Book Description
Japan has always intrigued the world with its deceptively simple blending of architecture, landscape and design. Zen temples, the famous tea ceremony, formal gardens, the use of wood, paper and other materials in the form of screens and floors all have evolved over the years to create a varied, yet indisputably unique style. Of the 40 homes profiled in this book, each home represents in its own way the changing face of Japanese interior design and architecture. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Eye-candy -- but also brain-candy
I've long been interested in the Japanese approach to design of all sorts, but especially architecture. Coming from a much different tradition, the solutions to problems and needs for shelter are often very different than those arrived at by architects with Euro-American tastes and training. Some of the examples depicted so beautifully and discussed so shrewdly in this volume are rooted strongly in Japan's history, such as an old farmhouse relocated to Tokyo and fitted into an urban neighborhood. Others are playful, like the house with a lawn on the peaked roof, watered by a sprinkler system on the ridgepole, and with the courtyard floored in clay roof tiles. There's a two-story "miniature" house with a footprint not much larger than two parking spaces, but which still manages to be a very comfortable environment for actually living in. And, naturally, there are structures *so* experimental, you might not realize they were houses if you weren't told. There are homes in this collection I would love to live in, and others that would probably give me nightmares, but all of them are fascinating.

Examples of Truly Innovative Design
This book provides total eye candy for design enthusiasts. Not your typical formulaic shoji screen stuff.Very original solutions to design problems from a Japanese perspective.I find it very inspiring and look at it all the time.

Stunning spaces!
This book is filled with page after page of stunning rooms and living spaces in Japan. A must for anyone who believes all Japanese live in cramped, dark, unattractive homes. An excellent conversation starter and coffee table book. ... Read more

Book Description
Dining in Japan is both an art and an adventure—an experience that is made memorable by the variety of unique dishes, their gourmet quality and the style in which they are served.
The Dining Guide to Japan introduces novices to the appropriate etiquette for different restaurants, along with what to expect and how to order. This handy guide will soon have visitors developing a taste for such things as miso soup, nori, ramen, soba, sukiyaki, udon, unagi, yaki-tori…and yes, even fugu, the deadly globefish!
... Read more

Book Description
Our GLOBAL STUDIES Series provides students with comprehensive background and current information shaping regional cultures and countries of the world today. Each volume features country report essays and maps as well as relevant articles from world-wide publications.

Visit our website for more information and a complete listing of titles: www.mhcls.com/globalstudies/ ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great overview of the Pacific Rim
The Global Studies series is a great way to get a general overview about a region of the world and its quick history.Each country is divided up into a quick overview of demographics, trade, economics, population and other pertinent data similar to a scaled down CIA world fact book.There is then a general overview of each country and how it has played its part in the region with a particular focus on World War II to the present.Finally there are about 24 articles in this one that focus on all sorts of different aspects from the region.They address everything from gambling opportunities in Macau to population control in Japan.Overall this book does an excellent job of capturing the Pacific Rim and the countries that reside there. It is a great start to learning about the region and provides an overview that will give you a focus to direct further investigations.If you are just getting started on this area of the world as I am you will find it an invaluable resource.

Good buy for international business enthusiast
Book was new and just as described.Good information regarding Japan's history and economy as well as good information on countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand. ... Read more

Book Description
Japan is the famous economic miracle of the 20th century, yet it has blended this with a rich culture and history that proves irresistible for many. The fully-updated 2nd Edition of this map provides the very latest information on the country's attraction for visitors by providing the very latest information in an easy-to-use style. This island chain at Asia's eastern edge is home to astonishing scenery, delicate cuisine, and is a fascinating nation. It also boasts several state-of-the-art cities, especially Tokyo, and the delights of these can be explored further by using the detailed city plans. This map is packed with all kinds of practical information and is unrivalled in its clarity and quality of production. It is an essential item to any visitor's travel checklist and will help them to enjoy their trip to the fullest. This Map Features: * 7 fully-updated color maps featuring a comprehensive selection of tourist facilities * Area Maps: Japan 1:2,000,000, Kansai District 1:200,000, Kanto Area 1:700,000, Ryukyu Islands 1:4,000,000 * City Maps: Central Kyoto 1:15,000, Central Osaka 1:15,000, Central Tokyo 1:17,500 ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Nice map
If you are planning to go to Japan, you will need a good map to plan your itinerary.This map will fill the bill as far as showing you the cities very clearly.You will need additional detailed city maps for roads and streets. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

great book for tattoo enthusiasts
This book contains many pictures from featured tattoo artists, including the work of Ed Hardy, Bob Roberts, Chris Garver, Horyoshi III, and many other well known artists. The book also has interviews and articles with and about each artist mentioned. It has a mix of styles of tattooing from the traditional Japanese hand tattooing to the western tattoo machine. The tattoos shown are also in a wide variety: traditional, new school, japanese, portraits, etc. I recommend this book.

The Best Tattoo Book Iv'e Seen Yet.
Really good selection of artists. Good quality printing.

Just great
This book is excellent for finding artists or getting to know more about your favourite tattoo-artists. The book is full of beautiful artwork (tattoos and paintings)

Allthough there is a lot of text (interviews). This book has been a great inspiration to me and i guess it will be for everybody who loves tattoo-art. ... Read more

Book Description
In this lively ethnography Ian Condry interprets Japan’s vibrant hip-hop scene, explaining how a music and culture that originated halfway around the world is appropriated and remade in Tokyo clubs and recording studios. Illuminating different aspects of Japanese hip-hop, Condry chronicles how self-described “yellow B-Boys” express their devotion to “black culture,” how they combine the figure of the samurai with American rapping techniques and gangsta imagery, and how underground artists compete with pop icons to define “real” Japanese hip-hop. He discusses how rappers manipulate the Japanese language to achieve rhyme and rhythmic flow and how Japan’s female rappers struggle to find a place in a male-dominated genre. Condry pays particular attention to the messages of emcees, considering how their raps take on subjects including Japan’s education system, its sex industry, teenage bullying victims turned schoolyard murderers, and even America’s handling of the war on terror.

Condry attended more than 120 hip-hop performances in clubs in and around Tokyo, sat in on dozens of studio recording sessions, and interviewed rappers, music company executives, music store owners, and journalists. Situating the voices of Japanese artists in the specific nightclubs where hip-hop is performed—what musicians and fans call the genba (actual site) of the scene—he draws attention to the collaborative, improvisatory character of cultural globalization. He contends that it was the pull of grassroots connections and individual performers rather than the push of big media corporations that initially energized and popularized hip-hop in Japan. Zeebra, DJ Krush, Crazy-A, Rhymester, and a host of other artists created Japanese rap, one performance at a time. ... Read more

Book Description
This text chronicles the evolution of premodern (early A.D. to 1850), modern (1850-1945), and postwar (1945-1989) Japanese civilization from imperial rule through the death of Emperor Hirohito. Professor Reischauer, a former U.S. ambassador to Japan, explores the roots and development of the military dictatorship that brought Japan into World War II, the dubious leadership of its emperor, and the effects of the postwar American occupation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Japan: The Story of a Nation
Largely over- priced and dated reference.Spend your money on Sansom's three volume history and really learn something.

Strong Overview of Japanese History
For the student of Japanese History, this is a strong overview of Japan from ancient to modern.Well laid out, it covers broadly most of the important historical, cultural and political events over the last 2000 years and is a good starting point for new students of Japanese history.There is a convienent Chronology of events at the end of the book, and numerous maps and illustrations throughout to help connect facts to places and people.This history of Japan is not limited to information on the rulling classes of Japan, as it does attempt to describe villiage life and the role of the common people of Japan, especially in later periods, where there is probably more information available.A good third of the book is given over to post-war Japan, and it is interesting to note that it was published before the current economic problems Japan is facing (post bubble burst).My only complaint is a lack of foot-notes, but for the non-academic reader, this should be fine.Reischauer clearly understands his subject, presents both conservative and liberal interpretations/opinions of historical facts and trends, and is able to give a sense of connection to his readers that allows them to understand and relate to the history he is telling.

