Japan

Cultures of the World

by Rex Shelley

Gathers information pertinent to Japan and its customs, religion, and history, and includes current environmental and political concerns, cultural and geopolitical maps, and recipes of native dishes.

Genres: Nonfiction

144 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-rounded understanding of the country and culture of Japan it moves through all aspects that are coupled with photos, language, and links to learn more. As someone counting down the days until I'm there, this added a few more pieces to my mind bank about visiting and things to see if possible along the way.

Laid out in an appealing way, I can imagine the entire Cultures of the World series is done this well too.

[Candice Bentley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was informational; however, I found it to be written as more of a list of information than a flowing narrative. There were also a few mentions of cultural stereotypes that were presented as reality. Without any fuller explanation, I was unsure if the stereotype was a legitimate cultural piece or if the stereotype was unnecessarily included.

[Blythe Penland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this informational read was extremely helpful. You see, I had a project for World Geography and I got assigned Japan. Oh, lovely Japan. I would live there, if it weren't for the Ring of Fire and fault lines being right under the country. This book did a great job, though. It was aesthetically appeasing and went through a lot of information. Did you know that the Japanese have a certain way of doing things to be courteous? There is a specific way you have to bow, the angle, the tilt of your head, what your hands are doing, etc. Going off of that same thing, you could buy someone in Japan the best present in the world, but for them it's all about the wrapping. If you wrapped the present wrong, you are insulting the person. Weird, right? Or did you know that most every word in Japan ends with a vowel and not a consonant. And the written Japanese language characters, or kanji, are the Chinese written language. The only difference is their verbal language. (Crazy!) I did wish the history section was clearer, but I guess that I can't really follow history unless it's being taught to me. The government was also hard for me to follow, but I've never liked politics. I thought that it was really cool to learn about the religions, too. It's so interesting that the Japanese actually combine the Buddha and Shinto religions. It was also nice to hear that in the 90s, Japan started literally cleaning up their act and protecting the environment. I was also really grateful to finally learn what Kabuki was. After watching Big Hero 6 long ago, I wondered what a Kabuki mask was. Well, Kabuki is a Japanese traditional theater that combines acting, singing accompaniment, and dancing. This book also had many, many Japanese terms, so if you want to learn some Japanese, read this book. I recommend this to Japanese-curious persons.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This whole series is just "ok"

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another very well-written book on Asia. These are done so much better than the Latin America books we did.