Meghan Warner Mettler is an assistant professor of history at Upper Iowa University.

• List of IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Humble Leaders of the Free World: Historical Context of the Shibui Aesthetic2. Samurai at the Sure Seaters: 1950s “Highbrow” Japanese Movies in the United States3. Friendship through Flowers: Americans’ Appreciation of Ikebana and Bonsai4. How to Be American with Shibui Things: Japanese Aesthetics in the American Home5. Satori in America: Intellectuals and Artists Discover Zen Buddhism6. Zen Goes “Boom”: The Popularity of Zen Buddhism, Both Beat and Square7. Japan for the Rest of Us: Non-Shibui Japanese Imports in the Postwar EraConclusionNotesBibliographyIndex

"Mettler's study does a fine job of bringing much nuance and texture to the place of Japan in postwar American life and culture."-Mari Yoshihara, Journal of American History "How to Reach Japan by Subway demonstrates the promises of mining the cultural archive of U.S. consumerism for a richer understanding of elite American imaginings of the other at the peak of U.S. global power."-Andrew C. McKevitt, American Historical Review “A wonderful contribution to our knowledge in the field of twentieth-century U.S. history, American studies, Asian American studies, and America in the world. It is a fun and exciting read.”-Hiroshi Kitamura, associate professor of history at the College of William and Mary“With elegant erudition, Meghan Warner Mettler explains why and how Americans found themselves embracing the culture of their recently defeated enemy. . . . A pleasure to read, Mettler’s book ultimately suggests that war and peacemaking also structure private, individual choices about taste in a consumer society.”-Naoko Shibusawa, associate professor of history at Brown University and author of America’s Geisha Ally: Reimagining the Japanese Enemy