1st Edition

Japan and the West: The Perception Gap

By Keizo Nagatani, David W. Edgington Copyright 1998
    205 Pages
    by Routledge

    205 Pages
    by Routledge

    This book first published in 1998 containes the work of Six members of the Centre for Japanese Research (CJR), an area unit of the Institute for Asian Research at the University of British Columbia. They were motivated by the fact that after over a century of cultural, economic and political interaction between the two regions, mutual misunderstandings or perception gaps remain deep and wide and by the belief that highlighting these differences, as they manifest in diverse areas and manners, might potentially contribute to a better understanding, if not an immediate narrowing, of the gaps. The six essays that follow are the products of such group efforts. Three authors are Westerners and the remaining three are Japanese by origin. By speciality, they represent modern Japanese literature, cultural anthropology, art history, political science, economics and geography.

    1. Perception Gaps: An Introduction, Keizo Nagatani, Akio Tanaka.  2. Images of Western and Japanese Art: Embodiment of Imagination and Pseudo-Reality in Nanban Art, Moritaka Matsumoto. 3. Japanese Perceptions of Westerners in Modern Fiction, Kinya Tsuruta.  4. ‘Kramer vs Kramer’ vs Suspense Theatre: The Perception Gap in Constructions of Self, Gender and Family, Millie Creighton.  5. Business and Government Relations in Canada and Japan: The ‘Homestead’ and the ‘Public Vessel’ , Lonny E. Carlile. 6. Understanding Japanese Investment Behaviour; An Organisational Approach to Social Investment, Keizo Nagatani.   7. The Search for Paradise: Japanese Property Investors in North America, David W. Edgington.  8. Conclusion: The Importance of Perception Gaps, Keizo Nagatani, David W. Edgington.

    Biography

    Keizo Nagatani

    ’...the editors succeed in bringing together such divergent studies into a cohesive volume...it allows readers to explore areas beyond their normal specialized fields.’ Pacific Affairs