 5, 2013
Ian Buruma's nonfiction tends to be wonderful, and this book is no exception.
In one sense, this is an attempt to do something fairly standard: understand a people and their culture through the stories they tell about themselves. In another sense, this is an extremely unique work, however, in that not only does each chapter stand alone as genuinely insightful film or fiction criticism but together the essays constitute a nearly complete, nuanced and sensitive account of what one might call a "prototypical" Japanese psyche. Keeping in mind that people in Japan, like all countries, are individuals and do not conform to some unitary national mode of thinking, it is immensely helpful to understand the standard cultural tropes with which people describe and relate to the world they live in.
Buruma begins with Japanese founding myths, which in a few crucial ways differ greatly from those of Ancient Greece and Rome or even other Asian nations. He then discusses key works across a variety of genres, including No and Kabuki theater, fiction, and later film and manga. He excels at tying these works together by explaining core concepts which aid in elucidating the emotional reactions of both the characters and the audience. In some cases, these concepts have formal names, like giri, and in others they are less easy to encapsulate, but equally important in understanding why characters behave the way they do.
To top it all of, Buruma's erudition and sense of humor makes the book a pleasure to read. I'd recommend this book, despite its age, to anyone interested in a survey of Japanese fiction and film, and also to anyone curious about Japan in general.
In one sense, this is an attempt to do something fairly standard: understand a people and their culture through the stories they tell about themselves. In another sense, this is an extremely unique work, however, in that not only does each chapter stand alone as genuinely insightful film or fiction criticism but together the essays constitute a nearly complete, nuanced and sensitive account of what one might call a "prototypical" Japanese psyche. Keeping in mind that people in Japan, like all countries, are individuals and do not conform to some unitary national mode of thinking, it is immensely helpful to understand the standard cultural tropes with which people describe and relate to the world they live in.
Buruma begins with Japanese founding myths, which in a few crucial ways differ greatly from those of Ancient Greece and Rome or even other Asian nations. He then discusses key works across a variety of genres, including No and Kabuki theater, fiction, and later film and manga. He excels at tying these works together by explaining core concepts which aid in elucidating the emotional reactions of both the characters and the audience. In some cases, these concepts have formal names, like giri, and in others they are less easy to encapsulate, but equally important in understanding why characters behave the way they do.
To top it all of, Buruma's erudition and sense of humor makes the book a pleasure to read. I'd recommend this book, despite its age, to anyone interested in a survey of Japanese fiction and film, and also to anyone curious about Japan in general.
August 30, 2014
A gem of a book I accidentally stumbled upon. Ian Buruma knows what he is writing about (small wonder since he had been living in Japan for seven years) and has very insightful and sharp remarks about the Japanese society and some of its particularities (the cult of mother, the worship of immaculate beauty that reaches its peak in destruction, etc.) which are usually omitted or sugarcoated in other works representing the country/nation/mentality.
The only downside I can find with the book is unsystematic presentation since it is unclear what the author was trying to accomplish by compiling essays on various topics and giving us random glimpses into the core of the Japanese society and their way of thinking. Nevertheless, this is an excellent read and very recommendable to anyone interested in Japan / sociology.
The only downside I can find with the book is unsystematic presentation since it is unclear what the author was trying to accomplish by compiling essays on various topics and giving us random glimpses into the core of the Japanese society and their way of thinking. Nevertheless, this is an excellent read and very recommendable to anyone interested in Japan / sociology.
May 5, 2012
I don't know how beneficial it was for me to read this. First of all, it is likely dated since it was written in the 80s, almost 30 years ago. I felt really offended through most of it, because it focused on such grotesque aspects of Japanese culture and insisted they were the socially acceptable norm. I don't know how true that is, but I would never assume such things of the Japanese people that I meet. Overall, the book had some interesting insights into why certain aspects of Japanese society are the way they are, but it felt negative and biased in one direction.
