Naked dean back from Japan, say (7)
I believe the answer is:
eastern
'from japan say' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'naked dean back' is the wordplay.
'naked' says to take the centre (outside letters removed so centre is unclothed).
'back' becomes 'stern' (stern means the back of a boat).
The central letters of 'dean' are 'ea'.
'ea'+'stern'='EASTERN'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for eastern that I've seen before include "Of the direction of the rising sun" , "Earnest (anag.)" , "China?" , "From Japan, say" , "Maybe Chinese" .)