economic powerhouse. This was at first productof importing technology and advisors from Europe, nevertheless the Japanesewere quick to learn and to modify the industrialization in their own taste anddesire. The Statehad a the leading role in the modernization process and the priority was givento national security with a strong desire for self-sufficiency. The military-industrialcomplex became extremely influential and, together with the Nationalist leading roleof the State, Japan became a Fascist country, like many others in the Interwarperiod. After the endof the World War II Japan was occupied by the United States and is forced tomake many structural changes by its occupier. In certain ways the war wasadvantageous for Japan in the long run because, paradoxically, the destruction ofthe countrys industrial capacity did not remove the highly intelligentpopulation and skilled workers that later rebuilt the country much moreeffectively, as the new industrial base of Japan had to be build pretty muchfrom scratch, allowing brand new machinery to be set in place without the slowand painful process of modernizing obsolete material. The Americanoccupation and later military guarantee of protection also allowed the Japaneseto keep a relatively low military spending and therefore liberated resourcesand manpower to be utilized in other fields. Japan also benefited from a very unified political system in which the very broad Conservative coalition called the Liberal Democratic Party had and still have almosta monopoly of governing the country, allowing for a long term planning insteadof only short term planning for the next election where everything mightchange. The postwarera had a tremendous impact in the country, as there was an unprecedented levelof economic growth and a heavy process of urbanization that almost completelyerased rural life in Japan. Surprisingly little was changed in the valuessystem of the Land of the Rising Sun when compared with the tremendous changesthat happened in North America and Western Europe. The economicbehavior of the Japanese differs quite a lot from the United Kingdom and theUnited States for example in the sense that the Japanese save a very highproportion of their income, preferring safe and fixed capital funds instead ofinvesting in the stock market. Other major difference is the paternalisticbusiness model, which rewards seniority above anything else and therelationship between employer and employee that feels almost like family, withthe employee expected to be loyal and work many years for the company and theemployer, on the other hand, expected not to fire its employees except for themost dire circumstances while also looking to for the welfare of his workers. The last twochapters are dedicated into showing us how the Japanese are and how they areperceived to be as a country in international relations. It isfascinating to see the polling data, as well as anecdotal evidence both of theJapanese themselves as well as international observers in which we see againhow much more centered on the responsibility with the group the Japanese and,despite the image they export to the outside world, how traditional Japan stillis.Japanese students bowing to school teacher. One goodexample about how this mentality works taken straight from page 200 of the bookthat can be shocking for individual centered societies