October 1, 2025
"Buruma's informed and perceptive study not only tells us a good deal about matriarchs, warriors, geishas, whores and hoodlums of Japanese fact and fiction, but also indentifies the deeply rooted, erotic violent and sado-masochistic fantasies which lie just beneath the surface of an exceptionally ordered society." Graham Howes, Evening Standard (UK) quoted on the back cover of the 1995 paperback edition from Vintage.
Let me make one thing very clear this is not an examination of Japanese society through anime, indeed I don't think Japan's rich 'graphic' periodical culture gets a mention - he certainly doesn't mention the 'Boys Love' manga's though he covers other things such as Takarazuka theatre (look it up!) which are equally alien to our, occidental, modes of thinking.
I think anything written by Mr, Buruma is worth reading, particularly about Japan and Asia because he knows these areas and lived there so anything he writes in steeped in both experience and deep reflection and thought. But that doesn't mean that if you are seeking an account of Japanese society as it is 2025 you should rely on this book - but it would provide with you much to think over while reading more recent books.
I refer to the review in the UK Guardian newspaper when it was reissued in 2012: https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...
Let me make one thing very clear this is not an examination of Japanese society through anime, indeed I don't think Japan's rich 'graphic' periodical culture gets a mention - he certainly doesn't mention the 'Boys Love' manga's though he covers other things such as Takarazuka theatre (look it up!) which are equally alien to our, occidental, modes of thinking.
I think anything written by Mr, Buruma is worth reading, particularly about Japan and Asia because he knows these areas and lived there so anything he writes in steeped in both experience and deep reflection and thought. But that doesn't mean that if you are seeking an account of Japanese society as it is 2025 you should rely on this book - but it would provide with you much to think over while reading more recent books.
I refer to the review in the UK Guardian newspaper when it was reissued in 2012: https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...
October 11, 2019
A Japanese Mirror, published in 1984, is Ian Buruma's dissection of the myths that imbue the darker segments of Japan's culture. He doesn't hold back; his cuts are sharp and deep. The "mirror" here can represent a number of things: a reflection of the nation's history on its present, its heroes and villains on society, or art on life and vice versa, and the way society wants to see itself and also, conversely, how it doesn't want to see itself (the wandering hero, for example—like Tora-san, charming and beloved by audiences as an anachronism incompatible with modern-day Japan and its norms, and rejecting inclusion in this society anyway).
On the mirror concept, Buruma writes:
The morbid and sometimes grotesque taste that runs through Japanese culture—and has done for centuries—is a direct result of being made to conform to such a strict and limiting code of normality. The theatrical imagination, the world of the bizarre is a parallel, or rather the flip-side of reality, as fleeting and intangible as a reflection in the mirror.
Buruma covers so much in the book in terms of films, literature, historical figures, actors, archetypes, social roles and so forth, that it's as illuminating a read as it is useful as a reference. It left plenty of impressions on me and influenced how I view aspects of the culture. And these impressions were not all positive. Buruma has such a masterful way with words, and so broad an understanding of Japan, it's often hard not to agree with him.
Although the book came out in the early 1980s, a lot of it still feels relevant to Japan today, though I'd argue that many of the more extreme cultural elements that Buruma brings to the fore have been whittled down over the past decades since the freewheeling days of the economic boom and also due to Japan being further pried out of its isolation by globalization. All in all, an excellent book that's rich with ideas and acute observation.
On the mirror concept, Buruma writes:
The morbid and sometimes grotesque taste that runs through Japanese culture—and has done for centuries—is a direct result of being made to conform to such a strict and limiting code of normality. The theatrical imagination, the world of the bizarre is a parallel, or rather the flip-side of reality, as fleeting and intangible as a reflection in the mirror.
Buruma covers so much in the book in terms of films, literature, historical figures, actors, archetypes, social roles and so forth, that it's as illuminating a read as it is useful as a reference. It left plenty of impressions on me and influenced how I view aspects of the culture. And these impressions were not all positive. Buruma has such a masterful way with words, and so broad an understanding of Japan, it's often hard not to agree with him.
