Description
Book SynopsisJapan’s official surrender to the United States in 1945brought to an end one of the most bitter and brutal military conflicts of the twentieth century. U.S. government officials then faced the task of transforming Japan from enemy to ally, not only in top-level diplomatic relations but also in the minds of the American public.Only ten years after World War II, this transformationbecame a successas middle-class American consumers across the country were embracing Japanese architecture, films, hobbies, philosophy, and religion. Cultural institutions on both sides of the Pacific along with American tastemakers promoted a new image of Japan in keeping with State Department goals. Focusing on traditions instead of modern realities, Americans came to view Japan as a nation that was sophisticated and beautiful yet locked harmlessly in a timeless “Oriental” past. What ultimately led many Americans to embrace Japanese culture was a desire to appear affluent and properly &
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"Mettler's study does a fine job of bringing much nuance and texture to the place of Japan in postwar American life and culture."—Mari Yoshihara, Journal of American History
"How to Reach Japan by Subway demonstrates the promises of mining the cultural archive of U.S. consumerism for a richer understanding of elite American imaginings of the other at the peak of U.S. global power."—Andrew C. McKevitt, American Historical Review
“A wonderful contribution to our knowledge in the field of twentieth-century U.S. history, American studies, Asian American studies, and America in the world. It is a fun and exciting read.”—Hiroshi Kitamura, associate professor of history at the College of William and Mary
“With elegant erudition, Meghan Warner Mettler explains why and how Americans found themselves embracing the culture of their recently defeated enemy. . . . A pleasure to read, Mettler’s book ultimately suggests that war and peacemaking also structure private, individual choices about taste in a consumer society.”—Naoko Shibusawa, associate professor of history at Brown University and author of America’s Geisha Ally: Reimagining the Japanese Enemy
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Humble Leaders of the Free World: Historical Context of the Shibui Aesthetic
2. Samurai at the Sure Seaters: 1950s “Highbrow” Japanese Movies in the United States
3. Friendship through Flowers: Americans’ Appreciation of Ikebana and Bonsai
4. How to Be American with Shibui Things: Japanese Aesthetics in the American Home
5. Satori in America: Intellectuals and Artists Discover Zen Buddhism
6. Zen Goes “Boom”: The Popularity of Zen Buddhism, Both Beat and Square
7. Japan for the Rest of Us: Non-Shibui Japanese Imports in the Postwar Era
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
