Japans Political Warfare

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War Memory and Social Politics in Japan, 1945-2005

Author : Franziska Seraphim
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 448 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis War Memory and Social Politics in Japan, 1945-2005 by : Franziska Seraphim

Download or read book War Memory and Social Politics in Japan, 1945-2005 written by Franziska Seraphim and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Japan has long wrestled with the memories and legacies of World War II. In the aftermath of defeat, war memory developed as an integral part of particular and divergent approaches to postwar democracy. In the last six decades, the demands placed upon postwar democracy have shifted considerablyâe"from social protest through high economic growth to Japanâe(tm)s relations in Asiaâe"and the meanings of the war shifted with them. This book unravels the political dynamics that governed the place of war memory in public life. Far from reconciling with the victims of Japanese imperialism, successive conservative administrations have left the memory of the war to representatives of special interests and citizen movements, all of whom used war memory to further their own interests. Franziska Seraphim traces the activism of five prominent civic organizations to examine the ways in which diverse organized memories have secured legitimate niches within the public sphere. The history of these domestic conflictsâe"over the commemoration of the war dead, the manipulation of national symbols, the teaching of history, or the articulation of relations with China and Koreaâe"is crucial to the current discourse about apology and reconciliation in East Asia, and provides essential context for the global debate on war memory.

Japan's Holy War

Author : Walter Skya
Publisher : Duke University Press
ISBN 13 : 0822392461
Total Pages : 401 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (223 download)

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Book Synopsis Japan's Holy War by : Walter Skya

Download or read book Japan's Holy War written by Walter Skya and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 2009-04-03 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Japan’s Holy War reveals how a radical religious ideology drove the Japanese to imperial expansion and global war. Bringing to light a wealth of new information, Walter A. Skya demonstrates that whatever other motives the Japanese had for waging war in Asia and the Pacific, for many the war was the fulfillment of a religious mandate. In the early twentieth century, a fervent nationalism developed within State Shintō. This ultranationalism gained widespread military and public support and led to rampant terrorism; between 1921 and 1936 three serving and two former prime ministers were assassinated. Shintō ultranationalist societies fomented a discourse calling for the abolition of parliamentary government and unlimited Japanese expansion. Skya documents a transformation in the ideology of State Shintō in the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth. He shows that within the religion, support for the German-inspired theory of constitutional monarchy that had underpinned the Meiji Constitution gave way to a theory of absolute monarchy advocated by the constitutional scholar Hozumi Yatsuka in the late 1890s. That, in turn, was superseded by a totalitarian ideology centered on the emperor: an ideology advanced by the political theorists Uesugi Shinkichi and Kakehi Katsuhiko in the 1910s and 1920s. Examining the connections between various forms of Shintō nationalism and the state, Skya demonstrates that where the Meiji oligarchs had constructed a quasi-religious, quasi-secular state, Hozumi Yatsuka desired a traditional theocratic state. Uesugi Shinkichi and Kakehi Katsuhiko went further, encouraging radical, militant forms of extreme religious nationalism. Skya suggests that the creeping democracy and secularization of Japan’s political order in the early twentieth century were the principal causes of the terrorism of the 1930s, which ultimately led to a holy war against Western civilization.

Japanese War Criminals

Author : Sandra Wilson
Publisher : Columbia University Press
ISBN 13 : 0231542682
Total Pages : 436 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (315 download)

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Book Synopsis Japanese War Criminals by : Sandra Wilson

