Product Description: This book explores the transition from the era of internationalization into the era of globalization of Japan by focusing on language and identity as its central themes. By taking an interdisciplinary approach covering education, cultural studies, linguistics and policy-making, the chapters in this book raise certain questions of what constitutes contemporary Japanese culture, Japanese identity and multilingualism and what they mean to local people, including those who do not reside in Japan but are engaged with Japan in some way within the global community...read more

An Introduction to Japanese Society is a provocative, insightful and highly accessible book comprehensively examining contemporary Japanese society. It provides a thorough and critical analysis of the dominant view that Japanese society is strongly characterised by 'groupism and homogeneity'. Yoshio Sugimoto contests the notion that Japanese society comprises an extremely uniform culture, drawing attention to the subcultural diversity and class competition that exists within it. Sugimoto's views as an 'insider/outsider', having spent many years both in Japan and overseas, are insightful and probing. The book's accessibility and coverage of a broad range of issues, such as education, cultural diversity, power relations, politics and gender and family, makes it essential not only for students of Japan worldwide, but also for professional and lay people seeking a general introduction.

Product Description: A well-rounded, well-informed critique of the Pacific island nation of Japan, its society, economy, demography, and politics Following a crushing defeat in World War II, Japan rose like a phoenix from the literal ashes to become a model of modernity and success, for decades Asia’s premier economic giant...read more

Product Description: The 1930s was a dark period in international affairs. The Great Depression affected the economic and social circumstances of the world’s major powers, contributing to armed conflicts such as the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War...read more

Product Description: Recasts the commonly dismissed colonial project pursued in Hokkaido during the Meiji era (1868-1912) as a major force in the production of modern Japan's national identity, imperial ideology, and empire.

Product Description: The Japanese Ethos: A Study of National Character is a seminal work of Yasuoka Masahiro (1898-1983). Published in 1924 despite Yasuoka's dissatisfaction with its shortcomings, the book was kept out of print by Yasuoka until popularity prompted reissuance in 1934 and 1937...read more

Product Description: Japan has always seemed a puzzle to most westerners--so modern, so industrialized, yet somehow so different. Japanese Society and History seeks to initiate westerners to the learning process of making Japan seem a little less mysterious and a little more understandable...read more

Product Description: The book takes a fresh look at modern Japan, and does not treat the Japanese as enigmatic or mysterious people; their ways of thinking and their culture can be explained by an honest appraisal of their history and of the norms that have shaped this history...read more

The most daring book ever written about the Japanese, Japan Unmasked brings into focus postwar manifestations of immaturity, bribery, corruption, and other malpractices which taint the national behavior, educational system, political and business worlds of modern-day Japan. Author of the best-selling The Japanese Are Like That (Tuttle 1955), Japanese diplomat Ichiro Kawasaki in Japan Unmasked presents a frank, comprehensive survey of the so-called inscrutable Japanese--how they feel, what they think, and how they must appear to Westerners--and of the demoralizing effect that the "nation's" disastrous defeat in World War II had upon the people. He also tells how the Japanese have turned their defeated nation into one of the economic and industrial giants of the world, and presents a qualified look into the future of the role Japan may come to play in Asia. "Often they (Japanese diplomats) won't even open their mouths when it's absolutely imperative for the to do so... (but this book) is not notable for its discretion." Life Magazine -- Asian Edition "Ichiro Kawasaki found himself sacked for that most undiplomatic sin of all -- speaking out." Time Magazine "The fact that the Foreign ministry go upset only proves... that it is determined to give the outside worldd a distorted picture of Fujiyama, geisha and cherry blossoms." --Shipping and Trade News (Tokyo) "This book deserves wide reading, particularly by those who suspect they are captives to the many cliches prevailing about Japan. The book is well designed, illustrated, and printed." --- Library Journal "It is an attempt at helping to enhance understanding about Japanese among foreigners." --Ichiro Kawasaki