Description
Book SynopsisOn publication in France, Bouissou's depiction of modern Japan was acclaimed as `the best of its kind', and this translation has been updated to cover events up till 1999, and augmented by an overview of the Japanese historical legacy before 1945. In the tradition of French scholarship, which rejects a too narrow focus, this textbook encompasses all the aspects of the transformation that raised Japan from the ashes of defeat to the status of `an economic model'. Bouissou closely relates economic growth to social change and politics - of which he gives a particulary detailed account. He shows how these upheavals affected the Japanese value system, collective mind, way of living and culture, illustrating his argument from post-war Japanese literature and cinema. The combination of this broad approach, and provocative analysis which emphasises social dislocation rather than the much-vaunted Japanese predilection for social harmony, distinguishes this textbook from others in the field.
Trade Review`Bouissou's book [...] is well informed and his judgments show good sense. His coverage is impressively broad.' (Richard Sims, SOAS)
Table of ContentsJapan In 1945: Historical Background - Japan, State and Nation - The First Japanese Miracle, 1868-1931 - Japan Under Military Control, 1931-45 - The Occupation: Democratisation Within Limits - Punishment Plans Cut Short - Democratisation - Reforms and Social Change - Political Change - The End of the Occupation - Japan after the Occupation - Laying The Foundations Of The Miracle (1952-62) - Politics: Confrontation and Stabilisation - The Economy: Foundations Laid for the Miracle - Social Conditions in the Growth Period - New Ways of Thinking? - Foreign Policy: Japan Returns to the International Scene - The Great Boom And Its Other Side (1962-72) - The Decade of the Economic Miracle - The Other Side of the Miracle - New Struggles - Parties and the Political System in a Time of Change - Pressure Groups in the Political System: Corporatist Trends - Foreign Policy - End of the Sato Government, July 1972 - A Shock-Absorber Economy (1972-80) - A Nation in Crisis, 1972-76 - Economic Recovery - The Conservative Comeback, 1977-80 - An Impotent Opposition - Conservative Trends in Society - Foreign Policy - The Dilemmas Of Power (1980-92) - After the Conservative Monopoly, Blockages and Challenges to the System - The Economy: Explosion of Power - Society - Japan's Search for a Role in the World Order - The End Of The `Japanese Model'? (1992-2000) - Japan and Globalisation: Challenge to the Economic and Social Model - Politics: Decline and Rearrangement - Return to Contestation and Changes in Thinking - Japan's International Position)