An excellent work by a master of Japanese culture
This doesn't need to be a very long review; I've read many of Reischauer's books over the past couple of years for my college courses, and it is clear that even though many of his books were written over 20 years ago, he had a grasp of Japanese culture and the society it has produced like no one else in the West. I highly recommend this book and "The Japanese Today" for anyone interested in Japan and the historical contexts in which one of the world's most fascinating cultures developed. While the society is indeed dynamic, its foundations change much more slowly, and Reischauer is an essential course in these.

Another Reischauer Masterpiece
Japan: Story of a Nation is another in a long line of exceedingly wellwritten books in Japanese history by Ambassador Reischauer.Tracing theroots of Japanese civilization from before the mythical creation of theJapanese state and the reign of Jimmu to contemporary culture, Reischauerhas accomplished something few have been able to: make history fun andenjoyable.The matter-of-fact text reads almost like a saga and ismercifully free of academic mumbo-jumbo.Most interesting of all is hisdescription of the Post War era in Japan, particularly the Occupation andJapan's role in the world.For serious students of Japanese history andculture Story of a Nation is the closest thing to a motivational book.Buyit, read it, and enjoy it. ... Read more

Amazon.com
To many, Emperor Hirohito of Japan is remembered as a helpless figurehead during Japan's wars with China and the U.S. According to the received wisdom, he knew nothing of the plan to bomb Pearl Harbor and had no power to stop atrocities like the Rape of Nanking. The emperor was the mild-mannered little man who traipsed with Mickey Mouse in Disneyland and who brought peace through surrender, certainly not "one of the most disingenuous persons ever to occupy the modern throne." Herbert Bix's charged political biography, however, argues that such accepted beliefs are myths and misrepresentations spun by both Japanese and Americans to protect the emperor from indictment. Since Hirohito's death in 1989, hundreds of documents, diaries, and scholarly studies have been published (and subsequently ignored) in Japan. Historian Bix used these sources to develop this shocking and nuanced portrait of a man far more shrewd, activist, and energetic than previously thought. Caught up in the fever of territorial expansion, Hirohito was the force that animated the war system, who, acting fully as a military leader and head of state, encouraged the belligerency of his people and pursued the war to its disastrous conclusion. To the very end, Hirohito refused to acknowledge any responsibility for his role in the death of millions as well as the brutalities inflicted by his forces in China, Korea, and the Philippines. In fact, he worked with none other than General MacArthur to select his fall guys and fix testimony at the Tokyo War Crimes Trials--the emperor trying to protect the throne at all cost, the U.S. acting to ensure control of the Japanese population and the military by retaining Hirohito as a figurehead.

Not surprisingly, this hefty work of scholarship is making waves, as Americans and Japanese reconsider their roles in WWII and its aftermath.By placing Hirohito back in the center of the picture and puncturing the myths that surround him, Bix has effectively asked the Japanese to come out of their half-century repression of the past and face their wartime responsibility. Without doing so, he implies, the monarchy will forever impede the development of democracy. For those interested in Japan's wartime past and its influence on the present, this is fascinating, if lengthy, reading. --Lesley Reed Book Description

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize

In this groundbreaking biography of the Japanese emperor Hirohito, Herbert P. Bix offers the first complete, unvarnished look at the enigmatic leader whose sixty-three-year reign ushered Japan into the modern world. Never before has the full life of this controversial figure been revealed with such clarity and vividness. Bix shows what it was like to be trained from birth for a lone position at the apex of the nation's political hierarchy and as a revered symbol of divine status. Influenced by an unusual combination of the Japanese imperial tradition and a modern scientific worldview, the young emperor gradually evolves into his preeminent role, aligning himself with the growing ultranationalist movement, perpetuating a cult of religious emperor worship, resisting attempts to curb his power, and all the while burnishing his image as a reluctant, passive monarch. Here we see Hirohito as he truly was: a man of strong will and real authority.

Supported by a vast array of previously untapped primary documents, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan is perhaps most illuminating in lifting the veil on the mythology surrounding the emperor's impact on the world stage. Focusing closely on Hirohito's interactions with his advisers and successive Japanese governments, Bix sheds new light on the causes of the China War in 1937 and the start of the Asia-Pacific War in 1941. And while conventional wisdom has had it that the nation's increasing foreign aggression was driven and maintained not by the emperor but by an elite group of Japanese militarists, the reality, as witnessed here, is quite different. Bix documents in detail the strong, decisive role Hirohito played in wartime operations, from the takeover of Manchuria in 1931 through the attack on Pearl Harbor and ultimately the fateful decision in 1945 to accede to an unconditional surrender. In fact, the emperor stubbornly prolonged the war effort and then used the horrifying bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, together with the Soviet entrance into the war, as his exit strategy from a no-win situation. From the moment of capitulation, we see how American and Japanese leaders moved to justify the retention of Hirohito as emperor by whitewashing his wartime role and reshaping the historical consciousness of the Japanese people. The key to this strategy was Hirohito's alliance with General MacArthur, who helped him maintain his stature and shed his militaristic image, while MacArthur used the emperor as a figurehead to assist him in converting Japan into a peaceful nation. Their partnership ensured that the emperor's image would loom large over the postwar years and later decades, as Japan began to make its way in the modern age and struggled -- as it still does -- to come to terms with its past.

Until the very end of a career that embodied the conflicting aims of Japan's development as a nation, Hirohito remained preoccupied with politics and with his place in history. Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan provides the definitive account of his rich life and legacy. Meticulously researched and utterly engaging, this book is proof that the history of twentieth-century Japan cannot be understood apart from the life of its most remarkable and enduring leader.

Customer Reviews (65)

Biased perspective - "History" by Objective
I've read this book twice, and came to the same conclusions as Mr. O'Neil (before reading his review). Bix seems to almost bend over backwards to paint leftist and communists in idealized light, akin to the current vogue iconization of Che' as a liberating hero. Never understood why most intellectuals can't see communism/socialism as the same thing as facism - move far enough to the left and you meet the far right.

Anyhow, to provide an Abstract for the books thesis: Factions in the US governement - lead by left-hating McArthur - used Hirohito after the war as a tool to suppress communism in Japan and help Chaing-Kai-Shek fight against Mao. This was accomplished by white-washing the evils of Hirohito, who was a key architect of not only WWII, but also of brutal suppression of communist liberators seeking only democracy for Japan.

And don't forget to throw in unreferenced purgoratives that support your thesis ... my favorite is this one: a government minister said "Hirohito wept when he heard the judgement against Tojo." No reference is given, no name, no context or location. Its just a cheap shot akin to Michael Moore journalism. And there are NUMEROUS such examples of this in the book.

A better title of the book would be .. "Too bad Mao's revolution couldn't have spread successfully into Japan: Darn that Hirohito and his right-wing enabler McArthur."

Overrated
Perhaps I had too many expectations of this book, because it won a Pulitzer Prize and other awards.I enjoyed the wording and style employed by the author; the sentences and paragraphs were both very fluid and readable.My main complaint with this book is that I do not feel that I learned much by reading it, i.e., I do not believe the factual information to words ratio (facts/words) was high enough for me to recommend it to someone else.In some parts of the book, it seems that the author attempts to employ a written form of filibusters.Usually after reading a few pages or chapters of a non-fiction book, I have to sit back to take in all the information.This book never necessitated such a pause in my reading.In short, I believe this book may be interesting to those few people extremely interested in Hirohito's role during and after World War II.But, I believe most people will agree that the best one-word summary of this book would be as follows:Overrated.

