Description
Book SynopsisJapan is one of the world''s wealthiest and most technologically advanced nations, and its rapid ascent to global power status after 1853 remains one of the most remarkable stories in modern world history. Yet it has not been an easy path; military catastrophe, political atrophy, and economic upheavals have made regular appearances from the feudal era to the present. Today, Japan is seen as a has-been with a sluggish economy, an aging population, dysfunctional politics, and a business landscape dominated by yesterday''s champions. Though it is supposed to be America''s strongest ally in the Asia-Pacific region, it has almost entirely disappeared from the American radar screen. In Japan and the Shackles of the Past, R. Taggart Murphy places the current troubles of Japan in a sweeping historical context, moving deftly from early feudal times to the modern age that began with the Meiji Restoration. Combining fascinating analyses of Japanese culture and society over the centuries with hard
Trade Review"Murphy is very persuasive in building a case for his solutions for bringing real change to Japanese politics and foreign relations ... The most fundamental of his prescriptions, though, is undeniably necessary: the Japanese government and people must, for their own sake "confront what put their country in the hands of those who destroyed its independence and made it a byword abroad for brutal, inhuman fanaticism. Trying to bury accounts of what actually happened with fables of a pure and virtuous land, as Abe seeks to do, is simply a way of making it more likely that something similar will happen again soon"." -- Morgan Giles, Times Literary Supplement "Without doubt, this is the most important book on Japan by a non-Japanese writer to have appeared in the last two decades. It should be required reading for anyone professing to know Japan or wishing to teach others about it." -- BCCJ Acumen, Ian de Stains OBE "[An] insightful analysis of what ails Japan." - Economist "Taggart Murphy knows his Japanese history. His theories about Japan's political economy shed interesting light on the country." -- David Pilling, Financial Times "Japan and the Shackles of the Past is an excellent -- and engagingly written -- introduction to Japan, and a thought-provoking work of political and economic analysis (with quite a few lessons for America and other nations, too)." -- Complete Review "Murphy sheds much light on Japans current dependence upon the U.S. for maintenance of its political system and its future prospects, closing with an in-depth analysis of the current administration." -- Publishers Weekly "Taggart Murphy has crafted a precise and highly critical analysis of Japan's problems." -- Satyajit Das, Naked Capitalism
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction: Does Japan Still Matter? Part One: Past Chapter One: Japan Before the Edo Period Chapter Two: The Incubation of the Modern Japanese State Chapter Three: Restoration to Occupation Chapter Four: The Miracle Chapter Five: The Institutions of High-speed Growth Chapter Six: Consequences (Intended and Otherwise) Part Two: Present Chapter Seven: Economy and Finance Chapter Eight: Business Chapter Nine: Social and Cultural Change Chapter Ten: Politics Chapter Eleven: Japan and the World Suggestions for Further Reading Notes