Download or read book Japanese War Criminals written by Sandra Wilson and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2017-02-14 with total page 436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beginning in late 1945, the United States, Britain, China, Australia, France, the Netherlands, and later the Philippines, the Soviet Union, and the People's Republic of China convened national courts to prosecute Japanese military personnel for war crimes. The defendants included ethnic Koreans and Taiwanese who had served with the armed forces as Japanese subjects. In Tokyo, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East tried Japanese leaders. While the fairness of these trials has been a focus for decades, Japanese War Criminals instead argues that the most important issues arose outside the courtroom. What was the legal basis for identifying and detaining subjects, determining who should be prosecuted, collecting evidence, and granting clemency after conviction? The answers to these questions helped set the norms for transitional justice in the postwar era and today contribute to strategies for addressing problematic areas of international law. Examining the complex moral, ethical, legal, and political issues surrounding the Allied prosecution project, from the first investigations during the war to the final release of prisoners in 1958, Japanese War Criminals shows how a simple effort to punish the guilty evolved into a multidimensional struggle that muddied the assignment of criminal responsibility for war crimes. Over time, indignation in Japan over Allied military actions, particularly the deployment of the atomic bombs, eclipsed anger over Japanese atrocities, and, among the Western powers, new Cold War imperatives took hold. This book makes a unique contribution to our understanding of the construction of the postwar international order in Asia and to our comprehension of the difficulties of implementing transitional justice.

The State and Politics In Japan

Author : Ian Neary
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 1509535853
Total Pages : 298 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (95 download)

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Book Synopsis The State and Politics In Japan by : Ian Neary

Download or read book The State and Politics In Japan written by Ian Neary and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2019-05-20 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Politics in Japan is undergoing a major transformation. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has, since 2012, embarked upon an ambitious programme of policy reforms as well as changes to Japan’s governing structures and processes. At the heart of this policy agenda is ‘Abenomics’ – a set of measures designed to boost Japan’s flagging economy, but one which is yet to deliver on its promises. In this fully revised and updated second edition of his classic text, Ian Neary explores the dynamics of democracy in Japan, introducing the key institutions, developments and actors in its politics from the end of the Second World War to the present day. Packed with illustrative material and examples, this comprehensive study traces the continuities and the changes that are underway in five major policy areas: foreign and defence, industry, social welfare, the environment and human rights. Assuming no prior knowledge of Japan, this textbook will be an invaluable and welcome resource for all students interested in the government and politics of contemporary Japan and its international profile.

War and State Building in Medieval Japan

Author : John A. Ferejohn
Publisher : Stanford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0804774315
Total Pages : 194 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (47 download)

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Book Synopsis War and State Building in Medieval Japan by : John A. Ferejohn

Download or read book War and State Building in Medieval Japan written by John A. Ferejohn and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2010-04-20 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The nation state as we know it is a mere four or five hundred years old. Remarkably, a central government with vast territorial control emerged in Japan at around the same time as it did in Europe, through the process of mobilizing fiscal resources and manpower for bloody wars between the 16th and 17th centuries. This book, which brings Japan's case into conversation with the history of state building in Europe, points to similar factors that were present in both places: population growth eroded clientelistic relationships between farmers and estate holders, creating conditions for intense competition over territory; and in the ensuing instability and violence, farmers were driven to make Hobbesian bargains of taxes in exchange for physical security.

Japan’s Decision For War In 1941: Some Enduring Lessons

Author : Dr. Jeffrey Record
Publisher : Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1786252961
Total Pages : 105 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (862 download)

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Book Synopsis Japan’s Decision For War In 1941: Some Enduring Lessons by : Dr. Jeffrey Record

Download or read book Japan’s Decision For War In 1941: Some Enduring Lessons written by Dr. Jeffrey Record and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2015-11-06 with total page 105 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Japan’s decision to attack the United States in 1941 is widely regarded as irrational to the point of suicidal. How could Japan hope to survive a war with, much less defeat, an enemy possessing an invulnerable homeland and an industrial base 10 times that of Japan? The Pacific War was one that Japan was always going to lose, so how does one explain Tokyo’s decision? Did the Japanese recognize the odds against them? Did they have a concept of victory, or at least of avoiding defeat? Or did the Japanese prefer a lost war to an unacceptable peace? Dr. Jeffrey Record takes a fresh look at Japan’s decision for war, and concludes that it was dictated by Japanese pride and the threatened economic destruction of Japan by the United States. He believes that Japanese aggression in East Asia was the root cause of the Pacific War, but argues that the road to war in 1941 was built on American as well as Japanese miscalculations and that both sides suffered from cultural ignorance and racial arrogance. Record finds that the Americans underestimated the role of fear and honor in Japanese calculations and overestimated the effectiveness of economic sanctions as a deterrent to war, whereas the Japanese underestimated the cohesion and resolve of an aroused American society and overestimated their own martial prowess as a means of defeating U.S. material superiority. He believes that the failure of deterrence was mutual, and that the descent of the United States and Japan into war contains lessons of great and continuing relevance to American foreign policy and defense decision-makers.

