Japan: A Reinterpretation
by Patrick Smith
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Book Summary Information
Author: Patrick SmithEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1998-09-29
ISBN: 0679745114
Number of pages: 400
Publisher: Vintage
Book Reviews of Japan: A Reinterpretation
Book Review: On Target
Summary: 5 Stars
Patrick Smith has taken a lot of flak for his diagnosis (mostly from academics with an ax to grind) but somebody had to come out and state the obvious. Basically, he says that Japan has already undergone two revolutions--economic and political--and needs to undergo one more--a revolution of individualism--before its chronic problems can be solved. Currently, there's way too much groupthink and conformism that stifles creativity and leads to a stagnant, stultified society. This is most evident in Japanese institutions of education, where the primary and secondary schools teach entirely by rote method and enforce consensus thinking, while colleges are nothing but playpens of childish inanity and perpetual drunkenness, four years of riot and respite for overworked, undereducated kids who will soon go off the spend the rest of their lives in unrelieved drudgery for giant corporations where advancement is by seniority only. I've seen the results firsthand and, let me tell you, it ain't pretty.
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