The decades of Western adulation for the Japanese 'economic miracle' failed to notice a key point: that in the pursuit of this miracle the Japanese had turned their country into a degraded, concrete shambles - a wilderness of bad planning, corruption and crowding. Now that the miracle is at an end and Japan seems set to remain in the economic doldrums it must become apparent to everyone that one of the world's greatest cultures has ruined itself almost beyond repair. Alex Kerr's wonderful book conveys vividly and furiously both the dazzling nature of Japanese culture and how the bureaucrats of a country he loves have poisoned and ruined it.

“犬马难描，鬼魅易画。”在作者看来，存在着两个日本：一个日本经济发达、民生富裕，为人们所熟知；另一个日本却有着僵化腐败的官僚体制，岌岌可危的命令型金融系统，以及被泛滥的基本建设破坏殆尽的自然环境。更可怕的是，后者才是真实的日本。作者旅居日本多年，对日本爱之也深，责之也切。如此锋芒锐利的书，自2001年以来已在日本重版八次并受到欢迎，这本身就从一个侧面说明了日本所面临的困境之深，对改革要求之迫切。

几乎在所有方面，中国都存在与日本类似的问题。惟一值得庆幸的，如本书中文版序言所说，是中国可能具有更强的变革能力。惟有推进改革，中国才能避免重蹈日本的覆辙。