Political Warfare

Author : Kerry K. Gershaneck
Publisher : Independently Published
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (697 download)

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Book Synopsis Political Warfare by : Kerry K. Gershaneck

Download or read book Political Warfare written by Kerry K. Gershaneck and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2020 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Political Warfare provides a well-researched and wide-ranging overview of the nature of the People's Republic of China (PRC) threat and the political warfare strategies, doctrines, and operational practices used by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The author offers detailed and illuminating case studies of PRC political warfare operations designed to undermine Thailand, a U.S. treaty ally, and Taiwan, a close friend"--

Japan's Struggle to End the War

Author : United States Strategic Bombing Survey
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 48 pages
Book Rating : 4.F/5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Japan's Struggle to End the War by : United States Strategic Bombing Survey

Download or read book Japan's Struggle to End the War written by United States Strategic Bombing Survey and published by . This book was released on 1946 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Military Intervention in Pre-War Japanese Politics

Author : Ian Gow
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1135795916
Total Pages : 405 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (357 download)

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Book Synopsis Military Intervention in Pre-War Japanese Politics by : Ian Gow

Download or read book Military Intervention in Pre-War Japanese Politics written by Ian Gow and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2004-08-02 with total page 405 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a study of the impact of inter-war naval arms control policy-making on the domestic politics of Japan, especially the areas of civil-military, inter-military (Army/Navy) and especially intra-military (Navy) relations and on the professional and political career of one leading naval figure, Admiral Kato Kanji (1873-1939). In this re-appraisal of Kato's career, the author challenges the conventional and negative interpretation of both Kato's role in the naval politics and factions within the Imperial Navy, utilizing Kato's involvement in the domestic political debate as a focal device for studying two key areas of Japanese civil-military relations: civilian control and the phenomenon of massive, overt naval intervention in domestic politics.

Japan's Political Warfare

Author : Peter de Mendelssohn
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 113691725X
Total Pages : 192 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (369 download)

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Book Synopsis Japan's Political Warfare by : Peter de Mendelssohn

Download or read book Japan's Political Warfare written by Peter de Mendelssohn and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2010-10-18 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After more than six years of active fighting in the Far East and over two years of open war between Japan and the Anglo-Saxon powers, Japanese political warfare was still a factor largely unknown in the Western world. Overshadowed by the much nearer and more closely felt exertions of the Nazi propaganda machine, it came to be regarded as too remote to have any noticeable bearing on the general course of the war. In the months leading up to Pearl Harbour, Tokyo Radio, the official Domei News Agency and the Japanese press jointly conducted an efficient war of nerves which, for all its alleged clumsiness effectively deceived many in Britain and the USA. The attack on Pearl Harbour showed how Tokyo’s political warfare achieved its object: the creation of a political smoke-screen. During the period of Japan’s conquests in 1942 following Pearl Harbour, and before that in China, Japan’s political warfare showed itself quite capable of producing useful results.The volume is divided into two parts: the first deals with machinery and methods and gives as full and detailed a survey of the various government organs directing and controlling political warfare, the structure of the Japanese press, the organisation of Japanese broadcasting, the functioning of censorship and the extent to which education, science, literature, the arts and the cinema are being employed for purposes of propaganda, both in the Japanese homeland and in the wider area of the conquered empire. The second part deals with the aims and policies of Japanese propaganda, and attempts to give an outline of the way in which the machinery is being operated. It includes an analysis of the main groups of standard slogans and catchphrases which recur everywhere in Japanese propaganda and a special chapter is devoted to the use made of religion for purposes of political warfare.

