Rising Sun (Crichton novel)

Rising Sun is a 1992 novel by Michael Crichton. It was his eighth under his own name and eighteenth overall, and is about a murder in the Los Angeles headquarters of Nakamoto, a fictional Japanese corporation. The book was published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. An image of fashion model Gia Carangi is incorporated in the cover art for the original edition.

Although a detective/murder mystery novel at first glance, Rising Sun deals with the controversial subject of Japanese-American relations, and questions the premise that foreign direct investment in the high-technology sectors of the United States is beneficial. Throughout the book, the differences between the Japanese and Western mindsets are highlighted, especially in the areas of business strategy and corporate culture.

The book is set in an unspecified future time when the process of a bloodless Japanese takeover of the US is far advanced: Japanese companies have altogether driven American ones out of whole branches of industry; Japanese technologies in virtually all fields are years ahead of American technologies and Americans see no hope of closing the gap.