I love this book. I read this book on 2010 and until now its still my favorite. This books is telling us a story how contrast it is American culture and Japanese culture. American is much more brass and outspoken. Japanese is much more secluded and honoring seniority. I love how the author narrates the story and focusing on the culture contrast.

Crichton puts forth a very interesting perspective on the economic relationship between Japan and the USA in this novel.

While informative, I feel that Crichton was at times overly pessimistic. He draws a picture of the Japanese annexing the American economy and Japan itself surpassing the US in every degree of first-world status (including GDP). And while he does raise some compelling points, I’m not sure how well the passage of time has supported his assertions. Crichton seemed fully confident in 1992 that the Japanese economy will soon and inevitably surpass that of the US. Well, here we are in 2018 and Japan’s GDP is still only a quarter of the United State’s. Also our debt to GDP ratio is around 1.2 while Japan’s is at a monstrous 2.6.

Crichton may have been slightly out of bounds with the doom and gloom in this novel. I’ll give it three stars because I enjoyed Crichton’s cogent and thought-provoking argument.

This 90s story begins strongly with good character development before diving down and meandering around how great the Japenese economy is. 1991-2001 is often referred to as Japan's, "lost decade," economically. So, not so fast the late Mr. Crichton. 3 of 10 stars

This book sat on my shelf for years.Whenever I tried to read it,I was put off by the strident anti-Japan tone.

At one level,this book is a murder mystery,and a thriller.If you just consider these elements,it's a pretty good book.It moves along at a brisk enough pace,it has plenty of dramatic tension.

A young girl is murdered in the American headquarters of a major Japanese corporation,and the way the investigation proceeds,makes for a gripping read.

But the trouble is,it isn't just a murder mystery or a thriller.It is Michael Crichton's no holds barred attack on Japan.Even for a neutral reader like me,finding this much fault with everything Japanese,felt distasteful.

I personally,find much to admire about Japan,but Crichton's only concession to Japan,is a few back handed compliments.

It has been a while since the publication of this book.Crichton's worst fears about Japan's economic takeover of America have not come true.For me,this book was such a mixed bag.I liked it as a thriller,but I didn't like its vicious tone.

In the 80s the big American fear, especially in California, was that the Japanese businesses were going to take over. Strangely, the fact that the Dutch and British had more holdings than the Japanese never mattered.

That said, Japanese conspiracies were popular and this was one of the better ones, which also allowed us to perceive the Japanese manner of thinking.

BTW, this book was better than the movie. Overally, a very good read but not great.

For those who didn't see the movie a pair of American investigators are called in to investigate a murder connected with Japanese business. One of the investigators is very much "pro Japanese" and the other could care less. It's something of a Historical piece now but back in the 80s I'm sure some people felt the Japanese were going to get their revenge for WWII and buy America out.

OVERALL GRADE: B to B plus.

Before approaching any book, it occurs to me that the reader should attempt to know the writer: his or her predispositions – in order to more thoroughly get a point of view that may or may not be present in the work one has read. It is obvious that Crichton had some very real concerns about Japanese interests in American technologies as a constant threat. He voices those concerns in the forward of this book, so he is not disguising it. Most of those concerns IMHO have been proven unfounded, so if one is looking for a broad sweeping interpretation of Crichton’s opinion on the subject, please look elsewhere because I review this book solely by its own merits, my opinion, and my enjoyment of the work. Crichton was a huge researcher of his subjects and clearly throughout Rising Sun, it is evident that he uses his characters to convey that information through character exposition. Characterization is strong. The plot flows at a rapid pace. The police procedural aspect is consistent with what the novice would expect and sufficiently unique to be a fascinating read. I really liked it and according to my Grey Geek scale: 4 Grey Geeks.

BUDDY-SAN


I due protagonisti: il mediocre Wesley Snipes e l'indimenticabile Sean Connery.