Although the book came out in the early 1980s, a lot of it still feels relevant to Japan today, though I'd argue that many of the more extreme cultural elements that Buruma brings to the fore have been whittled down over the past decades since the freewheeling days of the economic boom and also due to Japan being further pried out of its isolation by globalization. All in all, an excellent book that's rich with ideas and acute observation.
August 19, 2018
Although certainly dated, I found the general ideas to be quite illuminating. The book predates the relatively recent Japan-mania, or Japanophilia, that large swathes of Westerners exhibit today, with the increase in interest in Japanese music, manga and anime, so there is little reference to anime characters familiar with many of us. However, it was a fascinating personal exercise to draw parallels between the themes he spoke about and the anime characters I know and love. One could not fail to think of Dragon Ball’s Goku when he speaks of the childish, boyish adult heroes, or Trigun’s Vash the Stampede when giving context to the wandering hero, or the myriad examples of the idiot, insignificant father in many movies. Instead, the author makes reference to obscure (at least for a western audience) movies and plays that are largely indecipherable to the outsider.
I wish the book could be updated to make more modern references in light of this phenomenon, which would provide invaluable weight to the contemporary Japanese entertainment landscape.
I wish the book could be updated to make more modern references in light of this phenomenon, which would provide invaluable weight to the contemporary Japanese entertainment landscape.
October 22, 2012
Down to earth analysis of some of Japanese 'types' of people as they appear in the arts or pop culture. Nevertheless, be careful reading it as it is 30 years old and some aspects of society of course have changed. But for a general overview of Japanese aesthetics and construction of characters, it is still a good read.
January 13, 2008
One of the first books I got into with respect to Japanese sub-culture. Buruma is a very good writer/journalist. The thing is he doesn't have the Donald Richie cool. Yet, I learned a lot from this book.
June 10, 2018
Surprisingly bland. Outdated. More judgmental and less insightful than the author's other books on Japan, with some glaring, repeated factual errors.
March 21, 2022
This is a very interesting exploration of Japanese culture, which is well-written, informative, and entertaining. However many of the references seem from quite a long time ago now, and a reader coming to this book for the first time may find it somewhat dated.
February 4, 2018
Ian Buruma's 'Japanese Mirror: Heroes and Villains in Japanese Culture' opens by exploring Japan's eighth-century foundational myth. This story is then extrapolated to explain certain notions which are ingrained in Japanese culture. Buruma identifies three traits threaded throughout Japanese cultural practices and memory: jealousy (coupled with its projection of personal deficiencies and damaging capacity for incorrect assumptions), pollution (physical or mental degradation, and society's innate corrupting effect), and death.
The author proceeds to examine how collective psychology is enacted within Japanese society. He observes that imbedded and omnipresent social obligations inevitably lead to suppressed emotion. This controlled character finds emotional outlet through Shinto religious practices, creative mediums, or other rituals which are socially and psychologically compartmentalised from shared behavioural conventions. Ginzburg's peasant radicalism runs deep in Japan, and one only need peel away a thin veneer to discover its presence.
Literary figures are used to demonstrate a Japanese cultural dialectic that exists between the public and private sphere. Buruma explains the linguistic distinction made between tatemae (facade and public posture), and honne (the world of private feelings and opinions which under normal circumstances remains repressed). Idolised cultural figures are frequently outsiders who defy pervasive social norms. The hero's individuality is therefore a public reassertion of personality free from artificially created social strictures, and their actions are an expression of purity resulting from baser human character. The wandering loner is a lifestyle which is simultaneously romanticised and pitied. For most, it remains an aspiration which is beyond the realms of possibility, except when indulging imagination freed from such conventions.