The History Problem

Author : Hiro Saito
Publisher : University of Hawaii Press
ISBN 13 : 0824874390
Total Pages : 293 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (248 download)

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Book Synopsis The History Problem by : Hiro Saito

Download or read book The History Problem written by Hiro Saito and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2017-04-01 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seventy years have passed since the end of the Asia-Pacific War, yet Japan remains embroiled in controversy with its neighbors over the war’s commemoration. Among the many points of contention between Japan, China, and South Korea are interpretations of the Tokyo War Crimes Trial, apologies and compensation for foreign victims of Japanese aggression, prime ministerial visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, and the war’s portrayal in textbooks. Collectively, these controversies have come to be called the “history problem.” But why has the problem become so intractable? Can it ever be resolved, and if so, how? To answer these questions author Hiro Saito mobilizes the sociology of collective memory and social movements, political theories of apology and reconciliation, psychological research on intergroup conflict, and philosophical reflections on memory and history. The history problem, he argues, is essentially a relational phenomenon caused when nations publicly showcase self-serving versions of the past at key ceremonies and events: Japan, South Korea, and China all focus on what happened to their own citizens with little regard for foreign others. Saito goes on to explore the emergence of a cosmopolitan form of commemoration taking humanity, rather than nationality, as its primary frame of reference, an approach increasingly used by a transnational network of advocacy NGOs, victims of Japan’s past wrongdoings, historians, and educators. When cosmopolitan commemoration is practiced as a collective endeavor by both perpetrators and victims, Saito argues, a resolution of the history problem—and eventual reconciliation—will finally become possible. The History Problem examines a vast corpus of historical material in both English and Japanese, offering provocative findings that challenge orthodox explanations. Written in clear and accessible prose, this uniquely interdisciplinary book will appeal to sociologists, political scientists, and historians researching collective memory, nationalism and cosmopolitanism, and international relations—and to anyone interested in the commemoration of historical wrongs. An electronic version of this book is freely available thanks to the support of libraries working with Knowledge Unlatched, a collaborative initiative designed to make high-quality books open access for the public good. The open-access version of this book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which means that the work may be freely downloaded and shared for non-commercial purposes, provided credit is given to the author. Derivative works and commercial uses require permission from the publisher.

Japan’s Cold War

Author : Ann Sherif
Publisher : Columbia University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780231518345
Total Pages : 312 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (183 download)

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Book Synopsis Japan’s Cold War by : Ann Sherif

Download or read book Japan’s Cold War written by Ann Sherif and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2009-03-05 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Critics and cultural historians take Japan's postwar insularity for granted, rarely acknowledging the role of Cold War concerns in the shaping of Japanese society and culture. Nuclear anxiety, polarized ideologies, gendered tropes of nationhood, and new myths of progress, among other developments, profoundly transformed Japanese literature, criticism, and art during this era and fueled the country's desire to recast itself as a democratic nation and culture. By rereading the pivotal events, iconic figures, and crucial texts of Japan's literary and artistic life through the lens of the Cold War, Ann Sherif places this supposedly insular nation at the center of a global battle. Each of her chapters focuses on a major moment, spectacle, or critical debate highlighting Japan's entanglement with cultural Cold War politics. Film director Kurosawa Akira, atomic bomb writer Hara Tamiki, singer and movie star Ishihara Yujiro, and even Godzilla and the Japanese translation of Lady Chatterley's Lover all reveal the trends and controversies that helped Japan carve out a postwar literary canon, a definition of obscenity, an idea of the artist's function in society, and modern modes of expression and knowledge. Sherif's comparative approach not only recontextualizes seemingly anomalous texts and ideas, but binds culture firmly to the domestic and international events that defined the decades following World War II. By integrating the art and criticism of Japan into larger social fabrics, Japan's Cold War offers a truly unique perspective on the critical and creative acts of a country remaking itself in the aftermath of war.

