Rating: 
Summary: This book is history by itself
Review: This book was the best Western book in its era, but now it is completely out of date. It has become history by itself.
Rating:
Summary: No longer accurate (if it ever was)
Review: While "Chrysanthemum" was embraced as appropriate fare in the immediate post-war era, it has lost nearly all applicability in recent times. Benedict's observations (which were made, incidentally, without her setting foot on Japanese soil) are simply inaccurate when restaged in the setting of the modern international world order. Furthermore, never does she succeed in explaining the origins of the somehow "uniquely unique" Japanese "culture."A much more thorough, insightful, and, therefore, controversial study of the entire Japanese power system and how it directly shapes culture in Japan was written by Karel van Wolferen in 1988. Though 13 years can be considered an eternity in the shifting background of international politics, van Wolferen's commentary rings eerily true to this day. Benedict's "Chrysanthemum" must be read for a historical perspective on the misfires of anthropologists; it does not, however, carry my strong recommendation on the basis of its content.
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