Introduction : opacity, misrecognition, and other complexities of symbolic communication -- Japanese cherry blossoms : from the beauty of life to the sublimity of sacrificial death -- European roses : from 'bread and roses' to the aestheticization of murderers -- The subversive monkey in Japanese culture : from scapegoat to clown -- Rice and the Japanese collective self : the purity of exclusion -- The collective self and cultural/political nationalisms : cross-cultural perspectives -- The invisible and inaudible Japanese emperor -- (Non-)externalization of religious and political authority and power : a cross-cultural perspective.
