Xenophobe's Guide to the Japanese

Great way to start being acquainted to the enormous vastness of the Japanese culture, people, country, etc.The typical style of "Xenophobe's guide" softens the blow of how tough these people are to understand and follow. Nevertheless, if you need to really learn Japanese business or culture, better keep going with more serious books.

Purchased prior to a trip, very useful in understanding the people & culture. Kept me out of trouble repeatedly.

Í decided to buy this because of a recommendation on a book called Japan by Rail - a great book by the way. This book is hard to read. I was intrigued by the title, and thought it would be a different approach on tourism books, but all I could read, is nothing of what I've experienced when I've been to Japan. I'd stick to lonely planet, by far the best guides.

Easy reading.Useful guide for those who plan to go to Japan.The comparisons between Westerners and Japanese are an essential part of this guide.Recommended!

Fun read and useful tidbits of information. I read it before my recent trip. Some of the information was true while other seemed like traditional wisdom and not evident with the population I interacted with. Thanks,

For the outrageous price one gets a very succint introduction into the habits of the Japanese, one that disregards the internal differences that are bound to exist in the country.It is very good for a two hours fun read for someone who does not really plan to visit the country. The amount of information given is more easily gathered through a TV documentary though, and anyone wishing real help should address oneself elsewhere.To keep matters very light but do it more usefully, about 50 more pages would have sufficed, together with a more rational partition of topics.I would have appreciated a section about easy blunders to avoid when visiting such a different country and more attention to the intercourse between foreigners and natives, not excluding the more friendly or even intimate point of view.

I've been living in japan for about two years now, and while you can learn more by going through several longer, more extensive books, for a single guide that offers an irreverant explanation of a very difficult country to understand, the Xenophobes Guide to the Japanese is solid. Like the reviewer above, I read the Culture Shock guide to japan, and while I found it interesting too and learned more about culture shock, altogether for a short, funny book I don't consider it as informative or comprehensive. If you want to read more of these kinds of books on japan, check out Hokkaido Highway Blues, by Will Ferguson, an former english teacher that hitchiked across the country during his stay. People that have already lived out here a while always find it a lot funnier than people that havent yet, but for what its worth it gives a really accurate depiction of what its like to be a westerner living out here.

Thsi book was disappointing. I've read others in the Xenophobes series, and they were informative and humorous, though not particularly practical as travel guides. However, the Japan guide was neither. Having already read Culture Shock: Japan, I was very disappointed in this book. It has less information -- and less humor -- than Culture Shock. In fact, the Xenophobes guide had exactly 2 facts not mentioned in Culture Shock. Whether you are interested in travelling to Japan, or just looking for multicultural humor, I do not recommend this particular Xenophobes Guide.

As someone who lives in Japan, I approached this book with an open mind, hoping to gain a 'westerner's insight' into what life would be like here. While a lot of this book is true, most of the content is outdated (i.e. Japan 20 years ago) and generalises Japan in quite an offensive manner. Phrases like 'whats in the lunchbox? Surprise, surprise, rice' take away from what could've been an informative book. If it weren't for the fact that some of the book was informative, I would've given this 1*...

Does the jojbin compact format - these days I prefer to store all on Kindle as more compact

This is a interesting and quirky book. I'm not sure how accurate some of the facts are but some of them really surprised me. Most of the book explains how some Japanese people act/think and why they act/think that way. It also goes onto other subjects like comedy, sports and customs etc. This books sheds light on the culture so that you have a better idea of how Japanese people live their lives. This is great for a casual read, especially if you are interested in Japanese culture. It certainly is a fun read.

Nothing special but interesting at moments. Heavily stereotypical and makes a lot of assumptions but enables foreigners to grasp a bit of the Japanese society.

No wonder some people were so amused when I visited Japan in 2007! I must have been a complete buffoon! This is an excellent guide but I doubt a gaijin could ever fit in perfectly. One needs to be born in Japan for that.