Japanese Culture

By far the best overall coverage of Japanese cultural history-- cogent, intelligent, readable, for the rank novice thru the specialist's reference shelf-- that I have found in 30 years of studying & teaching the subject. On second thought, not only the best but in fact the Only. Lovely illustrations too.

I wasn't sure what to expect when i bought this book - after all the title does seem a little generic and it is a pretty small book, but i was pleasantly surprised. Varley's style is incredibly terse yet still very accessible. He deals with Japanese culture chronologically, giving the reader a clear picture of the state of the country at the time any major cultural events took place, although avoiding any unecessarily long forays into the history of Japan which do not relate to cultural happenings. Overall, an extremely diverse and useful introduction to Japanese culture which could provide a thorough grounding in the subject prior to further study, or equally serve as a useful reference book to anyone with a casual interest in the culture of Japan

This book is fantastic for a thorough introduction to Japanese culture. It was a pleasure to read. This was the textbook used for my Japanese Life and Culture university class, and I was extremely pleased with it. Varley's writing style is straightforward and extremely interesting. What I especially liked about the book was its mixture of history and all aspects of Japanese culture, from the literature to the art to the religions. I can't recommend this book highly enough for anyone interested in learning about Japanese culture.

This is an outstanding text, the best I have encountered in its straightforward writing style and depth of information.

If you are looking for good introductory books on Japanese culture, this book is, perhaps, the only book you need. The book is comprised of rich historical surveys of Japanese culture, with many wonderful B & W pictures. The book does not cover about "current" cultural trends in Japan, but it does cover all important cultural foundations which shape today's Japan. I was born and raised in Japan. But I painfully realized the facts that I didn't know much about my own cultural heritage when I took Prof. Varley's class at college. Through his book, I was able to re-discover myself.