Imagining Japan in Post-war East Asia

Author : Paul Morris
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1134684975
Total Pages : 426 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (346 download)

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Book Synopsis Imagining Japan in Post-war East Asia by : Paul Morris

Download or read book Imagining Japan in Post-war East Asia written by Paul Morris and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-03-26 with total page 426 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the decades since her defeat in the Second World War, Japan has continued to loom large in the national imagination of many of her East Asian neighbours. While for many, Japan still conjures up images of rampant military brutality, at different times and in different communities, alternative images of the Japanese ‘Other’ have vied for predominance – in ways that remain poorly understood, not least within Japan itself. Imagining Japan in Postwar East Asia analyses the portrayal of Japan in the societies of East and Southeast Asia, and asks how and why this has changed in recent decades, and what these changing images of Japan reveal about the ways in which these societies construct their own identities. It examines the role played by an imagined ‘Japan’ in the construction of national selves across the East Asian region, as mediated through a broad range of media ranging from school curricula and textbooks to film, television, literature and comics. Commencing with an extensive thematic and comparative overview chapter, the volume also includes contributions focusing specifically on Chinese societies (the mainland PRC, Hong Kong and Taiwan), Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore. These studies show how changes in the representation of Japan have been related to political, social and cultural shifts within the societies of East Asia – and in particular to the ways in which these societies have imagined or constructed their own identities. Bringing together contributors working in the fields of education, anthropology, history, sociology, political science and media studies, this interdisciplinary volume will be of interest to all students and scholars concerned with issues of identity, politics and culture in the societies of East Asia, and to those seeking a deeper understanding of Japan’s fraught relations with its regional neighbours.

Japan Prepares for Total War

Author : Michael A. Barnhart
Publisher : Cornell University Press
ISBN 13 : 0801468450
Total Pages : 293 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (14 download)

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Book Synopsis Japan Prepares for Total War by : Michael A. Barnhart

Download or read book Japan Prepares for Total War written by Michael A. Barnhart and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2013-03-22 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The roots of Japan's aggressive, expansionist foreign policy have often been traced to its concern over acute economic vulnerability. Michael A. Barnhart tests this assumption by examining the events leading up to World War II in the context of Japan's quest for economic security, drawing on a wide array of Japanese and American sources.Barnhart focuses on the critical years from 1938 to 1941 as he investigates the development of Japan's drive for national economic self-sufficiency and independence and the way in which this drive shaped its internal and external policies. He also explores American economic pressure on Tokyo and assesses its impact on Japan's foreign policy and domestic economy. He concludes that Japan's internal political dynamics, especially the bitter rivalry between its army and navy, played a far greater role in propelling the nation into war with the United States than did its economic condition or even pressure from Washington. Japan Prepares for Total War sheds new light on prewar Japan and confirms the opinions of those in Washington who advocated economic pressure against Japan.

The Politics of Painting

Author : Asato Ikeda
Publisher : University of Hawaii Press
ISBN 13 : 0824872126
Total Pages : 165 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (248 download)

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Book Synopsis The Politics of Painting by : Asato Ikeda

