This section focuses on the people of Japan and their culture: their history, social roots, family life, traditional and contemporary arts and crafts, and the Japanese love of sport.

An understanding of Japanese culture can pay unexpected dividends during your business dealings in this nation. A positive relationship with your counterparts can be enhanced if you demonstrate a sincere interest in Japanese culture.

Modern Japanese culture is neither unapproachably exotic nor a wholesale copy of Western ways. At different times and in different ways, the ideals and aesthetics of the Japanese court, warrior culture, Buddhism and Confucianism, and the Western world were all woven together into an intriguing mix. Although some aspects of Japanese culture may at first seem alien to Western eyes, even the most characteristic Japanese phenomena, from Noh plays to sumô wrestling, have a universal appeal based on such values as aesthetic beauty and sporting gusto.