What is "nihonjinron"

, is a genre of texts that focus on issues of Japanese national and cultural identity. Such texts share a general assumption of the uniqueness of Japan, and the term nihonjinron can be employed to refer to this outlook.

The concept became popular after World War II, with books and articles aiming to analyze, explain, or explore peculiarities of Japanese culture and mentality, usually by comparison with those of Europe and the United States. The literature is vast, ranging over such varied fields as sociology, psychology, anthropology, history, linguistics, philosophy, biology, chemistry and physics so in addition to the common generic word nihonjinron, a variety of topical subgenres exist, divided up by specific theme or subject-matter. For example:

• shinfūdoron (新風土論): "new theories on climate" (implying the influence of climate on peoples)
• nihonbunkaron (日本文化論): "theories on Japanese culture"
• nihonshakairon (日本社会論): "theories on Japanese society"
• nihonron (日本論): "theories on Japan"
• nihonkeizairon (日本経済論) "theories on the Japanese economy"

Books written by non-Japanese authors may also be classed as nihonjinron, if they share, contribute to, or reflect the vision, premises, and perspectives characteristic of the Japanese genre.