Images of Japanese Society: A Study in the Social Construction of Reality

This is likely to be a controversial book as it does not contribute to the continuing mythologising of Japan and the Japanese. The book examines contemporary images of Japanese society by surveying an extensive sample of popular literature on Japan. After tracing the development of ‘holistic’theories about the Japanese, commonly referred to as the ‘group modes, ‘attention is focused on the evaluation of that image. Empirical evidence to this model is discussed and methodical lacunae are cited. A ‘sociology of Japanology’is also presented.