Michael Zielenziger

I read this book while touring Japan and every single day I was amazed and impressed by Japan the country, and the Japanese people themselves.But then at the end of the day I'd unwind by reading this book and was put off by the authors extremely negative portrayal of Japan. I understand he spent years working as a journalist in Japan and it's evident he researched his topic thoroughly, but I can't help but wonder why he focused so much on the negative aspects of Japanese culture while virtually ignoring all the positive aspects of Japanese society.… (meer)

Fascinating and generally accessible, though not always as well integrated as it could be, this look at Japan's modernization argues that several culture-bound psychological syndromes present in Japan today are consequences of Japan's economic, political, and cultural course. This is an interesting topic and Zielenziger does a reasonable job of describing the features and treatment of hikikomori (withdrawal to one's room, often by a young male), parasaito (young adult women who live with their families and spend their money on luxuries), and to a certain extent, futoko (children and adolescents who refuse to go to school because of bullying), all of which I might characterize as disorders of quality of engagement with others. Zielenziger's more abstract historical and cultural chapters are much drier than those in which he describes people and specific situations, but he demonstrates why this more removed information is necessary for an appreciation of the context of these syndromes. One might assume from his description that everyone in Japan works in an office shuffling papers, or in technical manufacturing, but other than that the material seems relatively complete and coherent. A comparison with South Korea provides an interesting comparison and underscores the possible differences between a society's taking on outside cultural practices and acquiring the cultural beliefs that inform those practices.

As a psychologist, I'd have liked more about hikikomori, parasaito, and futoko, particularly about their historical rise, sociopsychological disorders that have diminished during the push for modernity, and empirical data (of which there is little). A Japanese pediatrician recently told me at a conference that hikikomori is considered a bio-psycho-social disorder in Japan that warrants, among other diagnoses, the label "depression" as defined in DSM, but I did not see this perspective reflected here. Read with Yukio Mishima's Confessions of a Mask for a more intimate and visceral description of school bullying and ways in which social conformity is enforced.

Zielenziger includes a glossary, good notes, and an index. I mention these only because I will bemoan their absence when I finish reading and review Pankaj Mishra's Temptations of the West: How to Be Modern in India, Pakistan, Tibet, and Beyond.… (meer)

For someone looking for a very cursory understanding of Japan, this book will provide that background, but as the author himself notes, he is a journalist. The books reads like a very long exposé on Japan, when, in fact, the book is riddled with misinformation. For example, a basic fact about whether a cited author is a sociologist or an anthropologist is mistaken in the text. All too often, the author will set up an interesting premise and then fail to follow it up properly. At one point, he makes note of his own Jewish heritage before launching into the claim that Christianity might be the reason that Korea modernized where Japan appears to be failing. What is the note about his heritage supposed to prove? That he is impartial? Why bring it up at all? What evidence can he offer that backs up his claim?

In short, the book is not terrible, but it is certainly not my first choice for intelligent discourse on modern societal problems in Japan.… (meer)