No one can visit Japan for more than a few days without being influenced by the seductive appeal of its arts and crafts, its interior design elements, its historical artifacts, its scenic beauty, its entertainment, and the exotic images of its feminine culture. I have attempted to distill the secrets of Japan's appeal in the following books, reviewed by the publisher:
AMAZING JAPAN! – Why Japan is One of the World’s Most Intriguing Countries!, by Boyé Lafayette De Mente. Phoenix Books/Publishers. ISBN: 0914778-29-3. Quality trade paperback, 148 pages, $12.95. Available from Amazon.com.
Japan is known worldwide for its economic prowess and such iconic symbols as geisha, karaoke, manga, Mt. Fuji, ninja, feudal-age samurai warriors and huge sumo wrestlers.
What is not so well-known are its amazing historical artifacts [shrines; temples; castles; the world’s largest and oldest wooden buildings; arts and crafts, hundreds of annual festivals that go back nearly two thousand years]; the incredible scenic beauty of its mountains, gorges, rivers, one of the longest and most gorgeous coastlines in the world; and a combined modern and traditional lifestyle that is so fascinating and seductive that exposure to it for just a few days is a mind-altering experience.
The author identifies and describes a choice selection of things that make Japan one of the world’s most unusual, most intriguing, and most enjoyable travel destinations… things that explain why so many foreigners take up permanent residence there once they have experienced life in this amazing country.
EXOTIC JAPAN! – The Sensual & Visual Pleasures!, by Boyé Lafayette De Mente. Phoenix Books/Publishers. ISBN: 0914778-83-8. Quality trade paperback, 162 pages. $14.95. Available from Amazon.com.
Journalist-author Boyé Lafayette De Mente delves into his 60 years of experience of living in, working in, traveling in and writing 30-plus pioneer books on the Japanese way in all areas of life to present a smorgasbord of the many things that make Japan one of the most unusual, attractive and seductive countries in the world—with invaluable insights into how to enjoy the sensual and visual feast!
Chapters include: Modern & Traditional Japan, Origins of the Beauty Elements in Japanese Culture, The Essentials of Enjoying Japan, The Climate, The People, and a comprehensive list of the pleasures, from the basic pleasure theme in Japanese culture in all of its different forms from dining and the night-time entertainment trades to its fertility festivals.
Whatever your interest may be, Exotic Japan will inform, delight, and titillate you. It includes survival- type key words and phrases in Japanese with their equivalents in English phonetics so you can pronounce them perfectly without any previous study or practice.
WHY ORIENTAL GIRLS ATTRACT WESTERN MEN! – The Erotic Side of the Orient!, by Boyé Lafayette De Mente. Phoenix Books/Publishers. ISBN: 0914778-85-4. Quality trade paperback, 148 pages, $14.95. Available from Amazon.com.
The exotic side of the Orient has always fascinated both Western men and women who were fortunate enough to visit there. But it has been the erotic side of Oriental life that has resulted in large numbers of Western men, beginning with Marco Polo, spending years or the rest of their lives in the Far East.
In this provocative peek behind the bamboo and silken curtains of China, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines, the author [an old Asian hand] details the physical and cultural elements that have traditionally made Oriental girls the epitome of femininity and unbridled sexuality—and given them advantages over typical Western women when it comes to attracting and pleasing men.
He has also included some valuable advice to Western women on how to overcome their disadvantages.
SPEAK JAPANESE TODAY – A Little Language Goes a Long Way, by Boyé Lafayette De Mente. Phoenix Books/Publishers. ISBN: 0-914778-46-3. $14.95. Quality trade paperback, 6x9, 190 pages. Available from Amazon.com.
As part of the growing worldwide interest in the Japanese language [much of it resulting from the popularity of Japan’s animated films and TV fare, known as anime/ah-nee-may, and manga /mahn-gah or comics], Japanologist Boyé Lafayette De Mente has published what he refers to as a “home course” in Japanese for anyone involved with Japanese anywhere.
Speak Japanese Today—A Little Language Goes a Long Way is based on the pairing of English phonetics with every word and phrase in the book, making it possible for the user to instantly pronounce Japanese correctly without any previous study.
The word for the Japanese language, Nihongo is one example. The phonetics for its pronunciation are “Nee-hone-go.” All you have to do is say or read the phonetics in standard English and it comes out in Japanese.
