Before we begin our study of Asia, we need to first define clearly what it is we will be studying. We will be studying the history, geography, economic systems, religions, social systems, arts and literature of China and Japan. There is an umbrella term for all these, and that term is culture. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Culture is the entire way of life of a group of people.
The study of human cultures is called anthropology. This course, to some extent, is an anthropology course. Unlike historians or geographers or economists or arts historians who focus on just one aspect of a group of people, anthropologists are interested in everything about a people. Anthropologists are sometimes assisted by archaeologists, who study human artifacts, that is, remains of physical objects, such as pottery or tools, in an attempt to reconstruct the physical culture. Everyone human being has a culture, but no one is born with one.