Reviews
It helps you understand Japan.
With outstanding insight, the author achieved a nearly perfect analysis of a country they have never even visited. While understanding the place itself is important, I learned an approach to understanding other cultures from an objective perspective.
This is a book I bought before my trip to Japan. I hope it helps me understand Japan better.
"The Chrysanthemum and the Sword" is a book written by American cultural anthropologist Ruth Benedict, published as part of the United States' efforts to gradually understand Japan after World War II. As a study of Japanese culture and the Japanese mindset, this book is regarded as having influenced U.S. policy toward Japan. In particular, while addressing unique concepts within Japanese culture, the book argues that understanding the Japanese way of thinking is crucial for comprehending these
"The Chrysanthemum and the Sword" is a book written by American cultural anthropologist Ruth Benedict, published as part of the United States' efforts to gradually understand Japan after World War II. As a study of Japanese culture and the Japanese mindset, this book is regarded as having influenced U.S. policy toward Japan. In particular, while addressing unique concepts within Japanese culture, the book argues that understanding the Japanese way of thinking is crucial for comprehending these
Book Title: The Chrysanthemum and the Sword Subtitle: Types of Japanese Culture Author: Ruth Benedict Translator: Kim Seung-ho Publisher: Chaekmandeuneunjip ========================== <“Table of Contents”> Chapter 1 The Subject of Study: Japan Chapter 2 The Japanese During the War Chapter 3 Finding Their Place Chapter 4 The Meiji Restoration Chapter 5 Indebted to the Past and the World Chapter 6 Repaying a Thousandth of a Favor Chapter 7 Nothing Is As Painful as Giri Chapter 8 Clearing a
This book analyzes the process by which the Japanese national character has been formed across their entire culture, including ethnicity, cultural patterns, moral systems, and religion. As I read, I found myself nodding in agreement more than I had expected. (There were also many parts that gave me goosebumps, as I wondered if the ideologies transmitted to our people through colonial rule still remain and have become ingrained in the unique characteristics of our nation.) However, given that
This book analyzes the process by which the Japanese national character has been formed across their entire culture, including ethnicity, cultural patterns, moral systems, and religion. As I read, I found myself nodding in agreement more than I had expected. (There were also many parts that gave me goosebumps, as I wondered if the ideologies transmitted to our people through colonial rule still remain and have become ingrained in the unique characteristics of our nation.) However, given that
As a child, influenced by Japanese electronics, animation, and novels, I always held the image of Japan as a clean and pure country. However, as I grew older and delved deeper into the stories of "comfort women"—which I had previously been indifferent to—as well as international affairs and historical issues, I began to wonder what kind of country Japan really is. A place free of cigarette butts or litter on the streets, a nation where order and traffic laws are strictly observed, and a country
The very foundation of Japan lies in barbarism. They possess an inherent blind sense of solidarity and obedience, and one can sense the lingering remnants of their massive, monolithic clan society extending to this day. A prime example of this barbaric duplicity is the unhesitating display of deference shown to the Emperor in recent times. In the past, the Emperor was a symbol of respect and obedience to the extent that a single word from him could end a war through surrender; his role as a
Ruth Benedict: Chrysanthemum and Sword
*The Chrysanthemum and the Sword* is one of the most helpful classics for understanding Japan. In 1944, the United States, then at war with Japan, sought to study Japanese behavior that Americans found utterly incomprehensible. Commissioned by the U.S. Department of State, Ruth Benedict spent over two years researching and analyzing Japanese culture; this book is the result of that effort and is acclaimed for providing a correct understanding of the unique behaviors and values of the Japanese people from their perspective, thereby establishing Ruth Benedict in a significant position within anthropology. By being the first to clearly analyze core elements of Japanese culture—such as the consciousness of hierarchical order, the culture of shame and guilt, and the concept of gratitude—this book became a fundamental benchmark for subsequent analyses of Japanese culture. In the early part of the book, the author explains the uniquely contradictory nature of the Japanese people—namely, their seemingly incompatible behavioral patterns of being aggressive yet passive, belligerent yet aesthetic, rude yet polite, loyal yet wicked, and brave yet cowardly—through a cultural system characterized by a sense of hierarchy, a unique moral system regarding gratitude, reciprocity, and loyalty, and a lack of awareness of sin and evil replaced by a sense of shame. He concludes by describing the Japanese as people who hold beautiful chrysanthemums in their hands and cold swords at their waists. The reason this book holds greater objective significance than other books on Japan is that it reveals the author's anguish in attempting to overcome deep-rooted Western prejudices and preconceptions about Japan without ever having visited the country, while restraining himself from the sense of superiority one might expect from an anthropologist of a victorious nation.
