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The Chrysanthemum and the Sword: Patterns of Japanese Culture

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Ruth Benedict has beautifully laid out concepts and social constructs which make Japanese culture so tremendously different from Occidental modes of thought. Her study has rightly been called the a classic of the Anthro Canon. Ms. Benedict (to respond to an earlier reviewer) had no intention of writing history, which carries with it a completely different pedagogical/philosophical set of baggage. Instead, as she discusses in the introduction, she examined the most basic functions of Japanese life and modes of thought which are crucial to understanding a major world power--ways of comprehending life which are often entirely separate from Western perception. Most Japanese who have read this book truly appreciate the messages it carries, as they often find Japanese culture too impenetrable to describe to foreign friends. I should add that the book is very 'readable,' a rare and wonderful quality for any non-fiction book. The book was comisisoned by the U.S. Government during the second world war to attempt to understand their opponents. At the time, in the middle of the war, Benedict could not possibly have lived in Japan, and so interviewed Japanese citizens living in the U.S., many living in relocation camps. Between their cooperation and a great body of work (anthropological and otherwise) which came before her project, Benedict had a wealth of cultural nuggets from which she derived her fascinating and crucial work. This book is a must-read for anyone who seeks a deeper understanding of Japanese culture--honestly, as we are so closely tied economically and politically with Japan, and restrained Japan so thoroughly after World War II--restrictions which strongly influence Japanese involvement in world politics today, we all could easily benefit from the Crysanthemum and the Sword. P.S. If you are looking for History (in terms of the academic discipline), there are other important books to read. As Ruth Benedict is a (fantastic) Anthropologist, her concern is with social mindsets an

Anyone who wishes to seriously study Japanese civilization and culture should read this book which is considered a classic, seminal text on the subject. It introduced insights into Japanese culture that are now old hat but were fresh and new to American minds when the book was first published. Although the book is a bit dated as more anthropologists have studied the subject and have been able to conduct field research - which Benedict did not do -, scholars in the field still refer to Benedict's work, so its still worth reading if you want to be fully versed in the literature and discourse. However, if you're entirely new to studying Japanese culture and civilization, this is very readable and a wonderful beginning since Benedict wrote about her Japanese interviewees with real insight and the desire to truly understand the Japanese. Just keep in mind, that this book should be supplemented with other, more recent texts, particularly ones in which the anthropologists actually did conduct field research.

Chrysanthemum and the Sword : Patterns of Japanese Culture by Ruth Benedict was intended as a commissioned anthropological study of the Japanese culture at the end of WWII. The study was harshly treated and criticized by some of the anthropologists and by many in the near-political university circles because the author use of circumstantial and indirect evidence, since she never went to Japan and did not know the language.

In my opinion, the study however is clear, unencumbendt by assumptions, fairly objective. I feel that Benedict accomplished her goal in laying out the foundation for understanding of what American Japanese administration can do in rebuilding the Japan society so the WWII aggression won't be repeated.

Personally, Benedicts clear explanation of hierarchy of cultural obligation (to the emperor, family, and to ones honor), descriptions of the child upbringing gave me useful insights into Japanese literary and esthetic traditions; and to the history of the development of Buddhism. I would highly recommend it for anybody who wants to understand cultural foundation of Japanese character; and also as a curious piece on how Japan was perceived circa 1946, when nothing of the impending economic recovery, political reorientation and cultural shifts of today were known.

