Introduction:from "the beautiful" to "the dubious":Japanese traditionalism,modernism,postmodernism. Derrida and the decentered universe of Ch'an/Zen Buddhism,by S Odin. Ie-ism ("sacred familism") and the discourse of postmodernism in relation to nativism/nationalism/Nihonism,by S Heine. Intervals (ma) in space and time:foundations for a religio-aesthetic paradigm in Japan,by R Pilgrim. Lyricism and intertextuality:an approach to Shunzei's poetics, by H Shirane. A methodological examination of the "post-Confucian thesis" in relation to Japanese (and Chinese) economic development,by C Fu. The murky mirror:women and sexual ethics as reflected in Japanese cinema, by S Wawrytko. The intertextual fabric of narratives by Enchi Fumiko,by S Hulvey. Tradition,textuality, and the trans-lation of philosophy:the case of Japan,by J Maraldo. The Kyoto School and reverse Orientalism,by B Faure. Tradition beyond modernity:Nishitani's response to the twentieth century,by D Wright. Critical reflections on the traditional Japanese view of truth, by M Abe. Japan,the dubious, and myself,by K Oe.