Volume 34, Number 4 · March 12, 1987
We Japanese
By Ian Buruma
My Life Between Japan and America
by Edwin O. Reischauer
Harper and Row, 367 pp., $22.50
Made in Japan: Akio Morita and Sony
by Akio Morita, with Edwin M. Reingold, by Mitsuko Shimomura
Dutton, 309 pp., $18.95
The two books under review, one by an American scholar and former ambassador to Japan, the other by a Japanese industrialist, complement each other to a remarkable degree. The ambassador tells us how America gave Japan a break; the industrialist describes how he took advantage of it. Neither puts it in quite those terms, of course. While Edwin Reischauer speaks vaguely of 'shared ideals' and 'world peace,' Morita explains the Japanese Economic Miracle as an expression of unique Japanese cultural qualities: devotion to work, loyalty to company, love of learning, and so forth. Both men (one hesitates to call Morita an author—his book bears the marks of having been dictated in a hurry, between appointments) plead for understanding for Japanese culture.
Review, 3732 words
To read the full text of this piece, please choose one of the following options:
|
If you are already a subscriber to the Review's electronic edition, please sign in: |
To subscribe to the electronic edition, please press the button below. |
To purchase access to this article for $3, please press the button below. |