The Chrysanthemum and the Sword: Patterns of Japanese Culture

2019 Reprint of the 1946 Edition by Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. Noted American anthropologist Ruth Benedict wrote this book at the invitation of the U.S. Office of War Information, in order to understand and predict the behavior of the Japanese in World War II by reference to a series of contradictions in traditional culture. The book was influential in shaping American ideas about Japanese culture during the occupation of Japan and popularized the distinction between guilt cultures a...