The seven essays in this booklet are summaries of presentations made at the Way of Japan Workshop Series. Topics range from traditional Japanese history and culture to modern Japanese society and U.S.-Japanese relations. A welcome from Yoshi Okawara, Japanese ambassador to the United States, delineates how American and Japanese may think in different ways because of language, culture, and tradition but how both are forced to deal with the same types of questions and problems. In "Tokuigawa Japan and the Coming of the West," Gail Lee Bernstein discusses the history, exploits, and evolution of Japan's warrior elite, the Samurai. Chisato Kitagawa gives examples of the phonology, morphology and word formation, syntax, and four types of writing systems found in Japanese in "The Japanese Language: An Outline." The history, content, and characteristics of Japanese literature are the topic of Edward Putzar in "Japanese Literature: Discovery of the Inner and Outer Worlds." In "Seeing Japanese Art at A Distance," Joshua Goldberg considers what is "Japanese" about traditional Japanese art. A discussion of postindustrial society of Japan--its population, economy, problems, and prospects--is the focus of Minoru Yanagihashi in "Japanese Society and Politics: A Summary View." Finally, Frank Gibney offers five salient features of Japan's Confucian capitalism and discusses how it differs from American free enterprise. Selected Readings and Bibliography are included. (NE)