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conversations.value: Provide a description for a book titled Japanese Culture about Leon, Serafim, Ohio with the genre: New, Used & Rental Textbooks, Humanities.
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conversations.value: "A rich, accurate, well-written account of political, philosophical, social, religious, esthetic, artistic, and architectural history." -- Leon A. Serafim, Ohio State University
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conversations.value: Provide the first four paragraphs for this book.
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conversations.value: Japanese Culture
  The genesis of : The Religious and Philosophical Foundations evolved out of many years of classroom instruction designed for international business students in an MBA program at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo, Japan. The lectures, entitled "A Brief Journey Through Japanese Cultural History," attempted to guide the students through the multiple layers of religious and philosphical belief that underlie life in modern-day Japan. Topics included the importance of such historical elements in the development of the Japanese aesthetic and martial arts, the Japanese style of learning, and the traditional values of contemporary Japanese people. The goal was to paint a picture of Japanese culture in "broad strokes" so that participants could better understand the historical complexities of what they were seeing during their stay in Japan. These lectures were then further field tested with both undergraduate and postgraduate Japanese students studying English at an advanced level at The University of Tokyo and Waseda University (earlier unfinished drafts had also been developed at Ehime University in Matsuyama, Japan). The result of all of these efforts is the present volume.
  Note: There continue to be disagreements concerning the exact dates of the periods listed below. However, the following timeline seems to be widely accepted.
  The origins of the Japanese people and their culture date back to a time of remote antiquity of which we have almost no knowledge. As a result, there are still many unanswered questions and numerous areas of dispute and contention. Evidence of the origins of the Japanese comes from three main sources: archeological remains, written Han Chinese documents and early Japanese records,1 and as the results of studies in comparative linguistics2 (Sansom, 1976; Reischauer, 1988).
  No traces of paleolithic (early Stone Age) culture have been distinguished in Japan, but two types of neolithic (late Stone Age) culture have been identified: Jōmon (named after a characteristic "rope-pattern" type of pottery) and Yayoi (named for a kind of pottery found at a place of that name). Technically, Jōmon pottery is considered to be inferior to Yayoi, but artistically, it is more advanced (Sansom, 1976, p. ). Both kinds of pottery have been discovered throughout the Japanese archipelago, but the Jōmon type is more predominant in the north and east while Yayoi pottery is found more extensively in the south and west. The culture of the Yayoi period (300 BC–250 AD) is thus thought to have originated in Kyushu between the third and second centuries BC, and is characterized by the wet cultivation of rice and the introduction of metals such as bronze and iron. The neolithic culture of Japan is felt to have reached high levels of development and it is, therefore, thought to have been of very long duration (ibid., p. ). It came to an end with the introduction of metal culture from China, but lasted until the first century BC in the west, the second century AD in central Japan, and in the far north until c. 1000 AD. Bronze Age culture had reached its height in China during the Chou dynasty (1122–221 BC), and spread slowly to southern Manchuria, Korea, and then to Japan; with the Han dynasty (202 BC–220 AD) China entered the Iron Age. No sooner did the Bronze Age begin in Japan, however, than it was eclipsed by the Iron Age culture of a rapidly expanding Han civilization from China.3 As a result, Japan is said to have had no true Bronze Age culture of its own.
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conversations.value: Provide five more paragraphs.
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conversations.value: If Taoism is concerned with the ultimate unity of man and the cosmos, Confucianism emphasizes human society and the social responsibilities of its members. Thus, the two traditions, "beyond society" and "within society," balance and complement one another in the Chinese tradition, and although they are considered to be two distinct belief systems today, at one time they were probably two parts of the same whole in Chinese religious and philosophical thought.
  Confucianism is primarily a code of ethics and system of philosophy and not a religion in the true sense of the word. There is no concept of deity, and although there are revered texts, there is no worship, no priesthood, and no emphasis on metaphysics. There is "only right thinking and right living, as shown particularly through loyalty to the ruler, filial piety to one's father, and strict observance of proper social ritual and etiquette" (Reischauer, 1988, p. 203). Watts (1995, p. ) concurs, stating that Confucianism is essentially "a social ritual and a way of ordering society."
  East Asians call Confucianism the school of ju (or "the teaching of the scholars"; cf. Japanese jukyō), but in the West it was named for its first master, Confucius (Latinized from the Chinese, K'ung-fu-tzu; cf. Koshi in Japanese), who lived around 550 BC and was said to have been a contemporary of Lao-tzu, the founder of the Taoist way (Watts, 1995, p. ). Classical Confucianism became the official philosophy of the Han Dynasty (202 BC–220 AD), where it helped to shape the social and political institutions of ancient China, later spreading to other East Asian countries where it had a far-reaching impact through its rich literary legacy of ethical teachings, political lore, history, poetry, and ritual texts (Sansom, 1976).
  Neo-Confucianism was a revitalized form of Confucianist thought that originated in Sung Dynasty China in the 12th century at a time when Buddhism had fallen into decline. The major feature of society in this period was the emergence of a bureaucratic and cultural elite, as well as an emphasis on civil as opposed to military rule, which encouraged scholarship and secular education. As a result, there was an expansion of civil service examinations for a rapidly growing number of bureaucrats, and a heightened demand for education at all levels. The model for the education of state officials became a combination of Confucian study and practical learning, such as civil administration, engineering, and mathematics. The study of the Confucian Classics was considered important in providing values and principles for ordering and structuring the newly available practical knowledge (ibid.).
  The Five Classics, as well as a selection of related secondary texts, still constitute the common literary heritage of all educated Chinese, who know many of the outstanding passages by heart. The subjects of the Classics are diverse—divination, ritual forms, ancient poetry, historical records, the teachings of Confucius, and so forth. They were written in a formal classical style of extreme brevity and compactness, in which single written characters had a wide range of meanings. As a result, many interpretations were needed, and for centuries scholars provided commentaries on the Classics that are often more lengthy than the texts themselves.
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conversations.value: Provide the last four paragraphs.. End with the sentence ' 7.'.
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conversations.value: Tarnas, R. (1991). The passion of the western mind: Understanding the ideas that have shaped our world view. New York: Ballentine.
  Thought control uncovered: Document shows pressure on scholars (2006, December 17). The Japan Times, p. 27.
  Tsuru, S. (1993). Japan's capitalism: Creative defeat and beyond. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  Yato, T. (1996, December 18). World of Japanese judo gets thrown for a loop. The Daily Yomiuri, p. 7.