[1] The book also became a bestseller in South Korea, topping the sales charts for seven consecutive weeks at 13 branches of one of the country's largest booksellers.

Described as "anti-Japan tribalism," the book posits that there is a shamanistic mentality in a small minority of South Korean people who regard Japan as their primary enemy.

Critical of such falsification, the book argues that some South Korean scholars, journalists, novelists, artists, activists, and politicians all contributed to this process.

Former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk criticized it for downplaying Imperial Japan’s wartime actions, including forced labor.

Professors from various South Korean universities co-authored a comprehensive critique on the book, titled Japanese Imperialist Tribalism and published in October 2019.