Zen and Japanese Culture

Rating:
Summary: Down, Suzuki, down!
Review: This is perhaps Suzuki's most concise work on Zen and Japanese culture available, in English or otherwise. The only thing one could fault this book with would be four points. The first is Suzuki's insistance that Zen and Buddhism "created" Japanese culture, which in certain cases it could said to have, but not in every case he states (such as Zen and the Japanese love of nature). Second is his references to Christianity, which are not bad per-se, but tend to be more Suzuki's own slant on Christianity rather than what could even be called stereotypical Christianity. Third, which has more to do with the revised edition rather than the 1938 (?) original, is there is no reference to what was IN the original printing. It would be interesting to have been able to see how Suzuki's thinking changed post-war, in contrast to what he told people overseas in the late 30's. Last, he leaves out his references for far too much. The poems he quotes are all famous, but having their works of origin listed would have helped people to trace back Suzuki's line of thinking (if a person wanted to go that far). This would be a good book to read along side other works on, for example, Shinto, in order to maintain a balanced view of Japanese culture.

Rating:
Summary: BEST book on Japanese thought by far!
Review: While some over-intellectualized reviewers are asking for the moon with this book, it delivers a tidy escapade through Japanese thought as seen through the lens of Zen Buddhism. True, there were other types of Buddhism in Japan but it can be easily argued that Japanese culture had a majority of contributions from Zen. In short, because the Samurai class dominated the history of this nation. If the book was titled just Japanese Culture, then I would expect to hear more of Shinto and its role, but its about Zen.
I study Iaido and Buddhism in Japan, and this book has been the most helpful in understanding how Japanese think and learn martial arts, especially hard to come to terms with items like Seppuku, ritualized suicide. The chapters on Haiku are excellent also, and should not be missed (even though some martial artists just read the parts on swordsmanship).
If you want to understand Zen, then come to Japan and learn Japanese, otherwise this book will provide a glimpse into a vast field of writing, legend, and thought on a contributor to Japanese thought. If you are a Buddhist then be grateful for this gift that the author has given to the world and do not be so hasty to find faults!