Books in the Studies of Modern Japan series

This work argues that lags in IT implementation in Japanese education are created by contradictory and challenging responses of the social environment. If this dialectic can be visualized as having hands, the right would be promoting IT, while the left hand is simultaneously blocking it.

Japan is living in the shadow of its economic miracle. Its stagnation and decline relative to other advanced economies since the early 1990s is a consequence of business and government difficulty in breaking away from once-successful practices. The Japanese postwar economic miracle created the world's second largest capitalist economy. This remarkable performance, in the face of such enormous obstacles, helped solidify, even sanctify, the institutions, methods, and political arrangements associated with the economic miracle. Based upon a decade of research articles distributed in the Japan Economic Institute's weekly report on Japan, In the Shadow of the Miracle analyzes the sources of Japanese growth and the nature and scale of its current economic problems. Chapters examine the steps being taken by Japan's government and business leaders to address the mounting national economic problems and the impact on Japan of the wider Asian financial crisis (1997-99). A final section addresses the question of whether Japan is fundamentally different from other advanced economies.

This study traces the rise, fall and rise again of modern Japan and its impact on the modern international system. It tells of a turbulent 150 years of Japanese history: the feudal Tokugawa Shogunate, the restoration of imperial rule, and Japan's embrace and eventual rejection of the West.

This work chronicles the writings of Hino Ashihei, who rose to national celebrity status during the Pacific War for his accounts of campaigns in China and Southeast Asia. The study presents material on how writing about the war was read both during and after the conflict.

This book offers a new approach to dealing with Murakami's radical narrative project by demonstrating how his first and later trilogies utilize the structure of the simulacrum, a second-order representation, to develop a complex critique of contemporary Japanese culture.

Modern Japanese Theatre and Performance is a collection of sixteen essays on Japanese theatre, including historical overviews of twentieth century theatre, analyses of specific productions and individuals, and consideration of the intercultural nature of modern Japanese theatre. Also included is a new translation of a 'Superkyogen' play.

Drawn from Borton's personal papers, this work provides an intimate picture of the man who played a pivotal role in defining the meaning of unconditional surrender for Japan, retaining the emperor, and designing Japan's post-war constitution.

This text reviews the existing literature on Japanese foreign aid, then tests its own argument against five case studies. It concludes that Japan's consistent sway under US opinion reflects an act of will on Japan's part, rather than a lack of coherent policy stemming from bureaucratic politics.

Focusing on the post war reconstruction of the education systems in Japan and Germany under U.S. military occupation after World War II, this book offers a comparative historical investigation of education reform policies in these two war ravaged and ideologically compromised countries. While in Japan large-scale reforms were undertaken swiftly after the end of the war, the U.S. zone in Germany maintained most of the traditional aspects of the German education system. Why did Japan so readily accept ideas and values developed in the allied countries while Germany resisted? Masako Shibata explores this question, arguing that the role of the university and the pattern of elite formation, which can be traced back to the period of the formation of Meiji Japan and the Kaiserreich, created the conditions for differing reactions from educational leaders in each country; this had a decisive impact on the proposed reforms. By examining these reactions through a sociological, cultural, and historical frame, an explanation emerges. Japan and Germany under the U.S. Occupation will prove to be a valuable resource both to scholars of history and education reform.

Takes a country-by-country approach to examine Japan's relations with individual Asian countries and sub-regions. This collection provides an understanding of Japan's foreign policies in the contexts of regional power balance and security concerns.

Modern Japanese Theatre and Performance is a collection of sixteen essays on Japanese theatre, including historical overviews of twentieth century theatre, analyses of specific productions and individuals, and consideration of the intercultural nature of modern Japanese theatre. Also included is a new translation of a "Superkyogen" play.

Why are the Japanese fascinated with the Jews? By showing that the modern attitude is the result of a process of accretion begun 200 years ago, this book describes the development behind Japanese ideas of Jews and how these images are reflected in their modern intellectual life.

Agony of Choice, is the biography of Japanese statesman and diplomat Matsuoka Yosuke, offering a vivid narrative of twentieth-century Japanese diplomatic history.

This work argues that lags in IT implementation in Japanese education are created by contradictory and challenging responses of the social environment. If this dialectic can be visualized as having hands, the right would be promoting IT, while the left hand is simultaneously blocking it.

Takes a country-by-country approach to examine Japan's relations with individual Asian countries and sub-regions. This collection provides an understanding of Japan's foreign policies in the contexts of regional power balance and security concerns.