The Outnation: A Search for the Soul of Japan

Rating:
Summary: Not worth its weight in green tea
Review: The Outnation is full of false statements and huge generalizations that do not ring true for Japan. In many cases they make the country sound better than it is. The author only spent six months in Japan, not nearly long enough to truly come to understand the very complex social fabric of the country. Having lived in Japan, I found the book to be shallow and I couldn't finish reading it because it was full of false statements that demonstrated very clearly how little the author knew about his subject. The Outnation is a very poor book to read for any person who wants to learn about what Japan is truly like. In Japan there are two facets to reality; the tatamae and the honne, the mask and the truth. This book deals almost exclusively with the mask and ignores the true Japan, the true soul of the nation.

Rating:
Summary: Beautifully written, insightful
Review: This extraordinarily well-written book came out during a time when Americans were told that Japan was invincible, threatening, and a model society. Jonathan Rauch saw a more complex Japan, one with great strengths but also great difficulties, especially in generating criticism and change from within. His portrait has stood the test of time when many acclaimed "experts" now look like fools.