Books published by Curzon Press Ltd

Special areas: modern history; crisis and culture; Japan, the Jews and Israel. This volume forms part of the major new series, published by Curzon Press under the Japan Library imprint, featuring the collected writings of many of the most outstanding western scholars who have been actively writing about Japan and connected subjects over the last half century. Developed in close collaboration with Ben-Ami Shillony, this book contains a wide and substantial cross-section of their writings, thematically structured around essays, including published and unpublished conference and symposium papers, contributions to refereed journals, chapters from multi-author volumes, translations and book reviews, as well as newspaper and more broadly based general-interest articles and commentaries as available. A full introductory section, written by the author, reviewing his association and historical ties with Japan as well as specialist interests, prefaces each volume. Thus, for the first time in scholarly publishing, this series makes available a comprehensive collection of the author's lifetime output (other than single-author volumes) that might otherwise be lost or dispersed.

Japanese society is often referred to as an example of a homogeneous culture moderated by an ethos of groupism. Yet often enough homogeneity is its own worst enemy as norms are required and enforced at the centre of power to the detriment of individual and human rights.

First Published in 1996. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.