Buruma goes on to examine various dominant cultural traits in Japanese society. Each of these characteristics occupy a separate chapter: the eternal mother (women's central role within cultural memory and social structures - outwardly powerless, yet holding pervasive influence); the demon women (anxiety borne from an irreconcilable juxtaposition between women's maternal role and their capacity for unrestrained sexual desire); the human work of art (staged public conformity and ritualised aesthetic roles); the art of prostitution (the 'floating world' and its role in Japanese history and culture); the third sex (the aesthetic and transcendent beauty in artifice towards the ideal, and androgeny as a means of escaping rigorously imposed social obligations through prolonging the impermanence of youth); the loyal retainer (navigating imbedded social debts and obligations), and so on.
He weaves his narrative using literature, theatre, art, and films from imperial and modern Japan. The depth in which Buruma engages varies from source to source. We are sometimes presented with contextual information and close-reading of a few works by the one author; other sources receive just a cursory glance as they relate to an overarching theme. Given the author's background and interest in film, this medium receives healthy attention in most chapters.
Buruma's observations of Japanese culture oscillates between genuine affection and bemused exacerbation. Having undoubtedly experienced varied cultural interactions first-hand through living in Japan for a number of years, Buruma gently mocks Japanese cultural exceptionalism without attempting to rationalise its presence. In reference to Miyamoto Musashi, a sixteenth-century roaming samurai who has become a legendary figure of Japanese manhood and purity of character, Buruma writes that Musashi possessed in abundance: 'seishinshugi, meaning the victory of the spirit over material things. It helps if this spirit is Japanese. The term is not really used for foreigners who, one can only assume, lack such a thing.'
Although the pop-culture references are certainly dated, this does not prevent Buruma from making enduring cultural observations. His writing generally strikes a fair balance. It is bold without being overbearing, and broad without succumbing to generalisation.
An insightful overview of Japanese culture, and pleasing introduction into a new world of literature.
The author proceeds to examine how collective psychology is enacted within Japanese society. He observes that imbedded and omnipresent social obligations inevitably lead to suppressed emotion. This controlled character finds emotional outlet through Shinto religious practices, creative mediums, or other rituals which are socially and psychologically compartmentalised from shared behavioural conventions. Ginzburg's peasant radicalism runs deep in Japan, and one only need peel away a thin veneer to discover its presence.
Literary figures are used to demonstrate a Japanese cultural dialectic that exists between the public and private sphere. Buruma explains the linguistic distinction made between tatemae (facade and public posture), and honne (the world of private feelings and opinions which under normal circumstances remains repressed). Idolised cultural figures are frequently outsiders who defy pervasive social norms. The hero's individuality is therefore a public reassertion of personality free from artificially created social strictures, and their actions are an expression of purity resulting from baser human character. The wandering loner is a lifestyle which is simultaneously romanticised and pitied. For most, it remains an aspiration which is beyond the realms of possibility, except when indulging imagination freed from such conventions.
Buruma goes on to examine various dominant cultural traits in Japanese society. Each of these characteristics occupy a separate chapter: the eternal mother (women's central role within cultural memory and social structures - outwardly powerless, yet holding pervasive influence); the demon women (anxiety borne from an irreconcilable juxtaposition between women's maternal role and their capacity for unrestrained sexual desire); the human work of art (staged public conformity and ritualised aesthetic roles); the art of prostitution (the 'floating world' and its role in Japanese history and culture); the third sex (the aesthetic and transcendent beauty in artifice towards the ideal, and androgeny as a means of escaping rigorously imposed social obligations through prolonging the impermanence of youth); the loyal retainer (navigating imbedded social debts and obligations), and so on.
He weaves his narrative using literature, theatre, art, and films from imperial and modern Japan. The depth in which Buruma engages varies from source to source. We are sometimes presented with contextual information and close-reading of a few works by the one author; other sources receive just a cursory glance as they relate to an overarching theme. Given the author's background and interest in film, this medium receives healthy attention in most chapters.
Buruma's observations of Japanese culture oscillates between genuine affection and bemused exacerbation. Having undoubtedly experienced varied cultural interactions first-hand through living in Japan for a number of years, Buruma gently mocks Japanese cultural exceptionalism without attempting to rationalise its presence. In reference to Miyamoto Musashi, a sixteenth-century roaming samurai who has become a legendary figure of Japanese manhood and purity of character, Buruma writes that Musashi possessed in abundance: 'seishinshugi, meaning the victory of the spirit over material things. It helps if this spirit is Japanese. The term is not really used for foreigners who, one can only assume, lack such a thing.'
