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2. A. «Thus natural geographic isolation at first compounded later by human design, forced the Japanese to
live more separately from the rest of the world than any other comparably large and advanced group of
people.»(II.24-27)
. «or perhaps one should say that this combination of natural and artificial isolation enabled them more
than most other peoples to develop on their own and in their own way». (11.27-30)
The two statements, A and B, represent different ways of conveying essentially the same information.
They differ significantly, however, in point of view.
1. Explain this difference.(What is the point of view of A? -of B?)
2. In what respect is the above statement — and — restatement (A and B) similar to the following statement.
«It has made other people, even the nearby Koreans and Chinese, look on the Japanese as being somehow
different, and has produced in the Japanese a strong sense ofself-dentity».
3. Why do you suppose the writer keeps shifting the point of view in this way? (What is he probably trying
to tell us by implication?)
3. What combination of characteristics makes Japan «unique» (1.34)?
a. It is____________.
b. It is_____________.
4. Why is it «ironic» (47) that isolation has «caused the Japanese to be acutely aware of anything that comes
from outside and to draw special attention to its foreign provenance»? (11.47-49) (i.e., what ironic effect has
this had on Japan's reputation?)
5. The British Isles are mentioned (1.74) to illustrate the point that_________________.
6. «But prolonged separation ... terrain». (II. 74-76)
A. The internal barriers would normally prevent_______.
B. In Japan these internal geographical barriers did not have the effect they have had in other parts of the
world. Why not?
7. A. There is «a diversity of facial types in Japan». (II. 82, 83)
B. There «are few important physical variations» among the Japanese.(II.87, 88)
a. How does the writer manage to reconcile the above facts, which are seemingly contradictory?
b. Both facts are part of the evidence supporting the main idea in paragraph 7. What is that idea?
8. A. What do we learn from paragraph 9 about the ethnic origins of the people of Korea and North China, as
opposed to those of South China?
B. Which of these groups do the Japanese resemble more closely in their physical characteristics?
C. Which group are they «basically» (line 114) closest to?
9. Why is the eighth century of considerable importance in the ethnic history of Japan?
10.The fact that the Japanese are a product of «racial mingling» (II. 136,137) contradicts the myth that they
are____.
11 .A. For which two reasons would it have been natural for the Koreans to have become absorbed within
the Japanese population both culturally and racially?
12. Explain the irony in the lines 184-189: «Clearly they included people engaged in leather work or
butchery, since the Buddhist prejudice against the taking of all animal life made others look down on such
persons, though... not on the butchers of human life in a feudal society dominated by a military elite».
13. In drawing his «population and G[ross] N[ational] P[roduct] maps»(ll. 220) the writer distorted the
actual (geographic) setting of Japan in two ways. Define these two distortions and give his justification for