Geographically, Japan is often described as “separated from China by a strip of water”, and the two countries share a cultural exchange history spanning thousands of years. Some scholars even speak of “a shared race and shared culture”. Yet do we truly understand this neighbor that lies so close to us? Do we really know this country with which we have been bound by both friendship and conflict over the centuries?

Drawing on his own firsthand experiences in Japan as well as a wealth of long-accumulated research materials, the author endeavors to offer readers an up-close, unfiltered portrayal and analysis of this East Asian neighbor—so near yet so distant, so familiar yet so unfamiliar—revealing its many authentic facets. By delving deeply into the unique national character and distinctive cultural psychology of the Japanese people, this work provides invaluable insights for better understanding and comprehending Japan.

Cheng Ma

He is a researcher at the Comparative Literature Research Office of the Institute of Literature, Social Sciences of China.
His major works include “Lu Xun's Study in Japan”, “Communication and Renewal: The Relationship between Lu Xun and Japanese Literature”, “The Theory of Literary Values”, “Chinese Psychological Disorder: The Cult of Completion”, and so on. His translations include “The Collected Works of Minoru Takeuchi”(10 volumes) and more.

Introduction: A Strangers’ Neighbor
1. “A near neighbor is not as good as a distant relative.”
2. The Chinese Perception of Japan as a “Japanese Fairy Tale”
3. Are China and Japan “of the Same Race and the Same Culture”?
4. The “Middle” Kingdom and Japan’s “Origin”

Part I: Across the Archipelago
5. Cherry Blossoms, Mount Fuji, and Folding Fans
6. Where Do the Japanese Come From?
7. The Legends of the Emperor, Tanuki, and Momotaro
8. The Tradition of “Military Cultivation”
9. A Society of “Order”
10. From “Wash It All Away” to “Die Once and For All”
11. “Rituals” and Japanese Politics
12. Also on the Meiji Restoration

Part II: Japan’s “Hybrid” Culture
13. A “Hybrid” Culture
14. Chinese Characters and Kana
15. The Many Meanings of “The Way”
16. Craftsmen as “Nobel Prize Winners”
17. A Japanese Monk
18. Eunuchs and the Imperial Examination System
19. The Pitiable Situation of Japanese Adolescents

Part III: A Nation Rich in “Ritual” but Lacking in “Righteousness”
20. Starting from the “Left-Behind Orphans”
21. Japan’s “Ritual”
22. A Century-Long Humiliation: The “Comfort Women”
23. Japan’s Wealth and Poverty
24. “Dog-Like Yet Human-Like”
25. Why Is It Necessary to Visit the Yasukuni Shrine?
26. On Mishima and Ishihara
27. Japanese Literati and Chinese Scholars

Supplement: Friendship Is Easy to Establish but Hard to Understand
28. “Friendship Is Easy to Establish but Hard to Understand”
29. The Zhou Brothers and Japan
30. On the Films “Purple Sun” and “The Goats Have Arrived”
31. A Message to the Japanese People