Ruth Benedict's The Chrysanthemum and the Sword is an anthropological study of Japanese culture during World War II. It was her job to "spell out what the Japanese were like." (3) One of the great aspects of this book is that Benedict's main arguments hold true even to this day. Although many of her examples may be a bit outdated from our modern perspective, her conclusions drawn from those examples are still valid.
However, due to the time that it was written, 1944-6, Benedict was unable to study in Japan. Instead, she had to rely on articles already written about Japan and interviews with Japanese immigrants. In doing so, Benedict is able to draw three major conclusions about the Japanese: Japanese society is hierarchically structured, but in such a way that allows class mobility; that everyone has a debt, or 恩 (on), they must repay to the world; their particularistic society allows them to easily adapt to almost any situation. For example, Benedict tells us that hierarchy is one of the key aspects of Japanese society, so much so that they have "what is called a `respect language.'" (47) This means that forms of speech are altered to reflect the status of the speaker compared to the listener. Before the Meiji Restoration, the Emperor was at the top of the hierarchy, followed by the Shogun, daimyo, samurai, farmers, artisans, merchants and finally the outcasts. Japan operated in this hierarchical order for hundreds of years and it worked very well. As a result of this, the Japanese people learned that as long as they did not do anything outside this order "they could trust their world." (70) It was a system which "guaranteed security so long as one followed the rules." (73) Although the Meiji Reform attempted, in part, to do away with these class distinctions, it was not terribly successful: Samurai became powerful bureaucrats, merchants still became more and more wealthy, farmers were farmers, and the outcasts were still looked down upon - despite their emancipation. The same can be said even of today's Japan. The elite families such as Mitsubishi and Mitsui are still very powerful. Due to their integral role in Japan's economy, they are able to sway Diet members' opinions their way.
Another unique aspect of Japanese hierarchy, Benedict tells us, is that it allows for class mobility. Just because one is born a merchant's son does not mean one has to always be a commoner. As merchants during the pre-Meiji era became wealthier, they were able to marry into samurai families. In this way, the "merchant's descendants become samurai" and the samurai family marries into more money. (72) Although this still occurs today between wealthy and prestigious families, there is also another way to move up and gain social prestige. By studying hard and getting into the best schools, one can be sure of a secure future. If one graduates from Tokyo University, it would be very difficult to not find a good job. In this manner, even a lowly farmer's second son can be an important man.
One point that should be made clear about the Japanese hierarchy is that the American view of hierarchy is not quite correct. Americans views it as a very rigid and controlling way of life - indeed it is. However, the authority that a father exerts on his family or a Shogun over the nation is not dictatorial. The opinions and well-being of the entire group are taken into consideration before any decisions are made. "The master of the house saddles himself with great difficulty" if he acts purely according to his own will. (55)
Benedict's second main observance of the Japanese is their sense of 恩, or indebtedness, and the need to repay it. The Japanese believe, she tells us, that when a child is born, he is immediately indebted to the Emperor and will never be able to repay even a one-ten-thousandth of it back. The child is also indebted to his parents. Only after becoming one "does he know how indebted he is to his own parents." (102) Tied directly to this idea is virtue. In Japan, repaying ones debts is a very important part of life. One must always be careful to remember 恩 to the Emperor and the parents. Therefore, it is considered a virtue when one works toward repaying any debts and as a burden to acquire more. This sense of repaying someone continues even now. It is evident in gift giving practices in which an employee gives a boss a New Year's present as a way of paying him back for employment. Also, when a guest visits a family he will often bring お酒 (sake) or some other small present as repayment for burdening the family. A peculiar side-effect of 恩 is that people do not often help strangers in need. To do so would be to give that person 恩 they would likely not be able to repay.
Benedict's final insight into the Japanese culture is their ability to adapt to almost any situation. The most obvious example of this is their attitude toward the Occupation. When the Emperor announced the unconditional surrender of Japan, the Japanese considered it a natural course of events and "accepted all that such a fact implied." (305) There are numerous stories of the politeness showed to American troops upon arrival in Japan. Even the fact that there were no resistance forces or sabotage attempts during the Occupation is a strong testament to this ability. "Japan's real strength," Benedict says, "lies in her ability to say..., `That failed,'" and take a completely different path. (304) Benedict then says Japan "could make herself indispensable in the commerce of the East," which could not be closer to the truth. (314) Japan's economy boomed after the Reconstruction and made it the technological center of the world. Of course, anyone could make such a prediction given the fact that Japan was no longer allowed to have an army. All the money that had been poured into the military could now be directed elsewhere.
Overall, I believe The Chrysanthemum and the Sword accomplishes Benedict's goal of describing the fundamentals of Japanese culture and is a great addition to the existing literature on Japan. As I have previously stated, some of her examples are indeed old-fashioned (i.e. the stern mother-in-law and the tale of Hachiko) and may appear irrelevant to the study of modern Japan; however, what she is able to draw from these examples is still applicable. We should consider that even though America today is much different than the America of the `40's, the same sorts of principles are held today - this can also be said of modern Japan.

