Author Description

A Modern History of Japan, International Edition remains the best survey of modern Japanese history, beautifully written and impeccably argued by a leading scholar.The book's two central themes are modernity and connectivity. The modern history of Japan has been inseparable from a larger modern history of the world. Ideas, events, material goods and resources from abroad have influenced experiences in Japan profoundly, and vice versa. In this dynamic process, people in Japan have shared much with people elsewhere. These themes emerge through examination of political, economic and social, and cultural history with particular attention to struggles over how to organize political life, as well as relations between social classes, between men and women at work and in the family and between farmers and city-dwellers. The book gives significant attention to connections with and comparisons to the neighboring countries in Asia. It is also the only text available with in depth treatment of the very dramatic and important events of the very recent past, from the global financial crisis through the disasters of 2011, to the resignation of Emperor Akihito in 2019.