Korean title: 국화와 칼
Korean author: 루스 베네딕트
Korean publisher: 을유문화사
ISBN-13: 9788932474137
Reviews
It helps you understand Japan.
With outstanding insight, the author achieved a nearly perfect analysis of a country they have never even visited. While understanding the place itself is important, I learned an approach to understanding other cultures from an objective perspective.
This is a book I bought before my trip to Japan. I hope it helps me understand Japan better.
"The Chrysanthemum and the Sword" is a book written by American cultural anthropologist Ruth Benedict, published as part of the United States' efforts to gradually understand Japan after World War II. As a study of Japanese culture and the Japanese mindset, this book is regarded as having influenced U.S. policy toward Japan. In particular, while addressing unique concepts within Japanese culture, the book argues that understanding the Japanese way of thinking is crucial for comprehending these
"The Chrysanthemum and the Sword" is a book written by American cultural anthropologist Ruth Benedict, published as part of the United States' efforts to gradually understand Japan after World War II. As a study of Japanese culture and the Japanese mindset, this book is regarded as having influenced U.S. policy toward Japan. In particular, while addressing unique concepts within Japanese culture, the book argues that understanding the Japanese way of thinking is crucial for comprehending these
Book Title: The Chrysanthemum and the Sword Subtitle: Types of Japanese Culture Author: Ruth Benedict Translator: Kim Seung-ho Publisher: Chaekmandeuneunjip ========================== <“Table of Contents”> Chapter 1 The Subject of Study: Japan Chapter 2 The Japanese During the War Chapter 3 Finding Their Place Chapter 4 The Meiji Restoration Chapter 5 Indebted to the Past and the World Chapter 6 Repaying a Thousandth of a Favor Chapter 7 Nothing Is As Painful as Giri Chapter 8 Clearing a
This book analyzes the process by which the Japanese national character has been formed across their entire culture, including ethnicity, cultural patterns, moral systems, and religion. As I read, I found myself nodding in agreement more than I had expected. (There were also many parts that gave me goosebumps, as I wondered if the ideologies transmitted to our people through colonial rule still remain and have become ingrained in the unique characteristics of our nation.) However, given that
This book analyzes the process by which the Japanese national character has been formed across their entire culture, including ethnicity, cultural patterns, moral systems, and religion. As I read, I found myself nodding in agreement more than I had expected. (There were also many parts that gave me goosebumps, as I wondered if the ideologies transmitted to our people through colonial rule still remain and have become ingrained in the unique characteristics of our nation.) However, given that
As a child, influenced by Japanese electronics, animation, and novels, I always held the image of Japan as a clean and pure country. However, as I grew older and delved deeper into the stories of "comfort women"—which I had previously been indifferent to—as well as international affairs and historical issues, I began to wonder what kind of country Japan really is. A place free of cigarette butts or litter on the streets, a nation where order and traffic laws are strictly observed, and a country
The very foundation of Japan lies in barbarism. They possess an inherent blind sense of solidarity and obedience, and one can sense the lingering remnants of their massive, monolithic clan society extending to this day. A prime example of this barbaric duplicity is the unhesitating display of deference shown to the Emperor in recent times. In the past, the Emperor was a symbol of respect and obedience to the extent that a single word from him could end a war through surrender; his role as a
