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The Chrysanthemum and the Sword, by Ruth Benedict
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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.
- Sales Rank: #51727 in Books
- Brand: Benedict, Ruth Fulton
- Published on: 2006-01-25
- Released on: 2006-01-25
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.25" h x .85" w x 5.50" l, .75 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 336 pages
- Mariner Books
About the Author
RUTH BENEDICT (1887–1948) was one of the twentieth century’s foremost anthropologists and helped to shape the discipline in the United States and around the world. Benedict was a student and later a colleague of Franz Boas at Columbia, where she taught from 1924. Margaret Mead was one of her students. Benedict’s contributions to the field of cultural anthropology are often cited today.
Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
A Near-Miraculous Achievement
By Valjean
This 70-year-old book almost defies categorization, for its stunning discoveries and – perhaps even more – for the cultural understanding it fostered (which carries on to the present day). If the practice of “anthropology” brings to mind picking at dusty ruins, its offshoot “cultural anthropology” might conjure up studying tribal rituals in a native habitat. Remarkably, Ruth Benedict called herself one of this odd breed and her task (begun soon after the empire of Japan was defeated in World War Two) would daunt anyone, regardless of occupational labels: report to the occupying US military how to understand and rehabilitate a defeated nation whose traditions in every walk of life were – by admission on both sides – inexplicably alien to Americans. That Ms. Benedict succeeded represents a remarkable achievement and deserves celebration – and not just among anthropologists.
War always imposes strange tasks, from deciphering codes to building unprecedented weapons. But Benedict’s task might top them all for hubris: the thought that the culture, mores and traditions of the Japanese nation could, not only be laid bare, but actually *understood* by foreigners for the purpose of recommending how to reconstruct it after a devastating world war. Add the fact that this was requested by the conquering military and subject to bureaucracy and deadlines and the odds against its success look distressingly high.
But Benedict succeeded not only in her primary task but set a gold standard for cultural understanding. In a new foreword to this edition, noted Japan scholar Ian Buruma (author of “Inventing Japan”, among many others) rightly lauds how Benedict seemingly didn’t have a biased bone in her body: she approached Imperial Japan utterly fresh, not seeing it through a Western (or any other cultural tradition) lens. Her job required she not only see the world as the Japanese did at the time, but *how* that worldview led to their empire’s wartime actions and *what* could therefore be done to stop (or at least ameliorate) it – thereby ensuring that it didn’t happen again.
To these ends, some of the detail Benedict unearths still has the power to astound – consider:
Imperial Japan didn’t attack China, other East Asian countries, or even the United States to conquer land or achieve some other aggressive purpose; rather, its stated wartime aim was to simply “restore its rightful place in the world” (which was seen at the time as insufficiently lofty). Benedict points out the Japanese placed immense stock in the world being in “proper balance” and their view that every nation must “take its proper place in the world”. She notes Japanese envoys – on the very day Pearl Harbor was attacked by Imperial Japan – handed an explicit example of this as a memorandum to American Secretary of State Cordell Hull: “The Japanese government cannot tolerate the perpetuation of the present situation since it runs directly counter to Japan’s fundamental policy to enable each nation to enjoy its proper station in the world.”
Other cultural markers are subtler but no less revealing. Whether it’s living one’s life as if in constant emotional – or even physical – debt (*on*, or obligations passively incurred), attempting to ease such debts to authorities (e.g., the emperor, one’s parents), or repaying debts via duties (*giri*) to the world (!) and one’s name (reputation), the mid-century Japanese view of life was, to put it mildly, radically different from anywhere in Europe or America. Benedict is numbingly thorough in explaining how a society – and by extension a government and military – functioning along these lines found its way into a global war.
I found very little here to dislike; as noted, Benedict succeeds in her near-impossible task so well it seems unduly argumentative to quibble. About the only perspective I found myself wanting was more comparisons with western societies around the same time (e.g., late ‘40s); this would be especially useful for a reader (like your reviewer) reading this over seven decades later. Admittedly this would have made for a much longer book and would have begged differences between Europe, America and others.
No matter. ‘The Chrysanthemum and the Sword’ holds up supremely well and reads as a veritable textbook of cultural research. In a world where misunderstandings across nations can have ever-graver consequences, rehabilitating the humble role of cultural anthropologist might pay some unexpected dividends – providing those taking it on have a reasonable fraction of Ruth Benedict’s insight.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
my father recommended this
By Eleanor Takahashi iNSKIP
when someone asked him about how to understand Japan. He said Ruth Benedict was the first Caucasian to capture the essence of what it meant to be Japanese and explain it to other so they would understand. Ruth Benedict was an adviser to the occupation forces in Japan after World War II. She is credited with helping make the transition from war to peace a success story for both the Japanese people and Occupation forces.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Insightful "outside" view on Japanese culture
By Jysoo Lee
I was not sure what to expect when I started to read this book on Japanese culture written by an American scholar of Ruth Benedict. As a Korean, the culture of my country is closer to that of Japan than the States, and I was not sure whether there is something I can learn from the book. I was plain wrong --- I thoroughly learned the value of “outside” opinion. I guess there are points she didn’t get right, but it is her who pointed out many important issues of Japanese culture which people living inside just cannot appreciate. She explained several key concepts which are uniquely Japanese, such as importance of hierarchy (“taking one’s proper station”), debt (on) and repayment (gimu, giri), Also explained are the concept of “giri to one’s name”, and the seemingly paradoxical situation of emphasizing self-discipline and generosity on physical pleasure. What I find particularly helpful are examples, taken from real life in Japan, pertaining to the concept she wants to explain.
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