Funny Business: An Outsider's Year in Japan

by Gary J. Katzenstein

Book Overview

Katzenstein was chosen from among thousands of young applicants to spend a year working at Sony and experiencing Japanese culture firsthand. Armed with degrees in business and computer science, he set out for Tokyo. The results proved fascinating and painfully hilarious.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0939149184
• ISBN13: 9780939149186
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: Soho Press
• Length: 228 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.8" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Penetrating perspectives on a bizarre world

I read Gary's book when it first came out and LOVED it.For me, the most telling insights were these:In America, the prevailing axiom is "The squeaky wheel gets the grease". In Japan, it's "The nail that sticks out gets hammered".Both are forms of emotional blackmail, but one is more intimidating than the other. The truth is, both societies are extremely conformist, but diametrically opposed in the way they achieve conformity.I also found the incident after his arrival quite telling -- the one where the cab driver requests a map for his destination, despite Gary insisting that the address should be enough until, finally, the Japanese cabbie explains, wearily, that Gary doesn't understand... "Number one house in street is first house built."So tradition triumphs over logic in a society that seems to defy logic at every turn.If it does nothing else, it should prepare visitors to Japan to expect the unexpected, and to set aside their notions of how society "should" operate.

An great and insightful book

I read this book several years ago. It's a wonderfully entertaining read. And while it's not a primer for Japanese culture per se, it shows in great detail the culture shock one man goes through. It just shows how alien another culture can be from someone outside of it. The part that still stands out in my mind today is the English Club at work where they insisted the writer didn't know how to properly speak english as they used some pidgin form of english and japanese!Very entertaining. Anyone who is interested in japan or their culture should pick this up and read for it's entertainment value.

Hilarious! Insightful!

I read this book several years ago, and could hardly put it down. Everyone I've shared it with felt the same way.

Accurate, insightful and humerous.

Having lived and worked in Japan, for a Japanese company, I can attest to the accuracy of this book. The author's observations regarding business and social life are as current today as when the book was written. I highly recommend this book as a humerous, yet essential guide to living in Tokyo.