An Enjoyable Bio on an Interesting Figure
I actually found this one in a bookstore while I was in Japan, then bought it over here in the states.Hirohito is probably not read about much here, but he should be because his life impacts Asian thought and politics to this day.

While everyone knows that Hitler was responsible for the death of probably 12 million during the holocaust, few people realize that Hirohito was responsible for the death of 20 million people.Therefore, Korea, and China still harbor feelings due to WWII.

Bix explains how Hirohito escaped war crimes trials.This is what makes the book somewhat controversial.Bix maintains that Hirohito played an active role in the Asian agression by Japan before and during WWII, rather than just being a mere figurehead.He also spends quite a bit of time covering the contributions that McArthur made in rebuilding Japan after WWII.

Bix's writing style is pleasant.Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan seems very well researched.This book is the place to start if you want to understand U.S. - Japanese relations.

Hirohito's Life Revealed
This book explicitly tells of Hirohito's life from a newborn Crown Prince to an Emperor on his deathbed. It shows how his upbringing had a serious impact on his decisions in the war and how he dealt with the consequences of those decisions after the war. As a child, he was given the best education according to Japanese custom. He spent most of his life away from his father and grandfather, since they were both busy men. He witnessed the glorious aftermath of the Russo-Japanese war and believed that this was the standard that should happen for the War of Greater East Asia.
In the war, most people perceived him as a puppet being operated by a group of military advisors. This is blatantly wrong. He played an active role in what happened and didn't happen in the war. He knew about the treatment of POW's and Chinese civilians but did little to stop this. The delay of the surrender was also his fault, as he sought a way out that would leave him and his regime intact.
After the war was concluded, The Japanese people felt as though they had to protect their emperor's innocence even after all that he had done. As the blame was placed on General Tojo, who accepted his death as willing as anyone else in history, and his cabinet, Hirohito escaped with no blame placed on him. The emperor then began to rebuild and recreate Japan as a peaceful nation with economic power to rival the western countries. This book is an excellent account of Hirohito's life and what influenced him to do what he did. I recommend this book to history or Japan fans so they can learn the emperor's story.

stating the obvious: that Hirohito was in the loop
Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine houses the souls of 2.4 million Japanese soldiers, most of whom fell in the Pacific War in the service of the late Emperor Hirohito, the subject of this rather acrid biography by Herbert P. Bix, who was a history professor at Tokyo's Hitotsubashi University when he published this tome.

The book has a simple thesis. The late emperor Hirohito was centrally involved in planning and prosecuting the Pacific war and should be held accountable even now for it. As part of this process, Bix would also like Yasukuni Shrine, one of Japan's three most important Shinto shrines, stripped of whatever militaristic and nationalistic symbolism it possesses. Bix is undoubtedly a good historian. But is he right? And is he fair? Probably not.

When 360 Japanese planes sank 90% of America's Pacific fleet moored in Pearl Harbour on Sunday, 7 December 1941, the Japanese bit off more than they could ever chew. The attack, which was modeled on the British attack on the Italian fleet a few months earlier, sank five battleships, two cruisers, three destroyers and two other naval vessels moored at Pearl Harbour. A further one hundred and seventy five planes were destroyed on Hickman Airfield. Only 28 Japanese planes were lost. Unfortunately for the Japanese, the Pacific Fleet's three aircraft carriers had not been in port and were not hunted down afterwards. These three aircraft carriers, joined by two others, eventually spearheaded the American counter attack. Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto's string of early successes ended only six months later at the Battle of Midway.

Even though Japan's navy was in the ascendant for only six months, the picture, even in the immediate aftermath of Pearl Harbour, was bleak. An early attack on Ceylon was repulsed by the wily cat and mouse tactics of the largely obsolete British Far Eastern fleet under Admiral Sir James Somerville; he engaged in hit and run tactics against a superior Japanese flotilla. As a consequence, Britain only had to defend India in Burma. Japan, in other words, was already getting boxed in. They would have to fight the war on ground chosen by their enemies. The war, even then, was unwinnable.

Unlike the Allies, Japan did not have a viable strategy. Despite Bix's attempts to paint Hirohito out as Nippon's supreme commander, he was no Eisenhower or MacArthur. He was the Emperor of a nation run by a bunch of feuding fools, who rushed headlong into a war they could never hope to win.

The Japanese of that generation paid a terrible price for their leaders' folly. Over 100,000 Tokyo citizens were incinerated from March 9-10 1945, when the United States Air Force carpeted the city with incendiary bombs. Even as Truman announced Japan's unconditional surrender, Tokyo was flattened by a further 1,000 planes, just, one supposed, to let the world know who was boss - unsurprisingly enough, given the scale of Japan's devastation, all 1,000 planes returned safely to base to celebrate VJ Day. By then, a third of Hirohito's surviving subjects were homeless, 65% of all Tokyo residences were destroyed - 89% of Nagoya was in ruins. Over 500,000 Japanese troops had been dragooned into Siberian slave camps. Some 2 million others had also died - Yasukuni houses a goodly number of those sad souls, whose lives were cut short by the madness that then gripped Japan's leaders. But at least the madness of that war ended.

Hirohito's surrender was a cruel awakening for himself as well as for all his subjects and only a fool would say that the trauma is over for the relatives of all the fallen. The protests by Japan's wartime victims, which rocked Britain on Emperor Akihito's recent visit, is evidence enough of that. Korea, China and the Philippines provide plenty more.

Bix is not a fool. He is a Harvard-trained historian, who includes almost 100 pages of largely superfluous footnotes in this massive tome. Yet the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal report was much bigger. And, unlike Bix, most historians and lawyers agree that it was a travesty of justice. Bix produces plenty of well-worn evidence against Hirohito, as well as some new findings as befitting his scholarly calling. But does it matter? Probably not, unless you are a professional historian. And if you are, you should probably give Stalin's judge a more prominent role than Bix does. You should also extend to the independent stance adopted by Radhabinod Pal, India's representative, more respect than Bix does. You should also give the British - and the Poles - more credit than Bix does for Hitler's defeat. They, not FDR, were Hitler's most implacable enemies; they were the only two nations which engaged in the fight without stint from start to finish. One only has to recall Churchill's most famous speeches to agree that no one was more implacably opposed to Hitler than he was.

Perhaps that is a mere quibble to be expected from reading a book as vast as this one. However, there are several more. Although, for example, Bix presents a strong case against Hirohito, the author's most striking snippet of evidence favours the defense, not the prosecution. His first picture of the former emperor shows Hirohito as a brave and bonny babe waving the Rising Sun flag on his first birthday. That flag was to haunt the little boy ever since. It was to be almost his only companion.

He had few others. When he was only three months' old, he was taken away from his seventeen-year-old mother. He had no childhood games or friends. He was not allowed access even to his own brothers. His only companion was General Nogi Maresuke, the hero of Japan's formative 1905 Russian war, who committed hara kiri when the little boy was only seven. Aside from his wife, the Empress Nagako, his only social outlet was reviewing his assault troops from his pedigree white charger. Because the little boy grew up to have a strange, long, lonely and somehow unfulfilled life, perhaps he should be allowed, like those in Yasukuni, to sleep in peace. He'll be doing somersaults if Bix has his way.

Although Bix has done a good stitch-up, it is akin to another book on Diana or the Queen Mother. There is nothing major here that John Dower or other historians have not already told us. Although the book does shed valuable light on the past, throwing stones, however deservedly, at a revered emperor does not lead to parity of esteem. The challenge is to rise above the partisan venalities of history and to put an end not only to all wars but to their causes as well.