Although the pop-culture references are certainly dated, this does not prevent Buruma from making enduring cultural observations. His writing generally strikes a fair balance. It is bold without being overbearing, and broad without succumbing to generalisation.
An insightful overview of Japanese culture, and pleasing introduction into a new world of literature.
October 14, 2018
Going into this book, I was expecting a more clear cut historical look at these figures stated in the title in Japan. It probably took about two chapters for me to completely accept the idea that this book looks at Japanese figures through the lens of important fiction in Japan and once I did I was even more intrigued than when I read the description of the book.
Reading this book effectively made me want to experience all of the fiction referenced throughout, and it gave me a perspective I hadn't totally considered on how much fiction relates a cultures values at any given time. My biggest criticism would be that the introduction of each section didn't always provide the most solid foundation for what would be presented throughout the chapter which made it feel like the lack of fully formed ideas was being supplemented by examples. To elaborate, I personally feel like instead of really conveying the significance of gangsters in Japanese culture Ian Buruma would throw out the idea that they are significant and then go straight into the cinematic examples of why.
I would have loved to give this book 5 stars, but I think I need a little bit more support for the ideas before diving right into the examples. Even one more page per chapter expanding on the social aspect of things outside of fiction could have really provided that extra reinforcement for the ideas being presented that I think this book needs.
Reading this book effectively made me want to experience all of the fiction referenced throughout, and it gave me a perspective I hadn't totally considered on how much fiction relates a cultures values at any given time. My biggest criticism would be that the introduction of each section didn't always provide the most solid foundation for what would be presented throughout the chapter which made it feel like the lack of fully formed ideas was being supplemented by examples. To elaborate, I personally feel like instead of really conveying the significance of gangsters in Japanese culture Ian Buruma would throw out the idea that they are significant and then go straight into the cinematic examples of why.
I would have loved to give this book 5 stars, but I think I need a little bit more support for the ideas before diving right into the examples. Even one more page per chapter expanding on the social aspect of things outside of fiction could have really provided that extra reinforcement for the ideas being presented that I think this book needs.
May 22, 2020
An enjoyable book to read although rather sensational for a nonfiction read. A lot of the author's claims boils down to "japan has mommy problems" which ay I'm not gunna lie is an interesting way to view some of the rather shocking ways (from a western point of view) women are treated in japanese pop culture but, that's definitely a lens one should use sparingly and with some skepticism. i appreciate how daring the author was. claiming japan is not rational or moral is pretty bold and i get that it's not supposed to be an insulting claim; it only seems to be insulting from the point of view of the West that hails rationality and morality as the end all be all of sacred truths. it is interesting that Japan's native religion did not have a code of morality like christianity so clearly does and i appreciate the author exploring that even though sometimes it made me concerned as to whether the author was trying to write a culturally considerate and conscious theory or some sort of salacious thriller. i don't think this is an entirely comprehensive or reputable text but ultimately i liked escaping into the distant vista that is the theory of why japan is like japan, this did give some food for thought, and also introduced me to some pop culture icons i did not know about that i'm excited to check out.
October 30, 2023
A really interesting, clear-eyed discussion of the common tropes in Japanese fiction and how they reflect upon the society at large. While A Japanese Mirror is now 40 years old, meaning the cultural references it draws on are now FAR from current, many of Buruma's conclusions still ring as accurately as ever. The titles, settings and characters of 21st Century Japanese pop culture may have updated but the underlying cultural motivations and reflections are largely unchanged. Unlike many commentators on Japan, Buruma has clearly spent time in Japan with Japanese people, and not just within a Tokyo-centric media bubble. Too often, books like this blindly accept the superficial stereotypes that Japanese people so often propagate (and, indeed, happily BELIEVE) about themselves. In A Japanese Mirror, Buruma both exposes the messier truth and insightfully discusses the motivations behind the comfortable lie. I would LOVE to read a similar book discussing Japanese pop culture of the last 20 years or so, with which I am much more familiar. Despite the book's age, however, I would strongly recommend it to anyone interested in diving deeper into Japanese culture than the typical guide book version which is shown to most visitors or observers.