Download or read book The Politics of Painting written by Asato Ikeda and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2018-05-31 with total page 165 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines a set of paintings produced in Japan during the 1930s and early 1940s that have received little scholarly attention. Asato Ikeda views the work of four prominent artists of the time—Yokoyama Taikan, Yasuda Yukihiko, Uemura Shōen, and Fujita Tsuguharu—through the lens of fascism, showing how their seemingly straightforward paintings of Mount Fuji, samurai, beautiful women, and the countryside supported the war by reinforcing a state ideology that justified violence in the name of the country’s cultural authenticity. She highlights the politics of “apolitical” art and challenges the postwar labeling of battle paintings—those depicting scenes of war and combat—as uniquely problematic. Yokoyama Taikan produced countless paintings of Mount Fuji as the embodiment of Japan’s “national body” and spirituality, in contrast to the modern West’s individualism and materialism. Yasuda Yukihiko located Japan in the Minamoto warriors of the medieval period, depicting them in the yamato-e style, which is defined as classically Japanese. Uemura Shōen sought to paint the quintessential Japanese woman, drawing on the Edo-period bijin-ga (beautiful women) genre while alluding to noh aesthetics and wartime gender expectations. For his subjects, Fujita Tsuguharu looked to the rural snow country, where, it was believed, authentic Japanese traditions could still be found. Although these artists employed different styles and favored different subjects, each maintained close ties with the state and presented what he considered to be the most representative and authentic portrayal of Japan. Throughout Ikeda takes into account the changing relationships between visual iconography/artistic style and its significance by carefully situating artworks within their specific historical and cultural moments. She reveals the global dimensions of wartime nationalist Japanese art and opens up the possibility of dialogue with scholarship on art produced in other countries around the same time, particularly Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The Politics of Painting will be welcomed by those interested in modern Japanese art and visual culture, and war art and fascism. Its analysis of painters and painting within larger currents in intellectual history will attract scholars of modern Japanese and East Asian studies.

War without Mercy

Author : John Dower
Publisher : Pantheon
ISBN 13 : 0307816141
Total Pages : 411 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (78 download)

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Book Synopsis War without Mercy by : John Dower

Download or read book War without Mercy written by John Dower and published by Pantheon. This book was released on 2012-03-28 with total page 411 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD • AN AMERICAN BOOK AWARD FINALIST • A monumental history that has been hailed by The New York Times as “one of the most original and important books to be written about the war between Japan and the United States.” In this monumental history, Professor John Dower reveals a hidden, explosive dimension of the Pacific War—race—while writing what John Toland has called “a landmark book ... a powerful, moving, and evenhanded history that is sorely needed in both America and Japan.” Drawing on American and Japanese songs, slogans, cartoons, propaganda films, secret reports, and a wealth of other documents of the time, Dower opens up a whole new way of looking at that bitter struggle of four and a half decades ago and its ramifications in our lives today. As Edwin O. Reischauer, former ambassador to Japan, has pointed out, this book offers “a lesson that the postwar generations need most ... with eloquence, crushing detail, and power.”

The Politics of War Memory in Japan

Author : Kamila Szczepanska
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1134600135
Total Pages : 251 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (346 download)

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Book Synopsis The Politics of War Memory in Japan by : Kamila Szczepanska

Download or read book The Politics of War Memory in Japan written by Kamila Szczepanska and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-05-09 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the 1990s, questions of Japanese wartime conduct, apologies for aggression, and compensation to former victims of the country’s imperial policies, have been brought to the fore of national and regional politics. The state is undoubtedly the most important actor in the process of memory production and along with conservative legislators and the grass-root revisionist movement there has been a consistent trend towards denying or undermining the existing acknowledgments of responsibility for Japan’s wartime past. However, to fully comprehend war memory in Japan, due attention must be paid to competing discourses that demand an alternative view, and only then can the complexity of Japanese war memory and attitudes towards the legacies of the Asia-Pacific war be understood. The Politics of War Memory in Japan examines the involvement of five civil society actors in the struggle over remembering and addressing the wartime past in Japan today. In studying progressive war memory activists, it quickly becomes clear that the apologia by conservative politicians cannot be treated as representative of the opinion of the majority of the Japanese public. Indeed, this book seeks to remedy the disparity between studies devoted to the official level of addressing the ‘history issue’ and the grass-root historical revisionist movement on the one side, and progressive activism on the other. Furthermore, it contributes to scholarly debates on the state of civil society in Japan, challenging the characterisation of Japanese civil society as a depoliticised space by demonstrating a more contentious side of civil society activism. Drawing important new empirical research, this book will be of huge interest to students and scholars of Japanese civil society, Japanese politics, Japanese history and memory in Japan.