Japan Made Easy

by Boyé Lafayette De Mente

This practical guide is filled with tips on handling everyday and unexpected events, along with insights about key customs in Japan. It is a book that makes living and traveling in today's Japan a fascinating and satisfying experience by helping readers to cross the culture bridge.

Genres: Japan, Travel, Nonfiction, Language

264 pages, Paperback

First published December 11, 1996

About the author

Boyé Lafayette De Mente was an author, journalist, and adventurer. He wrote more than 100 books, most of them about the culture and language of Japan, East Asia, and Mexico.

De Mente joined the U.S. Navy and began his career as a cryptographer based in Washington, D.C. In 1948, he joined the U.S. Army Security Agency and was a decoding technician stationed in Tokyo. While there, he he founded and edited the agency's newspaper, The ASA Star.

De Mente wrote the first English guides to the Japanese way of doing business ("Japanese Etiquette and Ethics in Business" in 1959 and "How to Do Business in Japan" in 1962). His other books run the gamut from language learning to the night-time "pink" trades in Japan, the sensual nature of Oriental cultures, male-female relations, and understanding and coping with the Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Mexican mindset in business and social situations. He has also written extensively about Mexico and his home state of Arizona.

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It made me massively nostalgic for my time in Tokyo. I'd really like to go back someday. I thought the suggestions that the author had for ways to experience Japanese culture were interesting, though I think most people aren't quite daring enough to try to sit in on an elementary school class there (one of the author's more out-there suggestions). I liked that he seemed to be so excited by Japanese history and culture.

However, this brings me to one major issue I had with this book. The author suggested in about four different spots visiting Yasukuni Shrine in Kudan (near Tokyo). Now, I'll make myself clear on this now: I don't have any problem with him recommending visiting it in and of itself. What I mind is that he did so over and over again without explaining the enormous amount of controversy surrounding that shrine. For those who don't know, in the 1970s, the religious management of Yasukuni decided to enshrine the spirits of veterans of World War II who were convicted of war crimes. Since then, the shrine has become a major seething-point of Japanese nationalism. The museum connected to the shrine also has some materials that claim that the U.S. "forced" Japan into World War II, among other questionable historical interpretations (I am keeping my tongue in check as best I can on the matter). I think most American tourists, the primary audience of this book, would find that information very relevant when they decide where they want to go. One time skipping over it, I can understand as an oversight. However, four times, and it starts to look more like a conscious omission. A very regrettable one.

[Gareth · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author has achieved some minor notoriety amongst the expats of Japan for somehow managing to get the most appallingly ill-researched garbage ever written on the topic, to get published. This isn't just bad, it's offensively bad. It's not just out of date, it was never in date.

For example, the book's "Pronunciation Guide" chapter suggests "Hoke-kie-doh", "Sap-por-roe", and "Ni-hone", showing firstly that he'd likely not even learned basic hiragana (and hence apparently thinks that the double 'kk' and 'pp' of Hokkaido and Sapporo should actually be pronounced twice), and secondly that he would like the viewer to mimic his own thick American Midwest accent by adding surplus diphthongs.

The rest of the book is riddled with similar sloppiness, along with some slightly creepy comments about women.

De Mente's work puts me in mind of other cultural charlatans such as Jamake Highwater (the fake Native American consultant notorious for giving bad advice to the Star Trek writers) or the fraudulent sign language interpreter at Mandela's funeral.

Did I mention I didn't like this book?

[Lacey]

This is pretty out of date now since it was given to us over a decade ago and was already a few years old at the time…We’ve said we were going to Japan for so long and now we are finally planning it! Figured I’d read it. Got some insights and ideas. Also feeling thankful that times have changed and I imagine things will be much easier to navigate now than when this was written thanks to how far we’ve come with technology.

[Lachlan A]

This book is very helpful to tell me what happens in japan and what you have to watch out

[cosmic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the advice was fairly generic and could apply to all of Japan, the examples tended to focus mainly on Tokyo. So you can definitely get a lot more out of it if you were going to Tokyo.

I really liked that it gave you a bunch of Japanese phrases that you could use at the end of each chapter. And there was an entire chapter on various signs that you should watch out for (and their translations). I learned a lot about the culture and how you should act (in the public baths, for example).

[Rae · Rating 3 out of 5]

We read this as a family before our trip to Japan. The information seemed to be mostly accurate and it was broad enough to be useful.

[claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very descriptive, helpful if you want to know more about Japanese culture if you plan on traveling there. Obvious the writer is very familiar with the subject.

[Khaled Sheir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Awesome book, has specific details of places , people and also a very interesting perspective as a foreigner might feel like inside Japan

[Miranda Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book is very detailed and highlights quite a few hidden wonders of Japan. However, it seems to focus mainly on Tokyo and is not very useful in 2015, as it was published in 1995