The Japanese

The Japanese, the inhabitants of the Land of the Rising Sun – so distant and mysterious, incomprehensible and completely unlike us, neighbors but not friends, partners but not partners. There are so many myths, stereotypes, clichés, simply idle conjectures and... fabrications about them.
Do we really know who the Japanese are, what they live for, how they see the world and their place in it, what they consider important and unimportant? Are we capable of understanding the soul of this people?
The book presented to you is an attempt to answer these questions. Of course, it is far from the first. Many remarkable people, outstanding scientists, fearless explorers, cultural figures have tried to tell us about the Japanese and the uniqueness of this nation. But it has always been an outsider's perspective. And it is no coincidence that the Japanese say: "To understand the Japanese language, one must think in Japanese." This is quite true regarding the Japanese as well. That is, to fully understand a representative of this nation, one must be them or at least be born and raised there. However, we will still try to do this.
In this book, you will read about how the Japanese nation formed and what makes it unique, learn a lot of interesting things about Japanese history, culture, mentality, even its "forbidden" sides, about the relationships the Japanese have with the world and themselves, and what Mount Fuji truly means to them.
The publication is illustrated with original engravings and paintings by Japanese artists of the 17th – 19th centuries.