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 78
... young are free because we know the rest of their lives will be bur- densome . " One hears such sentiments often . But young children enjoy an atten- uated freedom , after all , because it is given ( and eventually taken away ) by those ...
... young are free because we know the rest of their lives will be bur- densome . " One hears such sentiments often . But young children enjoy an atten- uated freedom , after all , because it is given ( and eventually taken away ) by those ...
Page 137
... young woman named Yukiko Hayashi . She was not a migrant , but a born - and - bred Tokyoite . Hayashi had graduated ... young people change companies , " I asked , " or will companies change young people ? " " It goes in both directions ...
... young woman named Yukiko Hayashi . She was not a migrant , but a born - and - bred Tokyoite . Hayashi had graduated ... young people change companies , " I asked , " or will companies change young people ? " " It goes in both directions ...
Page 171
... young people in the village . In the mountains of Kyushu there is a village called Oguni , sur- rounded by dense cedar forests . Oguni must have been used to the old days , when the countryside was crowded with dispossessed farmers and ...
... young people in the village . In the mountains of Kyushu there is a village called Oguni , sur- rounded by dense cedar forests . Oguni must have been used to the old days , when the countryside was crowded with dispossessed farmers and ...
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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