I am currently reading 'The Idea of Japan - Western Images, Western Myths' by Ian Littlewood. I couldn't help but sneak a smile at the image of Japan the Europeans had constructed since the eighteen century. What they had created by simplifying the complexities involved in Japan's social institutions were by no means palatable images but to some degree carried a certain measure of truth in and of itself.
I quote from Homer Lea, 'The Valor of Ignorance', "..Japan is pregnant with the spirit of militarism." and Harcourt-Smith "murderous perfidy" of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. The chapter, Samurai - A Streak of Violence, subsequently surmises the Japanese as wearing veneers of "post-war friendliness".
I found it particularly hilarious, despite the severity and fury in content, for the West could construct the image of Japan as a country innate with belligerence and aggression, but none could ever deny the celerity and wits the Japanese possess. ;)