Japan A Reinterpretation |
|
Author:
| Smith, Patrick |
ISBN: | 978-0-679-74511-2 |
Publication Date: | Sep 1998 |
Publisher: | Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
|
Imprint: | Vintage |
Book Format: | Paperback |
List Price: | USD $17.00 |
Book Description:
|
Current Affairs/Asian Studies Winner of the Overseas Press Club Award for the best book on Foreign Affairs A
New York Times Notable Book of the year "A stimulating, provocative book . . . fresh and valuable." --
The New York Times Book Review In 1868, Japan abruptly transformed itself from a feudal society into a modern industrial state. In 1945, the Japanese switched just as swiftly from imperialism and...
More DescriptionCurrent Affairs/Asian Studies
Winner of the Overseas Press Club Award for the best book on Foreign Affairs
A New York Times Notable Book of the year
"A stimulating, provocative book . . . fresh and valuable."
--The New York Times Book Review
In 1868, Japan abruptly transformed itself from a feudal society into a modern industrial state. In 1945, the Japanese switched just as swiftly from imperialism and emperor-worship to a democracy. Today, argues Patrick Smith, Japan is in the midst of equally sudden and important change.
In this award-winning book, Smith offers a groundbreaking framework for understanding the Japan of the next millennium. This time, Smith asserts, Japan's transformation is one of consciousness--a reconception by the Japanese of their country and themselves. Drawing on the voices of Japanese artists, educators, leaders, and ordinary citizens, Smith reveals a "hidden history" that challenges the West's focus on Japan as a successfully modernized country. And it is through this unacknowledged history that he shows why the Japanese live in a dysfunctional system that marginalizes women, dissidents, and indigenous peoples; why the "corporate warrior" is a myth; and why the presence of 47,000 American troops persists as a holdover from a previous era. The future of Japan, Smit suggests, lies in its citizens' ability to create new identities and possibilities for themselves--so creating a nation where individual rights matter as much as collective economic success. Authoritative, rich in detail, Japan: A Re-interpretation is our first post-Cold War account of the Japanese and a timely guide to a society whose transformation will have a profound impact on the rest of the world in the coming years.
"Excellent . . . a penetrating examination."
--International Herald Tribune