The Japanese, Hirohito's direct descendants included, have a key role to play in that process. Japan's challenge is to make amends for the grave mistakes of the past. Japan's politicians must chart the future. And to do that, they must learn the lessons and dynamics of history so that Japan and her neighbours never have the nightmare of war revisit them. This big book will be a very small but very important help in that regard.
Following Bix' award, this book was widely available in Japan. Whi says the Japanese do not have a sense of humor?
... Read more

Book Description
Many books have been written about Japan's surrender in World War II, but the definitive story can only be told by the Japanese themselves. This brilliant reconstruction of the bitter hours preceding the surrender announcement of Emperor Hirohito is based on material compiled by the Pacific
War Research Society, a panel of distinguished Japanese authors and journalists. In minute and vivid detail it relates the history-making events of the brief twenty-four-hour period before the Emperor's broadcast that changed the course of nations-and the lives of millions.

During those hours-while hot-blooded young army officers were in violent conflict about whether to surrender or not-one man, General Korechika Anami, Minister of War, with his indomitable will and loyalty, stood firm in his conviction that the Emperor's word must be obeyed. That conviction led him
to the supreme sacrifice, sepukku, and his country to peace.

Japan's Longest Day is a penetrating document on the tragic personalities who played out their last great roles on the crumbling stage that was the Imperial Empire of Japan. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

phenomenal book
phenomenal book, it's a must to understand the ww2 conflict. in conjunction with the dvd it gives an inside out view of events that preceeded the end of the conflict.

Tremendous
This book does read like a novel. Although everyone knows the outcome, the writing style is wonderful. The men who supported
Emperor Hirohito's wishes actually could foresee a new Japan as it exists today. Quite amazing when viewed from the rubble and destruction of August 1945.

Japan's Longest Day - Pacific War Research Society
This is the second copy for me. This has to be one of the best thing written about what REALLY went on with Tojo, Hirohito and other cabinet members regarding the "proper" response to the Potsdam Declaration after the A-bombs had been dropped.
Turns out that most of the pap spouted today about Hirohito being stubborn, intent on winning at all costs, and so on is just that - pap.His primary interest was the welfare of his people and the preservation of the polity. It was Tojo and others who wanted to fight to the death. Astonishing to learn that the broadcast of the "Voice of the Crane" (expressing his unwarlike wish to surrender so minimize destruction and death) had to be done in secrecy and so on. Astonishing insights from Japanese Historians examining their own documents first published in Japanese in 1965,20 years afterthe war ended, when they were able to interview most of the many surviving principals - only one refused to be interviewed.
Should be mandatory reading for anyone seriously interested in the last 24 hours before the Surrender of Japan.Information was actually being withheld from Hirohito about the progress of the war by generals but he still got the picture and understood. The best thing he could do to discharge his sacred obligation to secure the welfare and interest of His People was to surrender -with conditions about preservation of the position of Emperor - but not because he was warlke, rather because he understood that the role of Emperor embodied the spirit of the populace and Its preservation was in the best inerest of the country.To lose the Emperor would be to lose the heart and soul of Japan.
The book actually reads like a gripping historical novel even though it is wriitten with the dry unembellished style of academicians & scholars.

This is how history should be told
This is how all factual historical accounts should have been written. Written in narratives, exploring facts and minimizing analysis and interpretations. Its narratives is equal to the world's best novel, and its factual explorations indicated outstanding, continuous and honest hardworking. Analysis, which many times can barely be distinguished from the factual history itself and is therefore many times misleadingly seen as facts, has been successfully minimized without leaving the story tasteless.
The Pacific War Research Society has truly explored many never-read-before details, and amazingly, without assassinating "minor" characters. This is something very interesting in Japanese history. You will find many rebels in its history, but you will scarcely find traitors. This has for many decades avoided Japan from regime-written history, the tragedy that could not be avoided by most nations.

A must read
I truly enjoyed this book. The structure, sort of like an episode of '24', is innovative. I was surprised at how the book kept me in suspense even though I knew the ultimate ending of the story. For those interested in the Pacific War 1941-45, this is a must read. ... Read more

Book Description
Here's just what you need to know and do to happily establish yourself in Japan. You'll get the facts on banking, immigration, and insurance, plus daily-life tips on renting an apartment, hooking up utilities, figuring out transportation, and shopping for furniture. You'll also get insider advice on how to find a job, learn Japanese, and make new friends, as well as basic information on etiquette and customs, so important in Japan. Packed with strategies, charts, and simple how-to instructions, this is the single best book to buy before you make your move to the Land of the Rising Sun.

Jarrell D. Sieff has lived in every kind of Japanese residence and community and travels regularly to Japan for his San Francisco–based import/export business. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Lots of good information & valuable hints
I originally borrowed a copy from the library, and many other books about working in Japan.This is the most useful book out of all of them.The information is quite recent(2002), and it has a load of contact details in the back, airlines, embassy addresses and much more.It also contains useful pictures, and good tips to surviving in Japan.Definitely a must have.Suitable for anyone looking to move or live in Japan.

Immigration matters, finding a place to stay, and much more
A Practical Guide To Living In Japan: Everything You Need To Know To Successfully Settle In by travel expert Jarrell D. Sieff is a definitive, "user friendly" guide for students, business travelers, and vacationers arriving in Japan for their studies, business operations, or sight-seeing. A Practical Guide To Living In Japan covers immigration matters, finding a place to stay, money and banking, studying the Japanese language, getting around Japanese cities and countryside, health and insurance, as well as Japanese customs and social etiquette. A Practical Guide To Living In Japan is a highly recommended resource that will save the traveler, businessman or student an immeasurably valuable amount of time, expense, anxiety, confusion, and hassle. ... Read more

Amazon.com
Is this comedic tour of Japan discreet, tasteful, or politically correct? The answer, thank god, is Naaah! Yet Dave Barry's travelogue never grows mean-spirited, and he's always ready to laugh at his own country--and by extension, himself. An example: "I understand that, even if two Japanese have worked together for many years, neither would dream of using the other's first name. Whereas Americans are on a first-name basis immediately, and by the end of the first day have generally graduated to 'Yo, Butthead!'"Book Description
"One of the funniest peole ever to tap tap on a PC."
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
Not since George Bush's memorable dinner with the Japanese prime minister has the Land of the Rising Sun seen the likes of a goodwill ambassador like Dave Barry. Join him as he belts out oldies in a karaoke bar, marries a geriatric geisha girl, takes his first bath in public, bows to just about everyone, and explores culture shock in all its numerous humorous forms, including: Failing to Learn Japanese in Only Five Minutes (Or: "Very Much Good Morning, Sir!") ; Humor in Japan (Take My Tofu, Please!); Sports in Japan ("Yo, Batter! Loudly Make it Fly!"), and more. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (66)

Dave Barry: easy to like
I like Dave Barry's daily columns. I liked Dave Barry's book. I would read more columns by Dave Barry. I would read more Dave Barry books. Dave Barry is a funny-looking, funny-writing individual. In this book, he, his wife Beth and son Robby travel Japan for three weeks and enjoy the sights, beer, pizza with corn on it, more beer, Japanese hospitality and a difference in attitude and culture from America. I snickered more than I laughed, enjoyed the somber and respectful tone of the chapter on Hiroshima and overall didn't feel like I wasted 3 hours of my life reading the book.

Laughed so hard I cried
This book is so honest, irreverent and hilarious.I laughed so hard I was crying.As an American who spent time in Japan as an exchange student, I could totally relate to many of his experiences, goofs, reactions and thoughts.Classic Dave Barry and my favorite of his works.

