Japan: A ReinterpretationThe Japanese are in the process of re-creating themselves--an endeavor they have undertaken at intervals throughout history, always prompted by a combination of domestic and global forces. In this landmark book, Patrick Smith asserts that a variety of forces--the achievement of material affluence, the Cold War's end, and the death of Emperor Hirohito--are now spurring Japan once again toward a fundamental redefinition of itself. As Smith argues, this requires of the West an equally thorough reevaluation of the picture we have held of Japan over the past half-century. He reveals how economic overdevelopment conceals profound political, social, and psychological under-development. And by refocusing on "internal history" and the Japanese character, Smith offers a new framework for understanding Japan and the Japanese as they really are. The Japanese, he says, are now seeking to alter the very thing we believe distinguishes them: the relationship between the individual and society. Timely, measured, and authoritative, this book illuminates a new Japan, a nation preparing to drop the mask it holds up to the West and to steer a course of its own in the world. Jacket image: The Great Wave of Kanagawa, from 36 Views of Mount Fuji (detail) by Katsushika Hokusai. Private collection. |
From inside the book
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Page 68
... come to Japan too late . It was an excellent thing , of course , that the dignity of human rights had finally come to be respected . But at ex- actly the same time Japan had entered the age in which it was considered essential ... that ...
... come to Japan too late . It was an excellent thing , of course , that the dignity of human rights had finally come to be respected . But at ex- actly the same time Japan had entered the age in which it was considered essential ... that ...
Page 111
... come houses in a thou- sand contemporary styles . In place of wood in tones of brown and gray come raw concrete and charcoal - shaded granite , the postmodern mate- rials much favored by Japanese architects . When I lived in Tokyo the ...
... come houses in a thou- sand contemporary styles . In place of wood in tones of brown and gray come raw concrete and charcoal - shaded granite , the postmodern mate- rials much favored by Japanese architects . When I lived in Tokyo the ...
Page 126
... come to crying . THE IDEA OF what it meant to be modern took a fundamental turn after 1945. Until the imperial state was defeated , making Japan modern was a means to an end . Japan needed industry so that it could resist foreigners ...
... come to crying . THE IDEA OF what it meant to be modern took a fundamental turn after 1945. Until the imperial state was defeated , making Japan modern was a means to an end . Japan needed industry so that it could resist foreigners ...
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accepted American appeared arrived asked became become began begin building called century considered constitution corporate course culture democratic described early economic emperor enter essential explained face feel finally followed foreign half Hirohito human hundred idea imperial important individual industrial Japan Japanese kind known late later learned less Liberal live look matter mean Meiji military modern named nationalists nature never official once ordinary past period political postwar problem produced published question remains rest samurai scholars seemed simply social society spirit term things thought thousand tion Tokyo told took tradition true turned understand University village wanted West Western women wrote York young