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Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women was first translated in early 20th century in Japan and has gained a popularity. Almost every Japanese who is interested in Western novels recognizes this novel, it does not necessarily mean that they have read them all, though. In general, Japanese perceives Little Women as a story of the lovely four sisters in beautifully depicted Western culture.

It is read especially by children. The children find it beautiful and fascinating because the world in Little Women is far different from the life in Japan. The four sisters live in a middle-class family. As examples of Western cultural things that are fascinating are: a big house they live in, a stream flowing near the house, and even a fireplace. These things symbolizes beautiful and wealthy Western culture. Even though they are not really a rich family, compared to Japan as a small country, the average Japanese cannot afford to have such a big house that is common in America so the family seems rich, and readers may perceive the novel in dream and admiration for Western culture. I suppose this perception was originated after World War II, about the time when Western culture influenced Japan and greater number of people accepted it as pleasant.

I guess the American perception put emphasis on feminism perspective in the story, but the Japanese perception does not stress that. I rather feel that it stress the beautiful sisterly affection. Much more, the Japanese title of the novel is totally different from original and does not have a word “Women”. The direct translation of the Japanese title is “The Story of the Young Grass”. It sounds weird but “young grass” is associated with "youth" in Japanese. It could be said that the Japanese title is like “The Story of the Youth”. It does not sound like it is the story of independent women..

What is a perception of Little Women in your country?

Intriguing post, Marisa (and thanks for the link, Kim)!
I can see why American spaciousness -- the gigantic house and all that natural vastness to run around in outside -- would be appealing to the Japanese (and I hadn't thought of the 'exotic' character of fireplaces, which I assume aren't common in Japan because of the vulnerability of traditional building materials).
I recently came across an interesting article on Little Women by the scholar Kazuko Watanabe ("Reading Little Women, Reading Motherhood in Japan," Feminist Studies, 25.3): she's taught the work to students for a number of years, and argues that the representation of a strong "maternalism" is essential to the book's appeal in Japan:

[My] students' most popular reading of Little Women applauds motherhood as the embodiment of moral virtue for women and men, which is closely related to family values. Almost all students believe that an ideal family is demonstrated by the maternal power and love exhibited by Marmee, the sisters' mother, during the authoritarian father's absence. Most students easily associated this family structure of nurturing mother and absent father with a typical middle-class family pattern in contemporary Japan. These students like the passage in which the mother-centered family in Little Women is depicted as "the most beautiful thing in the world." Similarly, some of the university students, both female and male, praise Marmee as respectable and powerful and perceive her inexhaustible motherly love to be both valuable and beautiful.