July 19, 2021
I know that in the preface Buruma mentioned how a lot has changed but a lot also hasn’t, and how he will be making no updates… I would still love to find a similar book covering modern developments!
I had to remind myself that it’s from the eighties quite a bit.
Then again, who knows what has remained and what hasn’t?
It was super interesting in regards to early Japanese culture and revealed a lot I did not know.
The perspective was also really unique because it was written by a foreigner, but one clearly fascinated and involved with the culture.
Again I enjoyed Buruma’s style of writing.
I originally bought it thinking it would go in detail about specific heroes and villains in Japanese history, and whilst a lot of people are covered, it is more thematic and about Japan as a collective culture rather than individuals.
I don’t quite understand the quote at the front saying you should take this book on your trip to Japan though- I really do not think it would help any tourists unless they want to find a place for a striptease that existed 40 years ago. It’s more just for genuine interest into cultural but more underlying aspects of the society. Just a heads up anyway.
I had to remind myself that it’s from the eighties quite a bit.
Then again, who knows what has remained and what hasn’t?
It was super interesting in regards to early Japanese culture and revealed a lot I did not know.
The perspective was also really unique because it was written by a foreigner, but one clearly fascinated and involved with the culture.
Again I enjoyed Buruma’s style of writing.
I originally bought it thinking it would go in detail about specific heroes and villains in Japanese history, and whilst a lot of people are covered, it is more thematic and about Japan as a collective culture rather than individuals.
I don’t quite understand the quote at the front saying you should take this book on your trip to Japan though- I really do not think it would help any tourists unless they want to find a place for a striptease that existed 40 years ago. It’s more just for genuine interest into cultural but more underlying aspects of the society. Just a heads up anyway.
December 11, 2017
3.5 Sterne
Ian Buruma schreibt sehr humorvoll und zugänglich und zeigt sehr interessante gesellschaftliche Zusammenhänge oft anhand von Popkultur auf. Leider ist "Japan hinter dem Lächeln" nun zwischen 30 und 40 Jahren alt und bezieht sich hauptsächlich auf die japanische Gesellschaft in den 80er Jahren des Wirtschaftswunders. Vieles ist daher stark überholt und wichtige soziale Entwicklungen sowie popkulturelle Phänomene fehlen für eine zeitgemäße Charakterisierung Japans (insbesondere der demografische Wandel und einhergehende Umstrukturierungen). Ich empfehle das Buch außerdem Menschen, die sich bereits vor Ort mit Land und Leuten auseinandergesetzt haben - nicht als Einstiegslektüre. Der deutsche Titel ist meines Erachtens etwas reißerisch übersetzt.
Ian Buruma schreibt sehr humorvoll und zugänglich und zeigt sehr interessante gesellschaftliche Zusammenhänge oft anhand von Popkultur auf. Leider ist "Japan hinter dem Lächeln" nun zwischen 30 und 40 Jahren alt und bezieht sich hauptsächlich auf die japanische Gesellschaft in den 80er Jahren des Wirtschaftswunders. Vieles ist daher stark überholt und wichtige soziale Entwicklungen sowie popkulturelle Phänomene fehlen für eine zeitgemäße Charakterisierung Japans (insbesondere der demografische Wandel und einhergehende Umstrukturierungen). Ich empfehle das Buch außerdem Menschen, die sich bereits vor Ort mit Land und Leuten auseinandergesetzt haben - nicht als Einstiegslektüre. Der deutsche Titel ist meines Erachtens etwas reißerisch übersetzt.
