started this site in 1997, really to help other people better understand
Japanese culture and living. To most people, even today it is a fairly
alien society, with a lot of misunderstanding and stereotyping.
topics that I chose to write about were not only the basics, culture,
history, art, and so on, but an in depth study of the people themselves.
In many cases I have drawn upon stories told by Japanese themselves,
which highlight some of the more bizarre traits of the Japanese culture.
overall impression of Japan, as you may find, is positive. The people
themselves, on the whole, are friendly and often behave in a childish
way. They need to be led, much as a child needs to be shown the
correct way to behave. This has resulted in politicians and people with
power not accepting the blame when things go wrong in society. Even to
the point of politicians, etc, not doing anything about a natural
disaster, like the Great Hanshin Earthquake. The Prime Minister did not
declare an emergency or call out the Civil Defense forces to assist the
stricken people in Kobe, which resulted in a massive loss of life.
mythical name of Japan Inc, seems to suggest that there is a definite
leadership, when this is not the case. The Prime Minister does not
govern the country, no more than the Emperor does. Instead it is a mix
of ministers and civil servants agreeing on everything by consensus, at
least some of the time!.
This often leads to mismanagement, and sometimes disaster, as shown in
the above example.
your opinions about Japan or my site, I would be happy to hear them!
any case, I hope that you find these pages interesting.
have added a selection of photographs throughout this site. They are all
thumb nailed, just right click to view the full size picture. I wish you
enjoy some of them!
have tried to make navigating around the site easier than it has been in
the past, whether or not you use frames. I have also added a site map
and a search page.
your messages, requests and discussion topics here!