Il romanzo fu pubblicato nel 1992. A quell’epoca gli americani rappresentavano il quattro per cento della popolazione mondiale, e il diciotto per cento dell’economia mondiale: ma in tema di avvocati ne avevano ben il cinquanta per cento. Settecentocinquantamila avvocati che in qualche modo dovevano guadagnare ciascuno almeno trecentomila dollari l’anno.
Se a quell’epoca, come sostiene Crichton - ed è per questo che ha scritto Sol Levante– il Giappone aveva economicamente superato gli US, viene da immaginare che le due nazioni insieme avessero più o meno almeno il 40% dell’economia mondiale. Wow.
Chissà se Crichton avrebbe scritto qualcosa sulla Cina. Io penso di sì.
E chissà se avrebbe aggiunto qualcosa sul fatto che il Giappone ha nel frattempo fatto qualche passo indietro.


La vittima

La tesi di Crichton è che gli investimenti diretti di capitali stranieri nelle industrie americane a più elevato livello tecnologico non sia per definizione positivo, e che quindi limitarlo o regolamentarlo non sarebbe sbagliato.
Che il Giappone si stia impadronendo degli Stati Uniti, al contempo rafforzando la sua posizione internazionale, dovrebbe essere secondo la teoria di Crichton, responsabilità primaria delle due presidenze Reagan e dell’unica di Bush padre, quando il libero mercato fu considerato la divinità da onorare.


Il sospettato numero 1.

Per spiegare il suo punto di vista sull’argomento e sostenerlo scrive quattrocento pagine che si leggono una-tira-l’altra, un thriller meno scientifico di altre volte, più economico (ma se serve, come nella scena dell’autopsia, le sue conoscenze mediche tornano quanto mai utile e incisive), dove il morto è uno solo, di sesso femminile: poi c’è un altro morto, ma accidentale. Poi…
Ma, tutta la storia che conta ruota intorno a scoprire come è morta e perché e chi ha ucciso la bella ragazza sul grande tavolo della sala riunioni.


Harvey Keitel è il poliziotto rozzo e razzista.

Morte che viene segnalata a pagina uno con una telefonata alle otto e mezzo di sera: da lì in avanti Crichton è molto attento all’orologio, lo fa progredire con grande cura fermandolo meno di 72 ore dopo.
La ragazza muore, o viene uccisa – la seconda ipotesi è senz’altro più probabile sin dal principio – al quarantaseiesimo piano di un grattacielo di novanta, mentre al piano di sotto è in corso la festa d’inaugurazione del nuovo skyscraper. Tutto giapponese: addirittura si favoleggia che sia stato prefabbricato in Giappone, trasportandolo a blocchi da assemblare direttamente a Los Angeles.
Alla festa è presente Madonna, il sindaco della città, Tom Cruise con la sua “moglie australiana”, Chuck Norris, il sindaco di L.A., un paio di senatori, qualche deputato.


Tia Carrere è l’esperta di videotecnologia.

In coda Crichton ci regala quattro pagine di bibliografia, fatto alquanto insolito in questo genere di letteratura. E le circa quattrocento pagine sono impreziosite dalla sua eccellente conoscenza della tecnologia video e dei sistemi di vigilanza, dell’epoca, ma con uno sguardo al futuro.

Il film, sceneggiato dallo stesso romanziere, non regge il peso del racconto: si perde forse a causa di una regia non centrata (Philip Kaufman alternava film interessanti, come The Right Stuff – Uomini veri ad altri più incerti, come questo): ma forse la responsabilità maggiore del fallimento poggia sulle spalle di Wesley Snipes, attore sempre al di sotto della necessità.

Such a great thriller! Check out my full review on my booktube channel http://youtube.com/peterlikesbooks

Interesting read, I get why people call it controversial though. Full review: https://smolinskiblog.co/2019/07/22/m...

This was an interesting read right after Tai-Pan given that both books explore the business relationship between an Asian nation and a Western one. In this case, though, the Author came to the story with a very definitive message to get across. Namely that America as a whole (industry, government, society) had to stop generally sucking because Japan was kicking our asses in every way imaginable.

Now that might seem a bit strange from a contemporary reader's perspective, but you need to remember when this book was written in the late eighties the Japanese were very much an economic powerhouse, growing to be one of the largest economies in the world and far surpassing many western companies in efficiency, technology, and quality. Heck, there was even a pretty popular movie about the Japanese buying an American car company and instituting a bunch of changes to the process that was not well received by the American workers who were portrayed as lazy, inefficient, and generally worse than their Japanese counterparts. Naturally this movie was a comedy.

