Modern Japan

BOOK REVIEW

Gordon , Andrew

A Modern History of Japan : From Tokugawa Times to the Present

Oxford Univ

Nov . 2002 . c .400p . permanent . illus . maps

bibliog . index . ISBN 35

Industrialization and democratization in Japan have been tumultuous , and as seen in Gordon 's unique historical approach their causes and effects can make for a very provocative debate or communicated analysis amongst Japanese nationals , to say the least But in to grasp the relevant issues in their historical contexts non-Japanese need a reliable interpretive narrator such as Gordon , a Harvard

University professor of history [Head of Harvard 's Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies] . Starting with the decline , in the 1800s of the shogun , he meticulously unravels the code that unifies the internal and foreign pressures that coagulated in civil war and the restoration ' of the emperor in 1868 . The restorers who held the power feared European colonization , and their industrial and constitutional reforms to resist such a prospect upset Japanese society at its roots - Gordon 's work is replete with turmoil on farm and in factory . The response to change , by intellectuals and the populace , is one theme that Gordon tracks through the present another is nationalism . Its predatory expression in World War II , disturbingly enough , still has its Japanese apologists . After the war , however , most Japanese were more concerned with postwar reconstruction than with history , creating Japan 's economic rise until the time of 1990 . A Chinese saying has it that "each step changes the mountain " Likewise each major turn in history changes how we understand what went before as Japan now continues in an economic funk that followed but did not wipe out the "economic miracle " of the postwar period , we need to rethink our histories once again to explain the origins of prosperity the evolution of what it means to be Japanese , and the roots of obstinacy . Gordon 's clearheaded , readable , and inquisitive narrative aimed at students and serious general readers accomplishes this in a very delicate but purposive manner . Gordon tells a sweeping and provocative story of Japan 's political , economic , social , and cultural inventions of its modernity in evolving international contexts incorporating inside viewpoints and debates . Beyond identifying the national stages (feudalism , militarism , democracy , the author innovatively emphasizes how labor unions , cultural figures , and groups in society (especially women ) have been affected over time and have responded . This book is a well- structured text that gives the reader a comprehensive guide to two centuries of Japanese history . It is recommended for both the general reading public and for special collections libraries

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