My favorite Dave Barry book
I think this book is hilarious.I've recommended it to many of my friends (especially those who need to "lighten up").Some of his personal observations of life in Japan compared to USA literally made me "laugh 'til I cried". A must read.

Not Barry's best but still some good laughs
Dave Barry is a very funny guy and Japan is a place with some custom's peculiar to Westerners. So I was expecting him to really take off with this book. It was hilarious in places, but not consistently funny. Worth picking up, especially if you are interested in Japan. But not Barry's best stuff.

Forget about the experts, Dave Barry describes exactly what it's like to be a foreigner in Japan.
The publisher's money was well spent in sending Dave Barry and his family to Japan to write this book and I really hope they do more of this.He managed to make fun of Japan without being insulting--which seems otherwise impossible to do, as my fussy Japanese wife constantly reminds me.

I've spoken Japanese since I was a teenager; lived there nearly a decade; and my wife is from Japan; yet for all my experience and knowledge of the country I, nor any expat I've ever known, nor any native Japanese (perhaps particularly my wife) could describe what it's like so well as Dave Barry has after a two week trip.

My only complaint is that at some points he looked up a few actual facts and presented them seriously.These are the only weak parts of the book because they can't compete with any off the shelf fact book on the country or academic work.

No other book makes the point so clear as this one does, that you don't need to study up to travel to what may seem like an intimidatingly exotic land and have a great time.Dave Barry went to Japan knowing nothing about the place, and came back with observations that are entirely accurate.He didn't merely go on vacation, but met with key people who took his visit as seriously as he did not--resulting in a wonderful honesty and genuineness of description that I have not seen in any other overview of Japan or its people.

BOTTOM LINE: If you're heading to Japan on business or pleasure, or are just curious about the country, I recommend this book more highly than any other on the subject--really, honestly, or as the author would say "I'm not making this up."I especially recommend this book over speaking to either me or my wife, and most importantly not with my wife and I in the same room at the same time--seriously, I will slap you.Read Dave Barry's book instead, please! ... Read more

Book Description
The prolonged downturn in the Japanese economy that began during the recessionary 1990s triggered a complex set of reactions both within Japan and abroad, reshaping not only the country’s economy but also its politics, society, and culture. In Japan After Japan, scholars of history, anthropology, literature, and film explore the profound transformations in Japan since the early 1990s, providing complex analyses of a nation in transition, linking its present to its past and connecting local situations to global developments.

Several of the essayists reflect on the politics of history, considering changes in the relationship between Japan and the United States, the complex legacy of Japanese colonialism, Japan’s chronic unease with its wartime history, and the postwar consolidation of an ethnocentric and racist nationalism. Others analyze anxieties related to the role of children in society and the weakening of the gendered divide between workplace and home. Turning to popular culture, contributors scrutinize the avid consumption of “real events” in formats including police shows, quiz shows, and live Web camera feeds; the creation, distribution, and reception of Pokémon, the game-based franchise that became a worldwide cultural phenomenon; and the ways that the behavior of zealous fans of anime both reinforces and clashes with corporate interests. Focusing on contemporary social and political movements, one essay relates how a local citizens’ group pressed the Japanese government to turn an international exposition, the Aichi Expo 2005, into a more environmentally conscious project. Another essay offers both a survey of emerging political movements and a manifesto identifying new possibilities for radical politics in Japan. Together the contributors to Japan After Japan present much-needed insight into the wide-ranging transformations of Japanese society that began in the 1990s.

Contributors. Anne Allison, Andrea G. Arai, Eric Cazdyn, Leo Ching, Harry Harootunian, Marilyn Ivy, Sabu Kohso, J. Victor Koschmann, Thomas LaMarre, Masao Miyoshi, Yutaka Nagahara, Naoki Sakai, Tomiko Yoda, Yoshimi Shunya, Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Mixed Bag of Musings on Millennial Japan
Variety is the spice of life. That simple (if cliched) principle accounts for both the strength and the weakness of a book like "Japan After Japan"--a collection of assorted articles on a wide variety of subjects by a mob of scholars all expert in Japanese history per se but otherwise rather different in tone, approach, and specialization. In some ways then the book feels disjointed and discontinuous despite the overall theme (Japan in the 1990's), the consistently high academic caliber, and the generally common leftist political orientation of the contributors--no matter what the topic at hand, you can be pretty sure that any form of capitalism is always already something negative to be resisted, any sense of national identity whatsoever is always already a mere half-step away from full-blown virulent militarism, and so on. But these diffuse and very overarching commonalities aside, anything goes. No topic is out. Juvenile crime and Pokemon, you name it. The quality also varies greatly, from a fascinating and thought-provoking account of the Aichi Expo and the citizen opposition groups who intervened in its conceptualization and realization to a clunky, jargon-infested, ideologically kneejerk Marxist analysis of globalization's effect on the Japanese nation state.

But then only in a book like this can you find all this together like a box of chocolates, allowing you to sample a bit of each before moving on to the next. The very fact that the disorganized range of the book resists some kind of premature conclusion and closure ("The 90's in Japan mean only so-and-so and nothing else") is refreshing. The articles altogether also give the patient reader a pretty solid sense of some of what's going on in the field of Japanese History and/or Cultural Studies for better or worse, all without having to root through obscure academic journals or commit to a dozen-plus different monographs. No matter what your own interests and proclivities, this is a key book for any consideration of what in retrospect is a particularly dramatic decade in Japan's history--although, okay, not quite so dramatic as the book's cover would seem to suggest with its "I Am Legend" rendition of Ginza in Tokyo.

Articles included in this book:
1. Introduction by the editors, Harry Harootunian and Tomiko Yoda
2. "A Roadmap to Millennial Japan" by Tomiko Yoda
3. "The University and the 'Global Economy': The Cases of the United States and Japan" by Masao Miyoshi
4. "The University, Disciplines, National Identity: Why Is There No Film Studies in Japan?" by Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto
5. "Japan's Long Postwar: The Trick of Memory and the Ruse of History" by Harry Harootunian
6. "National Subjectivity and the Uses of Atonement in the Age of Recession" by J. Victor Koschmann
7. "'Give Me Japan and Nothing Else!': Postcoloniality, Identity, and the Traces of Colonialism" by Leo Ching
8. "'You Asians': On the Historical Role of the West and Asia Binary" by Naoki Sakai
9. "Revenge and Recapitation in Recessionary Japan" by Marilyn Ivy
10. "The 'Wild Child' of 1990s Japan" by Andrea G. Arai
11. "The Rise and Fall of Maternal Society: Gender, Labor, and Capital in Contemporary Japan" by Tomiko Yoda
12. "Representation, Reality Culture, and Global Capitalism in Japan" by Eric Cazdyn
13. "Monsieur le Capital and Madame la Terre Do Their Ghost-Dance: Globalization and the Nation-State" by Yutaka Nagahara
14. "New-Age Fetishes, Monsters, and Friends: Pokemon Capitalism at the Millennium" by Anne Allison
15. "Otaku Movement" by Thomas LaMarre
16. "A Drifting World Fair: Cultural Politics of Environment in the Local/Global Context of Contemporary Japan" by Yoshimi Shunya
17. "Angelus Novus in Millennial Japan" by Sabu Kohso ... Read more

Product Description
A thousand books have been written about Japan; but among these,—setting aside artistic publications and works of a purely special character,—the really precious volumes will be found to number scarcely a score. This fact is due to the immense difficulty of perceiving and comprehending what underlies the surface of Japanese life. ... Read more

Book Description
Sex creates odd cultural conventions everywhere, but nowhere has an institution quite like the Japanese love hotel. To be rented by the hour for amorous liaisons, the theme rooms revealed in this provocative collection of photographs are steeped in fantasy, their elaborate d cor ranging from simulated subway cars to religious bondage with much kink in between. These brash rooms are fascinating in themselves, but also present a window into a very classified aspect of this society. The foreword by best-selling author Natsuo Kirino and passages from hotel guest books lend humor and context to these 80 haunting room portraits, creating an astonishing document of sex and romance, public and private space in Japan. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Commenting on the introduction
I haven't actually read this book, although the concept is certainly intriguing and the photos look excellent, however I did get to read the introduction here at Amazon and was struck by some of what this female Japanese author has to say about love hotels. She starts off discussing the history of the hotels and how they have changed into the modern commercialized fantasy play locations that are depicted in this book. However the second part of the introduction deals with the author's view of these hotels as encouraging impersonal sex which focuses primarily on male needs and encourages female sexuality in a primarily commercial sense.

