- Paperback: 176 pages
- Publisher: Phoenix; New edition edition (2 Jun 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0753819759
- ISBN-13: 978-0753819753
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 1.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 57,976 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
"Buruma is very good at crisply making plain the falseness of many assumptions about Japan." (ANTHONY THWAITE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH )
"As a biography of a nation which impinges upon every level of our society it is admirably cogent reading." (MARTIN BOOTH LITERARY REVIEW )
"Buruma's early chapters are particularly good, written with characteristic equanimity and clarity." (TLS )
"Buruma has provided a timely reflection on the unresolved conflicts at the heart of this modern state." (THE TIMES )
"Ian Buruma's concise history is an excellent introduction. Buruma is the Westerner who understands Japan best. He has all the natural gifts historians need." (SUNDAY TIMES )
"A vigorous polemical essay that has annoyed some nationalists and should provoke many more." (THE SCOTSMAN ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
"As a biography of a nation which impinges upon every level of our society it is admirably cogent reading." (MARTIN BOOTH LITERARY REVIEW )
"Buruma's early chapters are particularly good, written with characteristic equanimity and clarity." (TLS )
"Buruma has provided a timely reflection on the unresolved conflicts at the heart of this modern state." (THE TIMES )
"Ian Buruma's concise history is an excellent introduction. Buruma is the Westerner who understands Japan best. He has all the natural gifts historians need." (SUNDAY TIMES )
"A vigorous polemical essay that has annoyed some nationalists and should provoke many more." (THE SCOTSMAN ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
MARTIN BOOTH, LITERARY REVIEW
"As a biography of a nation which impinges upon every level of our society it is admirably cogent reading."
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Buruma sets out with the ambitious task of summarising a century of Japanese history - and a turbulent century at that - in less than 150 pages. Covering the Meiji restoration, the militarism of the 1930s, war, defeat and reconstruction could (and for many authors has) take volumes, but Buruma manages his challenge extremely well.
This is not necessarily a book for a Japan expert - in so short a work, necessarily the discussion about the topics raised is fairly cursory. Even major issues like the involvement of the Showa emperor in pursuing the war are necessarily brief - though Buruma's opinion does come through fairly strongly on this topic. Facts are not comprehensively sourced, either - pitched as a "general reader" on Japanese history, Buruma clearly did not want the flow of the story to be interrupted. However, there is a good appendix on suggested further reading. Buruma also has a talent for highlighting key facts in a new context, and in doing so triggering a response from even the more experienced reader.
"Inventing Japan" makes a good job of dispelling the "uniqueness" myths that surround the country (promoted by both Japan's supporters and protagonists). Japan is, of course, unique - in the same way that France or Serbia is unique. It is not, as the militarists of the 1930s would have us believe, unique in a divine sense. This is something modern day nationalists and anti-Japan protectionists on the two sides of the Pacific could do well to reflect on. Perry did not "open up" an entirely isolated community, but instead visited a country that was already cognoscent with affairs in Europe and America. The Shinto rituals of the 1930s were not (all) hallowed traditions stretching back through the millennia, but were at least in part created to fit the purposes of the government of the day.
Overall Buruma gives an excellent précis of the development of Japan in a concise and well-written manner. This is a superb introduction for a general reader, but it is not something that the more informed reader should overlook.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
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.
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.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I liked this book as an overall review of the conditions that led up to Japan becoming an economic miracle, and it was an easily digestible historical documentary, but the author does not link the past of Japan to its current, but rather largely leaves it to the reader to make their own conclusions. On balance, this book would have been fine as an educational primer. If only he would have taken the word economics out of the title I would not have been disappointed, as the author lacks the steam to discuss the economic recovery postwar, indeed it feels like an epilogue to the book. Overall, a good read and one I would recommend buying for the right reasons - the sections on religion and state are fascinating snippets of insight.
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Fascinating story of Japan's political culture
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Short but excellent overview
Buruma’s books and articles are characterised by an easy writing style and a deep knowledge, even affection, for his topics. Read more
Published on 15 Jan 2006 by Andrew Cornish
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