Shortly after the start of the second half of 1985, there came a burst of criticism from European and American intellectuals against "Yamatoism," the word "Yamato" being Japan's ancient name.
What touched them off was a thesis written by Dutch journalist Karel van Wolferen, which appeared in the winter 1986-87 issue of Foreign Affairs, a prestigious magazine published by the Council on Foreign Relations.
Under the title "The Japan Problem," he argued that Japan's diplomatic friction with the United States and Europe would never be resolved as long as the Europeans and Americans failed to discard two pieces of "fiction" they shared about Japan.