What I get from this description is the fact that the rigid polarization of gender roles in Japan and the continued focus on formalized systems of interaction has created an atmosphere where female sexuality is still a social taboo outside of certain accepted institutions. In the past this was somewhat less of a problem since marriage was for family and social purposes and not for the gratification of the individual unless they were unusually lucky. However, the roles allowed for women to be taken care of financially and protected by their fathers and husbands, in exchange for providing them with domestic services including sex. Under those circumstances women were not expected to engage in sex unless they were either married or prostitutes of some kind and since marriage was not necessarily personal men could find sexual fulfillment outside, provided that they remained discreet.

How this differs from today though is that after the effects of feminism changed our perception of gender roles, women began engaging in other types of services which would allow them to financially support themselves to some extent and made them less dependent on men. This led to lessening of the sense of obligation towards men for the support that they provided and thus a lessening of the desire to satisfy them sexually. However, this also led somewhat paradoxically to the protection of women by cultural inertia rather than by men in particular thus making it less acceptable for men to find alternative outlets for their sexual needs while continuing and even strengthening the taboos for women. This leads to a situation where women's sexuality is virtually nonexistent except for commercial purposes which provide another incentive and where men's sexuality is strongly repressed. Not surprising then that fantasy hotels would be required to allow both men and women to express themselves, or that women's expression should end up being limited to a mostly commercial style.

This repression also explains the rise in sex related crime, whereas being able to play out those fantasies in a hotel might actually lower the incidence in actual public venues. Strangely enough companies hiring women still limit their wages and involvement because the reality is that most women are going through the motions until such time as they can obtain a husband. So the major changes in gender roles are primarily on the surface but the overall result has been a continued and gradually escalating restriction on sexual expression on the part of both genders. I find it ironic that to western minds the existence of love hotels seems like a lowering of moral standards in the context of promiscuity when the reality is that their existence points more towards a lowering of moral standards in the sense that a natural expression of basic human needs has been so perverted as to require an artificial commercial venue to allow it to occur at all.

Japanese Adult Theme Parks
Japan's infamous love hotels are a cultural art form. This is not a guidebook to the erotic world of Japan. Neither is it a collection of pornographic photos of hot Asian chicks and where to find them. This is a book of fine art photographs of the interiors of hotel rooms. There is not a photograph of a live person in the entire volume. The rooms in these hotels appear that they were designed by the animation artists of Disney. I kept expecting to find a "Pirates of the Caribbean" room. I had to settle for a room entitled "Pirate Room." It was pictured near an aquarium motif with the name "Underwater Room."
Each of the rooms shown in the book appears like an individual cell out of animated film. These rooms definitely represent individual rides in a pleasure park for adults. In most of the beautifully reproduced color photographs the viewer has to look carefully in order to tell if the room really exists or is just a skillfully done cartoon painting of a room. While every detail of each room seems almost like an unused exhibit in a museum, the one tip-off that the scene is real is that the beds shown in each location look like they had just been sloppily made. The spreads are usually slightly rumpled as if the maid was in a terrific hurry to get done before the photographer arrived. Another feature of the beds is that almost every bed has some form of chains with leather cuffs or other type of restraint in each corner of the bed and on top of the bed spreads. Many of the rooms also have S&M restraints hanging from the ceilings or attached to the walls or on crosses against the walls. A simple list of some of the picture titles for the Osaka hotel rooms says much about the content of the pictures. "Igloo Waiting Area", "Naughty Nurse Play Area," "Hello Kitty S&M Room," "Prison Cell," "Alien Abduction Play Area," "Subway Room," " Disco Ball," "Spider Room," and "Bondage Bathroom." There are many more amazing rooms with amazing names. There seems no lack of kinkiness and kitsch in these first-class establishments.
The photographer has a real gift for capturing the sensuality of these love hotel room designs. If sex is mostly above the neck, then the creators of these fantasy adventures are true erotic geniuses. The photographs are straightforward and amazing. It's difficult to show people living and loving without showing any people. The photographer has a real talent for recognizing the skill of the interior designers of these fantasies.
If the reader wishes to see real people working in the near-cousins of theseJapanese cartoon fantasy worlds, Joan Sinclair has done a wonderful job with an entirely different approach in her book "Pink Box: Inside Japan's Sex Clubs." Since non-Japanese aren't usually allowed in these clubs, Sinclair's book is even more amazing and will be eye opening to any western audience. The American equivalent to the book "Love Hotels" is Timothy Hursley's "Brothels of Nevada." His architectural studies of the legal Brothel Industry occasionally show a real person within their gaudy architectural fantasy world created mostly through a system of combining over-sized trailers into sexual playgrounds.

Amusing
A fun collection of photos from love hotels throughout Japan. There is such a variety of different themes for love hotel rooms that this book, of necessity, can only contain a small fraction of examples. So after looking through it, I mainly felt I wanted more photographs of more rooms at more love hotels.

THE EMPTINESS OF LOVE IN A HOTEL
What separates LOVE HOTELS from other works of its genre is that Misty Keasler has taken 80 or so giant photos of rooms from various Love Hotels in Japan, and none of the photos contains a living person.This is the Keasler technique.There are no living persons within her rooms.Though there is something terribly voyeuristic within all of us that wants to catch some of what we hope are the morbidly depraved acts of Love Hotelers as they do dirty things in rooms containing Hello Kitty dolls, over-sized snowmen and various assortments of creatures one might only see at a carnival, she does not reveal the subjects of her rooms.We are left with the objects that they ephemerally possessed.What is so pleasing about Misty Keasler's work and technique, however, is that she very much captures the ghosts of the people who have haunted her rooms.We are given the chance through Misty Keasler to peer into Dante's Hell.She is our Virgil, and the stories that these ghosts tell us through the rooms where the beds are not yet cold are often so more sad than sensual.This is also what makes her rooms so unbelievably beautiful.The journey Keasler takes us on is enhanced by the book's diaries left inside the rooms from Love Hotelers who inexplicably leave messages for future guests.These messages reveal amazing conflicts in the souls of hotel guests as they struggle with cheap love and even cheaper sex in hotel rooms that are designed for lust.LOVE HOTELS is an incredible body of work.Readers will find it difficult not to return again and again to the photographs to search for new ghosts who reveal themselves in different corners of each room.I very much recommend this book!