The Chrysanthemum and the Sword describes clearly and succinctly how the Japanese lived and thought in the 1930s and 1940s. The book developed from research into Japanese society conducted for the American leadership, civilian and military, during the Second World War.

Benedict describes social customs and traditions found in Japan at the outbreak of WWII. For instance, Japanese love bathing and the eldest male gets to go first and women having their period go last; everyone uses the same water but this is no worse than everyone sharing a pool because bathers wash >>before<< getting into the tub. Another tradition is that women usually control the family purse with the husbands handing over their wages to their wives and getting an allowance. This is still largely true today.

For over ten years I avoided this book because it was written by someone who had never been to Japan and also because I avoid books that "explain" the Japanese. So when I picked up a copy lying around at a coffee shop and began skimming, I was very surprised at how insightful it was. Benedict was unable to do her research in Japan because of the war, so she obtained all her material from interviews with Japanese POWs and also with second generations Japanese-Americans interned in American concentration camps.

It is still worth reading today. Things have changed in Japan, as they have everywhere else in the world, but her people are still basically the same.

It's surprising that people are writing glowing reviews about this text in terms of its anthropological value. As an anthropological and ethnological work, it could not be more flawed- Benedict has never been to Japan, did minimal primary research and gathered most of her information from secondary sources. The primary research she did do came from observing Japanese-American internees-obviously problematic because attempting to formulate a JAPANESE national identity from observing JAPANESE AMERICANS tacitly gives credence to the idea that race creates collective behavioral traits instead of social conditioning, though this is the idea she is attempting to oppose. To Japan experts today, the relevance of the text lies in the fact that it demonstrates the weakness of scholarship on Japan during the World War II and post-war era, and gives more insight on the prejudices of American sentiment rather than the actual "national identity" of Japan (as if it isn't problematic enough that anyone is trying to assign an entire people a simplistic national identity-one of the predominant stereotypes during WWII was that the Japanese were disturbingly conformist and homogenous, which was one of the major justifications for wholesale Japanese internment- they were collectively untrustworthy). Basically what I am trying to say is- if you are looking for a truly anthropological work, my initial statements about the quality of her research methods should be enough of a caution for you to take what she is saying with a grain of salt. Instead, view it as a historical piece that will give you a better understanding of race relations in the US during WWII, or as an example of one of the myriad ways the American govenernment attempted to rationalize and justify staunch racism in their policies and legislation.

Those reviewers saying that this book is outdated have obviously never "set foot in Japan" (as one reviewer criticizes the author). Even though I have dozens of friends who live and work in Japan while loving, laughing, crying and living with Japanese, there are still some things about Japanese behavior and society that utterly confuse us as a group. Many Japanese of today who participate in our discussions are also unable to satisfactorily explain their way of thinking to us.

To my surprise, several of these mysteries were explained in great detail here, in a book several decades old! As many students of sociology know, societal change takes time. While Japan's advancement has been remarkably fast, the motivations and analyses laid out in this book still apply to most Japanese today. At the very least, they form the bedrock of the convictions for the middle-aged Japanese of today who dictate political and social policy in the power circles of Japan.

This book is value not only because of how it showcases differences (this is done only for illustrative purposes) but for how it defines and contrasts the Japanese way with what we know, and in doing so allows us to understand them to a higher degree. Very highly recommended.

