Final answer:
James Day Hodgson likens culture to a maze, highlighting its complexity and the need for effort and patience to navigate successfully through its intricacies.
Step-by-step explanation:
James Day Hodgson, former U.S. ambassador to Japan, describes culture as a maze, which according to him is tough to get through, but with effort and patience could often lead to success. The metaphor of a maze suggests complexity and the challenge of finding one's way, akin to navigating cultural differences and complexities. This description is consistent with the understanding of culture in contemporary anthropology, where culture is recognized as a dynamic system of collectively shared symbols, meanings, and norms that shape our perceptions of the world around us. Indeed, the ability to navigate through this 'maze' of cultural nuances is a sign of cultural intelligence or competence, which recognizes that every culture is complex and contains multiple perspectives.