Highly recommended
I had only seen a few of these images when I bought "Love Hotels" and was thrilled with how many thrills and surprises the book itself offers. This is a tremendous body of work and a wonderful introduction to the photography of Misty Keasler, who has established herself as an artist of real humanity and complexity. "Love Hotels" is a gorgeously-designed book that is ostensibly about the loaded subject of Japanese hotel rooms used only for sex. In these delicious photos, Keasler goes much deeper than the simple eye-candy of these odd spots, and leads us on an exploration of this strange expression of a society known to be fairly sexually repressed. She communications a number of emotions -- some humorous, some sad, some disturbing -- that all reflect her longtime interest in how a particular public or private space illustrates the lives that occupy it. Much of Keasler's other work concerns children living in orphanages or garbage dumps, but no matter what the project, it always returns to place, and here she has found one of the world's most fascinating places. It's a great ride. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Book Description
This extraordinary collection of stories from Japan are retellings of legends and fairy tales. You'll meet the Sea Spirit, the Moon God, the Emperor Kiyomori, Dragon Princess and many other magical characters. Amidst the stories, the beauty of Japan - its people, its animals and its landscape - is joyfully evoked.The stories include The Birth of Japan, Tales of the Heike, and the Tale of Princess Kaguya. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Perfect Gift
This is a perfect gift for someone that is into the culture of Japan. This book was bought for my sister (who studies Japanese culture)and she loved it.I'm happy that I bought it!!! ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Historical tone
Folklore best describes the tone, although the sketches of the characters who are briefly seem more complex than similar European folklore.A pleasant read. ... Read more

Book Description
In a single short book as elegant as it is wise, Ian Buruma makes sense of the most fateful span of Japan’s history, the period that saw as dramatic a transformation as any country has ever known. In the course of little more than a hundred years from the day Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in his black ships, this insular, preindustrial realm mutated into an expansive military dictatorship that essentially supplanted the British, French, Dutch, and American empires in Asia before plunging to utter ruin, eventually emerging under American tutelage as a pseudo-Western-style democracy and economic dynamo.

What explains the seismic changes that thrust this small island nation so violently onto the world stage? In part, Ian Buruma argues, the story is one of a newly united nation that felt it must play catch-up to the established Western powers, just as Germany and Italy did, a process that involved, in addition to outward colonial expansion, internal cultural consolidation and the manufacturing of a shared heritage. But Japan has always been both particularly open to the importation of good ideas and particularly prickly about keeping their influence quarantined, a bipolar disorder that would have dramatic consequences and that continues to this day. If one book is to be read in order to understand why the Japanese seem so impossibly strange to many Americans, Inventing Japan is surely it.


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

A Starting Point
This introduction to modern Japanese history -- from Com. Perry's 1853 naval mission to the 1964 Olympics -- is perfectly fine as just that, an introduction for those who have neither the time nor inclination to read an in-depth 500-800 page work. Of course, as is to be expected from such a gloss, the author skims lightly across major topics, and without the context of further reading or background knowledge, it's difficult for the average reader to know what to make of Buruma's interpretations, emphases, and omissions.

Certainly the span of time is well chosen, although as the book is clear to point out, the arrival of Perry's "black ships" to force Japan to trade with the U.S. was hardly the first significant contact with the West. For quite some time, Japan had contacts with the Netherlands, and a segment of Japanese intelligentsia pursued "Dutch learning." Still, it's a good starting point, as the American arrival heralded the end of the feudal era and the start of the Meiji Restoration. Aside from little snippets here and there (a section on 1920s Japan made me curious to read more about the era), much of the early part of the book revolves around Japan's military muscle-flexing.

The 1904-05 Russo-Japanese War, which Buruma describes as a brutal dress rehearsal for World War I, starts the century off on an ominous note, as the Japanese taste of victory against a European power sparks delusions of grandeur. These delusions mount as the century moves forward, taking the form of expeditions into Manchuria and China (Rape of Nanking anyone?), and finally the attack on Pearl Harbor. Japanese militarism is portrayed as an outgrowth of a strange blend of overconfidence, inferiority complex, and sentiments of racial and national superiority. Such sweeping generalization of national character are bound to raise some readers' hackles, but to Buruma's credit, he doesn't dance around them.

Less familiar than Japan's military adventurism is the overview of the U.S. occupation and influence in the postwar years, and the crafting of a new constitution by low-level American bureaucrats. Another relatively less well-known area Burma sketches is the postwar Japanese domestic scene. This comes across as a relatively cozy balance of power between politicians and bureaucrats, with plenty of corruption to go around. One comes out of it with the dispiriting sense that Japan's democracy is a rather hollow one, mired in entrenched interests and overly dependent on the U.S. The narrative ends with the staging of the 1964 Olympics, an event that marks Japan's complete reassimiliation into the world community.

Ultimately, this appears to be a reasonable overview, perhaps best suited as one of several texts in an undergraduate course on Japanese history. Without some other guidance or supplementary reading, it's simply too full of interpretation to take at face value. Fortunately, Buruma does provide an excellent bibliography for those interested in further reading.

A quick read and summary, but ultimately confusing
A short book can be a great introduction to a topic, or provide a quick overview to something that you do not care to delve further in.Or, it can leave out so much context and nuance, that it is simply confusing.I am a history buff, but not a Japan expert attracted by the topic and timeframe of this book.And I cannot say I did not learn anything or that the book was dry and uninteresting.But it was breathtakingly quick...seeming to jump through the decades, introducing and then throwing away topics and characters and leaving one with far more questions than answers.I cannot comment on the biases others have noted, because I do not have enough knowledge to judge, but there was a certain "flip-ness" to the writing that was irritating, and the overall structure and pace was so flawed I cannot recommend this book regardless of its accuracy or insight.

50% five + 50%zero stars =2.5 stars.
This is the only book, I have read about the history of Japan so far. If the analysis can be validated to be true, it is a fascinating brief history of Japan that teaches the fundamentals. However, if it is a biased fantasy then it is very offending to Japanese culture. I have a tendency to believe that most of it is biased. It describes the Japanese people as easily manipulated crowd that can take a person to be their God after an overnight decision by the power elite. It gives a sense that Japanese people in any part of their history were imitating, adopting cultures of others. Reader is pushed to believe that if Japanese culture is left unchecked it has a huge potential to do harm.

I also feel hard to believe that while the elite bureaucrats are imitating the western style of life, the public, especially working class, would swallow such behavior like candy as described in the book.

It is a brief book that is very coherent in its analysis. However, it feels such an analysis may be very biased and not reflecting the truth.

Graceful Losers: The Emergence of Modern Japan
Since Mathew Perry's Black Ships reached Japan and broke its self imposed exclusion from the world, the Japanese Experience has been extraordinary.Alone among the non Western nations it has mastered Western science, technology, and economic prowess, and had earned a place among the major world powers in the pre WW2 world.Then it has joined in with Hitler and Mussolini as part of the Axis power, unleashing a gruesome campaign against its weaker Asian neighbors and a suicidal one against the United States.Following its defeat, Japan reemerged as a pacifist democracy and an economic and cultural world leader.

Ian Buruma's fascinating little book about the century between Perry's arrival and the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, has to cover a lot of ground in 160 pages (he has about 1.5 pages per year).His book is necessarily frustrating in its gloss of important aspects, but he nonetheless supplies a useful account of Japan's political history throughout the period (and, surprisingly, quite a lot about Japanese culture as well, particularly the Cinema).

It seems redundant to summarize the political developments in Japan; Suffice to say that, rather then a confrontation between traditionalists and modernists; Buruma sees a conflict between modernists of the Liberal and illiberal kind.The latter, drawing upon the German model, transformed Shinto into a state religion celebrating a divine emperor, created a highly militaristic state, and led Japan into a series of Military adventures, from the Sino-Japanese war of 1895, through the war with Russia in 1905, the 'Manchurian incident' in 1931, and finally to Pearl Harbor.

Following Japan's inevitable defeat, The American occupation force purged the hardliner military leaders, but maintained Emperor Hirohito (Buruma is inconclusive as to the level of his culpability in Japan's militarism).It created a new Constitution (dedicated to Pacifism), and partially, but not entirely, reshaped Japan's political culture.After some turbulence, the conservative Liberal-Democratic Party settled to rule Japan fairly effectively, partially betraying and partially fulfilling the Liberal hopes from the Post War era.