Ruth Benedicts observation of the "paterns of Japanese culture" is basically a cultural guide book from the American perspective durring war-time to understand, ". . . a major foe [with] exeedingly different habits of acting and thinking, " (1). Benedict's role for the text was not to revolutionizes anthropology or to make new observations about Japanese society and social norms. Her resurch consisted of taking pre-existing concepts, written accounts and interviews to summarize and explain the connection between Japanese thought and Japanese action as to help America effectively fight a war against an exotic, mystical and seemingly unknowable enemy.
The great achievement of this text is that Benedict was able to touch on such a large number of elements that typify day-today life in Japan without any first hand experience. Though most of her ideas are based in fact, the connections she makes between each facet of Japanese culture falls short of my expectations. Benedict delves into the concepts that she believes lie at the center of what defines Japanese culture, not what Japanese feel are the most important. The text is more about what separates Japan from America and in that way the book can be scene as successful.
Right from the beginning, Japanese culture and psyche is portrayed as many sets of contradictions held together by very rigid social restraints. The most hyperbolically opposed concepts for Benedict were found in the relationship between "the chrysanthemum and the sword". Most of the book was spent trying to rationalize how beauty and destruction could not only be equals but one and the same. In this way, the book is more telling about American culture from the 1940's than it is about Japanese culture. Benedict takes the emblem of the chrysanthemum to be that of fragile beauty as it connotes in Western culture. The sword symbolizes death and suffering.
To the Japanese, the chrysanthemum is the sacred symbol of the Emperor. The symbol itself is separate from the actual object of a flower. The chrysanthemum is the symbol of Japanese history, culture and pride. It is a symbol of Japan and its people. If Benedict paid attention to her own conclusion, she would have noticed that in her chapter on pre-Meiji Japanese history that the sword did not embody the connotations of death, destruction and conflict as it does in Western culture. The sword was the symbol of power, stability, class and order. The sword unified Japan under one ruler as a nation during the Shogun wars. It is the sword that separated the peasant from the ruling samurai. At times, the power of the sword works to exercise the will of the Emperor (the chrysanthemum). Without the sword, the Emperor would have no nation to rule. Yet for most of Japan's history, it is the sword that has ruled over the nation with the authority of the Emperor on its side. Without a proper balance between the two, there is only chaos.
The idea of "the chrysanthemum and the sword" perplexes most Westerners for its seemingly obvious contradictions. In regards to Japanese history, almost all of the country's political actions up until the end of World War II are defined by the complex yet fragile balance between the Emperor and military might.

While I lived four years in Japan, I read many cultural books. Most authors referenced the work done by Ruth Benedict. It's my understanding that the military needed her ideas about the enemy to help win the war, and to effectively occupy Japan following WWII.
Japanese survivors from WWII have universally told me that American soldiers, following the war, were very kind, respectful, honorable, and helpful to the poor, defeated Japanese in their home country. They seemed genuinely interested in getting Japan back on its feet, and today's elderly Japanese feel a great respect and indebtedness towards those occupying forces from America.
American occupying policy was put together fairly quickly. Decisions were made, including whether and in what form the Emperorship should continue. A cornerstone for guiding these decisions was Ruth Benedict's book, "The Crysanthemum and the Sword."
Steps taken and structures put in place by America in post-war Japan were consistent, well-thought, and extraordinarily successful.
As Americans, we really needed a Ruth Benedict to analyze Iraq and inspire our leaders to put together an occupying strategy there that would acknowledge the strengths of Iraqui culture and re-shape them for success. Instead, we seem not to have a clear plan of who Iraq is or what to do with them.
How could we have done so well in the 40's and so poorly now?
Anyway, read Ruth Benedict's remarkable book and marvel at the skill of her analysis.

I'm amused by the comments that Ruth Benedict is outdated. No doubt she is--but where else will you learn about the philosophy of the Japanese armed forces in WWII? If you want to know why the Japanese treated their captives with such savagery, and why they routinely fought to the death, you'll benefit from reading this book. I don't know of any other that even attempts to explain these mysteries.