Lurking in the "mystery of the Orient"(Tanizaki 20) lies the images and beauty created by shadows. It is this traditional essence which is being replaced and forgotten as westernized culture and morality sprout their roots in the Japanese society. Tanizaki's specifically examines this idea of clashing cultures in the essay In the Praise of Shadows, and indirectly and symbolically reveals this concept through the characters in Some Prefer Nettles. In Tanizaki's novel Some Prefer Nettles Kaname and his relations with individuals and his surroundings reveal the clashing worlds in which he exists; clashing worlds which persuade individuals to appreciate and value the domestic world or the imported one.
             Initially Kaname appears to have lost the sight and significance of the shadows that are absent in his life, revealing his intrigue and encouragement for the integration of the Westernized world. As his story reveals a personal confession about the women in his life, it also describes a cultural conflict. Kaname's relationship with Misako is a rather 'modern marriage' in which they stay together out of mere convenience and also out of their own personal weaknesses. Their marriage seems a model of what is acceptable in the United States. "They say that in the U.S. adultery is a common thing...most often it's not the kind where the husband and wife are deceiving each other, but the kind where each one recognizes and ignores it" (108). Their marriage assumes a westernized standard which Kaname wishes was more acceptable in the Japanese society.
             Kaname's struggle to determine what kind of woman he wants in his life reveals his obsession with women and standards from outside the traditional Japanese society. The roots of his desire and intrigue of foreign women originally stems from the glamorize
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