The Chrysanthemum and the Sword

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Ruth Benedict

Houghton Mifflin, Boston, MA, 2006, English

Nonfiction, General

ISBN: 9780395500750

From the Publisher. Essential reading for anyone interested in Japanese culture, this unsurpassed masterwork opens an intriguing window on Japan. Benedict’s World War II–era study paints an illuminating contrast between the culture of Japan and that of the United States. The Chrysanthemum and the Sword is a revealing look at how and why our cultures differ, making it the perfect introduction to Japanese history and customs.

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Ian Ritchie

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I read this book in 1969 and it gave me my first insight into how an anthropologist recorded and interpreted observations of a very different culture, one which I was about to visit and engage with in 1970.

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