The Japanese, residents of the Land of the Rising Sun – so distant and mysterious, incomprehensible and entirely unlike us, neighbors but not friends, partners but not partners. There are so many myths, stereotypes, clichés, just idle speculations 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 nation?
The book presented to you is an attempt to answer these questions. Of course, it is far from the first. Many remarkable people, outstanding scholars, 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 the Japanese say for a reason: "To understand the Japanese language, you need to think like a Japanese." This is also quite true with regard to the Japanese. That is, to fully understand a representative of this nation, you need to be one of them or at least be born and raised there. But still, we will try to do it.
In this book, you will read about how the Japanese nation was formed and what makes it unique, learn a lot of interesting things about Japanese history, culture, mentality, even its "forbidden" aspects, about the relationships the Japanese have with the world and themselves, and what Mount Fujiyama truly means to them.
The publication is illustrated with original engravings and paintings by Japanese artists of the 17th – 19th centuries.