What makes this book even more unusual is that it includes key vocabulary and example sentences for airline pilots, stewardesses, Immigration officials, Customs officials, hotel staff, restaurant staff, bartenders, shop clerks, taxi drivers, tour guides, doctors, people hosting Japanese students, and more.
WHY THE JAPANESE ARE A SUPERIOR PEOPLE! – The Advantages of Using Both Sides of Your Brain!, by Boyé Lafayette De Mente. Phoenix Books Publishers/Publishers. ISBN: 0914778-55-2. Quality trade paperback, 128 pages, $12.95. Available from Amazon.com.
Internationally known for his 50-plus pioneer books on the business practices, cultures and languages of Japan, Korea, China and Mexico, the author covers the elements in Japan’s traditional culture that have made them remarkably successful in virtually all of their endeavors.
De Mente attributes the special knowledge and skills of the Japanese to the premise that they are primarily right-brain oriented as a result of their vowel-heavy language—a linguistic circumstance they share with only one other group of people: the Polynesians of the South Pacific.
He quotes Japan’s noted brain authority Dr. Tadanobu Tsunoda [author of The Japanese Brain and many other works] on how the Japanese are programmed to first process information in the right side of their brains—the side that deals with feelings rather than facts; a factor that is readily discernible in their arts and crafts as well as in their traditional management practices.
“In the Japanese mindset, aesthetics and form play an equal role with functionality,” De Mente says, adding: “and it is this cultural element that is responsible for the extraordinary beauty of such common things as their bowls, vases, paper doors, room dividers, kimono and yukata.”
De Mente adds that the fact that the Japanese are able to use both sides of their brains gives them significant advantages over strictly left-brained people in designing and manufacturing products from arts and crafts to electronic devices.
In addition to such topics as emotions vs. reason, the “fuzzy” [holistic] thinking of the Japanese vs. the linear thinking of other people, the diligence factor in Japanese behavior, and quality vs. profit, De Mente identifies a long list of views and practices that distinguish the Japanese from left-brain oriented people—and are important for foreigners to know about.
For foreign readers, one of the more interesting topics in the book may be what foreign women have to do to cope with their left-brain oriented male counterparts.
WHICH SIDE OF YOUR BRAIN AM I TALKING TO? – The Advantages of Using Both Sides of Your Brain, by Boyé Lafayette De Mente. Phoenix Books/Publishers. ISBN: 0-914778-95-1, $9.95. Quality trade paperback, 6x9, 120 pages. Available from Amazon.com.
The human brain has a left side and a right side, and it is well-known that the two sides are programmed to perform different functions. There is also growing evidence that sexual gender, the language one first learns as a child, and the culture in which one is raised play primary roles in determining which side of the brain is engaged at particular times.
In this insightful and provocative book author Boyé Lafayette De Mente, internationally known for his 50-plus books on cultures, languages and business practices of China, Japan, Korea and Mexico, proposes that it is a unique brain factor that explains why people have difficulty communicating and understanding each other.
He proclaims that it is the primary language one learns as a child that determines whether people are left-brain oriented [think first in terms of logic and facts] or right-brain oriented [think first in terms of emotions and feelings]…and what is even more intriguing he says that all people on the planet except for the Japanese and Polynesians are programmed to be left-brain oriented.
De Mente says that it is the number of vowels in a language that controls the programming of the sides of the brains…with the vowel-heavy Japanese and Polynesian languages being unique. He adds that among the world’s other languages the so-called Romance languages [Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, etc.] are the only ones with a significant proportion of vowels…and their influence is noticeable in the emotional behavior of these people.
The premise of the book is based on work done by Dr. Tadanobu Tsunoda, Japan’s leading authority on which side of the brain processes what of sort of information. The author was one of Dr. Tsunoda’s lab subjects.
De Mente also notes that Americans and others must learn how to use the right sides of their brains more effectively if they are to achieve their full potential. [The book also explains what women must do to survive in a male-dominated world.]
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Boyé Lafayette De Mente is a graduate of Jōchi University in Tokyo, Japan and Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona, USA. He has been involved with China, Japan, Korea and Mexico since the late 1940s as a member of a U.S. intelligence agency, student, trade journalist and editor, and is the author of 50-plus books on the business practices, cultures and languages of these countries. For a full list of his books with synopses go to www.BoyeDeMente.com. #
