Nancy Rosenberger's book challenges previous simplistic comparisons between Western individualism and non-Western collectivism: the idea, as exemplified by the Japanese, of the self as interactive with society. Through their observations of Japanese life, the authors explain how the Japanese define themselves and communicate with those around them. They discuss what Westerners view as oppositions within the Japanese community and demonstrate how the Japanese reconcile one with the other. The Japanese emerge as complex and multi-faceted, vulnerable to outside influences, but strong enough to determine their own destinies.