This is all to say that the zeitgeist of America at the time was one which viewed Japan as an ascending, threatening economic power. There was certainly plenty of anti-Japanese sentiment in the US due to the loss of jobs and market share at the hands of Japanese competition. Competition that had some serious government protections in their own home markets that prevented American firms from gaining a foothold. For the 1980's Japan was on top of the world. Heck, they even bought Rockefeller Center.

Then the Lost Decade(s) happened and Japan has yet to recover.

So if you do decided to give this book a shot be warned it will feel very dated with the sinister Japanese forces lurking in the background, pulling the economic and political strings that seek to thwart the hero detectives.

Because as much as Crichton uses this story as a soapbox for his public policy prescriptions (and while he does provide the proverbial receipts in the form of an extensive bibliography of economics papers and reports) there is still a murder mystery to be solved. Said investigation brings the reader through all sorts of facets of alleged Japanese business culture and society as well as the depth of their influence in American society. But, at its heart, it is still an interesting and compelling mystery with an almost Holmes-Watson vibe going on between the two detectives leading the investigation.

So if you can wade through some late 80's/early 90's Japanese paranoia (which, if nothing else, is a fascinating look at the American psyche from that time period) you will find a pretty solid story and mystery.

This acclaimed novel is set against the backdrop of Japanese-American tensions at the time of its writing - each side apprehensive, protective of their own territory and culture. The plot revolves around an American female's murder in Nakomoto, a Japanese corporation on American soil - and that distinct setting sets the wheels of this novel in motion. The intricacies of etiquette, culture, duty that is inherent to Japan plays a key role as the investigation begins to unfold. Only one man can identify and effectively communicate with the Japanese - enter Captain Connor, played deliciously well by the ultimate Sean Connery in the movie adaptation of the book.

Crichton, who must be fluent in Japanese, intersperse random Japanese phrases and customs throughout the book. One of my favorites is the sempai-kohai relationship between Captain Connor, the sempai or the mentor and coach, and Lieutenant Smith, the kohai or trainee. I remember one afternoon picking up a book comprised of Japanese traditional expressions soon after this book - so inspired I felt in learning the thousand year old expressions of their culture. I barely made it past fist few pages of my book, "The Japanese have a word for it"; it was overwhelming to consume in one sitting. The sheer complexity of each expression and its history wore me out. The demands of society and pressures of tradition are tremendous on the lives of the Japanese and puzzling to the rest of the world - the non-Japanese ones of us who can neither fully grasp nor appreciate the depth of servitude felt by this nation.

As one who is fascinated by the Japanese culture, language, country, eccentricities and mysteries, this books adds an intense and mixed angle of perspective for me. The story is a mystery murder and while interesting, it does not make up the core of the book. While the murder plot carries you through the pages, nothing is more engrossing than Connor's brutal honesty about how the Japanese think and do business. "Business is war to the Japanese", he repeats over and over - and you will see why if you read the book.

The suspense of the murder mystery is no simple maze to follow. Twists and turns into the investigation thicken, as they should in every good story, and yet remain realistic to the reader. The plot spoiler warning applies here as I disclose the vast difference between the endings of movie and book. In Crichton's novel, Theresa and Lt. Smith do not end up together, there exists no previous relationship between Theresa and Captain Connor, and Ishigoro, the Japanese employee, is the real murderer as opposed to an entirely different character in the movie. This is no small difference as the entire story is built to incriminate Ishigoro in the end. Imagine my disappointment as I learned that Sean Connery not only played Captain Connor but was also the executive producer of the film - and he allowed for such a large deviation from the novel? I would defer to Crichton whose imagination first brought us to the world of the Rising Sun. I prefer the ending in the book.

A fast paced action murder mystery that is one of my favorite of Crichton's works. Revolving around a murder committed during the negotiations of a possible purchase of an American Tech company by the Japanese.
The story is replete with possible motives and suspects. Well thought out the story flows smoothly from start to finish and still manages to surprise the reader along the way.