The author of this book thinks he's a psychic. He tells the reader about some Japanese custom, then assumes that they are so narrow-minded as to think it's bizarre. He then points out their narrow-mindedness, which may all be in his head, by likening it to some Western custom. I suppose he thinks he's clever, but I find this insulting, not to mention that I find people who can carry on an argument all by themselves pretty irritating. Not a positive way to present people, so I put it down lest my annoyance with the author would carry over to his subject.

I actually acquired this book for the quirky ink cartoons by the French cartoonist Zabo. As it turned out these were not as perceptive (or as numerous) as his observations on the Chinese in his own book ´Hong Kong: Sweet and Sour´. Which leaves George Mike´s text. It is certainly dated; his Japan is the both pre-bust and pre-boom, taking us back to 1970. The observations on the Japanese character are more or less true, easily digestible and I suppose enlightening for anyone with little or no acquaintance with Japan. It treats Japan and the Japanese very gently and misses some of the more modern developments such as anime and love hotels. But for all of that, and perhaps because of that, it is an inoffensive sort of book that one could safely give to a maiden aunt visiting Japan for the first time.

Further re Zabo. I have the Penguin edition of this book which appears to have skipped Zabo cartoons that are on the covers of this work from other publishers. So I may have undersold him in relation to his Japanese work. ( )