November 24, 2020
Been dipping into this on and off for years ever since I found it at a used book sale on campus in Tokyo, decided to finally read it all the way through. Very insightful and influential book on Japanese culture by a guy who really knows his shit (Ian Buruma spent years in Tokyo during the 70s, his memoir A Tokyo Romance which looks back on this time is also excellent), even if the examples are a little outdated, at least in this edition which was published in 1984, at the height of the Bubble Era. A great resource for anyone interested in Japan, although I will say that I think it's best to take the contents of this book, or any book that attempts to define an entire nation through the study of its culture, as describing visible patterns rather than absolute truths.
January 6, 2025
Dit boek is duidelijk outdated omdat het voor 2000 is geschreven en dus moderne media niet is meegenomen in de theorie. De auteur heeft vrij controversiële meningen die in deze tijd niet meer geaccepteerd zouden worden. Aan het begin van het boek kon ik zijn redenatie voor deze meningen wel volgen en ik dacht dat er ook wel wat waarheid achter gevonden kon worden. De laatste hoofdstukken vielen voor mij volledig af van het boek, het voelde alsof het niet coherent was met de rest van het boek. Ik zou dit boek niet aanraden, mogelijke een geüpdatete versie? Ik zou er voor opstaan om een later boek van deze auteur te lezen.
March 23, 2019
A fascinating look inside the Japanese psyche by one of the best specialists on Japan in recent times. The book has not aged well, in the sense that it talks of a vanished world from the vantage point of a world that itself has vanished. Nevertheless, it is an excellent beginners' introduction into the field of 'doing Japan'. Read it, and its insights will stay with you for a long time to come if you are a beginner to Japan; but if you are an enthusiast of Japan, you will find much that makes you go 'aha!' here.
July 22, 2018
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I really liked it but I don’t think it is for everyone. The books is a little dated as it was written in the 80s, nonetheless many of the basic principles still hold true. The strong focus on sex and violence (the first 40% of the book could be called “The sex lives of the Japanese”) might be off-putting to many Western readers, nonetheless I found this to be a very interesting explanation of the Japanese psyche!
March 29, 2022
One of the most pernicious myths about 'exotic' cultures is that they’re inscrutable. In this cultural study, as fascinating as it is well-written, Buruma makes Japan ‘scrutable’: exploring the deep origin of the country’s myths, mores and self-image by analysing the country’s recent and not-so-recent cultural artefacts. But mainly movies (Buruma worked as a film reviewer and filmmaker in late 1970s Japan).
February 13, 2025
As someone interested in the history and culture of Japan I could stay engaged but I wish the book was told more in a story manner as often I found like I was studying for an exam on these particular topics covered in the book. Nevertheless, huge amount of interesting and useful information which really opens the gates to some of the mysteries of Japanese culture.
March 12, 2021
伊恩·布鲁玛认为日本文化与污秽、死亡、性、祭、形、玩偶范式、虚无主义、根性、团体、个人、规则、义理无不一一关联，正是由这无数个本相共同形成了表相的日本。虽然其中必然掺杂了他自己的想象，但是恰恰也为很多问题提供了不同的视角与解读方法。另外刚读完《日本第一》，傅高义和布鲁玛都非常关注日本社会中个体欲望与集体意志的博弈（傅高义的侧重点在于经济发展模式与社会组织形式），但是两人几乎完全走向相反的思路，两者对照阅读也蛮有意思。
July 5, 2017
What makes them tick? Interesting.
February 24, 2020
Interesting but outdated sadly, however you can learn interesting facts about Japanese Philosophy, anthropology and culture.
January 25, 2022
Great stories, explanations, examples, it really did help me gain a better understanding of how Japanese people work. Just gotta keep in mind it's from 1983 when reading.
August 8, 2024
Goed boek voor inzicht in Japanse maatschappij, ook al is het verouderd.
March 5, 2021
我是在看日本 还是在看极端的中国？
May 25, 2017
Buruma tells the uniqueness of Japan. How it is developed from ancient empire time through modern era nowadays.
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