Customer Reviews

On Track with the Japanese: A Case-By-Case Approach to Building Successful Relationships

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Gercik's book is full of interesting cases demonstrating the differences and difficulties most Americans face when confronting the Japanese. Whether personal or business, these two worlds are diametric - neither truly understands the other. The analyses after each chapter provide insight for a successful Japanese-American relationship. Having myself been an intern in Japan, I can safely say that her words of wisdom are worth reading.

This book contains about 23 short stories about Americans and Japanese dealing with each other. However most of the stories deal with American students going to work in scientific labs in Japan. The author was responsible for sending interns from an American University to Japan so she uses a lot of these experiences for her book. This limits the usefulness of the book for other involvement. The author tries to tie the stories together with 4 stages of progress in the relationship but I found it hard to make the connection. The book is very readable. I finished it within 24 hours of receiving it. The stories are each little dramas and I was captivated to find out how each person would do. In sum, a good starter but I think there is much more to the subject.

I not only read and benefitted from the insight in this book, but shared it with several others. Adjusting to the culture, and especially relationships in Japan can be tough, but this book really shed some light on the subject.

As the other reviewers said it was very readable. I agree with their comments about its weaknesses too, but it's just so good I had to give it 5 stars.