As interesting as Japan's political history has been, the extraordinary question of Japanese history is economic:How did Japan manage to twice rise from great disadvantages to a position as a world leader?How did Japan, alone among all non Western nations, manage to Industrialize as early as the 19th century, and how come it is today a leading member in the still almost exclusively Western club of developed countries?

Buruma hardly addressed these questions, and as such his ability to explain the history of Japan suffers greatly.As interesting as the political and ideological history is, that's not where the story of Modern Japan truly is; Japan's triumph, and current difficulties are hardly addressed, and Buruma mostly sees the enrichment of post war Japan as a distraction, "Opium to the Masses", so to speak, allowing the conservatives to shrink from fuller Liberalization of Japan (pp. 166-167).

The best insight Buruma offers to Japan's extraordinary success is in the Prologue, describing the Judo contest in the 1964 Olympics.The Japanese expected their smallish Judo champion, Kaminaga Akio to defeat his six foot six Dutch opponent, Anton Geesink.Such a victory would have signaled the "superiority of Japanese culture, of the Japanese spirit".(p.6)

But in the end, Geesink won.The Dutchman defeated the Japanese: "Once again, Japanese manhood had put to the test against superior Western manhood, and once again it was found wanting".But the humiliation subsided when Geesink showed the proper respect by bowing the traditional bow."Geesink... would be treated as a hero in Japan forever after...One quality has stood out to serve Japan better than any other: the grace to make the best of defeat".

I think Buruma has hit upon a major element in Japan's success.Unlike many other traditional societies, Japanese were able to accept the victories of the West and to profit from them; I think people around the world have much to benefit by reflecting upon the Japanese capacity of Embracing Defeat.

A great start but final third a waste of time
For me a very informative beginning but got less interesting the more I read, probably due to a combination of a lack of detail (even for a summary) and the fact that I've already read Embracing Defeat.

The further into the text you go, the more Mr. Buruma seems like part of the "Japan is Evil" camp, even going so far as to make opinionated assertions not supported by fact.

Speaking of facts, it seems some checking is in order. Iwo Jima as a base for B-29s? Everthing I've read says that was Saipan and Iwo Jima was for emergency landings and fighters that escorted the B-29s.

Finally, I would like to mention that to me it seems inappropriate to specifically review other reviewers. Vote on the usefulness of their reveies sure, but if you have more to say start you own blog or something. ... Read more

Book Description
In a rare combination of comprehensive coverage and sustained critical focus, this book examines Japanese history in its entirety to identify the factors underlying the nation's progression to superpower status. Japan's achievement is explained not merely in economic terms, but at a more fundamental level, as a product of historical patterns of response to circumstance. Japan is shown to be a nation historically impelled by a pragmatic determination to succeed. The book also highlights unresolved questions and little-known facts. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

An excellent introduction to Japanese history
This book is my recent reading about Japanese history and I found it is written in a wonderfully succinct way. Japan's history ranges over almost 2,000 years only for its historical part. If anybody feels it is still difficult to summarize 200-year history of the United States into a few hundred pages, you will know how daunting task it is to summarize 2,000-year history of one of the most important countries of the current world into this comfortable volume. This book distributes proper weight to each period of Japanese history and does not disproportionately emphasizes its modern history in disregard of its ancient one. In fact, the author's narration of Japanese history flows with very clear connection in mind between its ancient display and its modern development. In this small volume (yet more or less 300 pages), every paragraph retains significance in relation to the entirety of Japanese history as the author recognizes it. One may choose a fact-ridden thick dry textbook type for his/her introduction to a country's history, but I believe you will get a more vivid sense of the politcal and cultural entity called Japan through this book than through a long enumeration of historical facts of Japan. This book has my hearty recommendation for anybody who begins to develop an interest in Japanese history and culture.

Excellent Overview of Japanese History
Henshall does an excellent job of providing a concise overview of Japanese history.The book is written in a very readable and engaging style and while a lot of material is covered in the limited number of pages he at the same time manages to tie it together in a coherent way.The benefit of this is that while it may not have depth you finish the book with the feeling that you have an understanding of what you have read as a whole.

Of particular value are the summaries at the end of each part and the tables listing key developments along with key values and practices in each period.

Different approach
RECOMMENDATIONS
I have been recommending this book to people as bedtime reading or something alike, as the style of this book seams more neutral (not comparing with West) but also in same time kind of light and somewhat humorous... so if interested of well written overview of Japanese history this book is kind of fun to read actually (how ever odd that might sound about bloody history).
Some people appreciate that, some don't. I certainly enjoyed this different and light Japanese 'story.


CONTENTS
Have read quite few history books about Japan, but this one was actually (mostly) entertaining, which is refreshing next to thick and boring books that still don't cover all events (for example Nanjing massacre is completely missing from quite few thick Japanese history books by western authors). It is indeed somewhat disappointing that even this author left out for example the massive Nanjing rape and massacre, but at least he mentions Nanjing on couple of the pages, which is much more than could be said about other material out there.

The best part in this book is though older history, that is before Meji era.
I like this 'clear:head kind' of neutral feeling about this book, as it appears to me.
Here you don't need to be worried about finding little lines here and there comparing some western countries against Japan (often in favor to writers own country), in same time as he still puts some personality to this 'story of the country.

I like the way mr Henshall has placed the Japanese mythology in beginning and actually explained it in concise but informative way. Not very common in history books, I think.
He seams to have also somewhat more sober interpretation of samurais throughout the history, among other things.
(Here samurais are not presented just brave "heros" fighting for the truth and honor of the country.;) They seam to be put forward in more realistic way.)


GENERALLY
It is relatively thin book to be about one country's history, and you can't expect read all the details about everything that happend in Japan throughout it's pretty long and shaky history.

However, if you not going to do deep detailed research about one specific event under Kamakura period or alike, with this book as only resource,
this book covers Japanese history perfectly well.


This entertaining and informative overview about history of Japan is definitely recommended.


Hopefully this review helps you. If you will get this book, enjoy!! :)

Sad. The book is distorted by the Japanese.
First of all this book states that Yayoi is 100% Japanese however it's actaully 50% Korean, 30% Chinese, and 20% Middle Asia's culture. Also this book rarely talks about the killing of 3 million innocent Koreans and 0.8 million Chinese and torturing them by raping, experimenting and killing for entertainment when half of Japan's history was killing and robbing.

Very perspicacious summary of Japanese history
After reading Gordon's "A Modern History of Japan" which was twice thicker with longer pages and concentrate on the history since Meiji, I was a bit skeptical that Henshall would be able to tell me much more about Japanese history, as there isn't much to say about early and medieval history in 70 pages, and even less from Meiji in 110 pages. However, I really enjoyed this book. Not only was it more digestible than Gordon's, it is probably the best comlpete history of Japan from the stone age to now that I have read so far.

There are lots of interesting anecdotes and facts, and Henshall's summaries of key points in Japanese culture's development after each chapters are very eficient and perspicacious. There is very little useless commentaries or wasted space, without being too dense. Very good indeed ! ... Read more

Product Description
Folded waterproof road and travel map in color. Scale 1:1,100,000. Distinguishes roads ranging from expressways to secondary roads. Legend includes Japan Railway, Shinkansen, privatized railways, ferry routes, waterfalls, national parks, caves, mines, bridges, volcanos, tourist sites, Buddhist temples, Shinto Shrines, hot springs, ski resorts, beaches, international/domestic airports. Includes inset maps of Kyoto, Sapporo, Osaka and Central Tokyo. ... Read more