Description
Book SynopsisThis book unveils the layers of Japan's democracy, and the essays suggest a widening of disciplinary perspectives. The editors employ an assortment of disciplines—history, anthropology, sociology, political science, law, and cultural studies—to explore the complex interrelationships between history, institutions, and sociocultural practices.
Trade ReviewThis is a truly fascinating book, adopting a multilayered and interdisciplinary approach to the comprehensive study of Japanese democracy. This book encompasses a lengthy time span, dating from the late 19th century to the present day, and readers will be able to understand and appreciate how Japanese democracy changed over this time. This book is a must read, not only for specialists of Japanese studies but also for graduate students and undergraduate students alike, who are interested in Japan, Japanese studies, or democracy in general. -- Yoneyuki Sugita, Osaka University
Japan’s Multilayered Democracy offers a variety of innovative perspectives on Japan’s democracy. The book rejects parsimony but strives instead for a “holistic” approach, searching for and shedding a new light on issues, incidents, angles, and contexts which have not been given due attention in the prevailing mono-causal documentations of Japan. Readers will enjoy some chapters as presenting fresh details of forgotten but important cases and others as providing nuanced and highly original interpretations. Addressing to the wide range of academic disciplines, the book is sure to form a multilayered platform upon which many debates about modern Japan will take place in the near future. -- Masaru Kohno, Waseda University
Japan can claim one of the oldest parliamentary systems in the non-Western world, yet democracy proved fragile in the prewar era and less than robust in the decades since 1945. Written from a variety of perspectives, these essays probe the measure, problems, and promise of democracy in modern Japan. -- Sheldon Garon, Princeton University
Table of ContentsChapter 1: “Introduction: Japan as a Multilayered Democracy,” Nissim Otmazgin, Sigal Ben-Rafael Galanti, and Alon Levkowitz Part I: Pre-war Sources of Japanese Democracy Chapter 2: "11 February 1889: Japan's First Constitution," Lionel Babicz Chapter 3: "Is Taishō Demokurashī the Same as Taishō Democracy?" Kiichi Tachibana Chapter 4: "The making of private and public space in Meiji Japan," Kurt Radtke Part II: Democratic Institutions and State Transformation Chapter 5: "The Postwar Emperor in Democratized Japan," Ben-Ami Shillony Chapter 6: "Japan's Remilitarization Debate and the Projection of Democracy," Sigal Ben-Rafael Galanti Chapter 7: "Normalization, Democracy and the Armed Forces: the Transformation of the Japanese Military," Ben-Ari Eyal Chapter 8: "Japan's Labor Tribunal System: A New Paradigm for Democratic Justice?," Wered Ben-Sade Part III: Political Culture and Civil Society Chapter 9: "Americanization and Democratization: Cultural Aspects of Japanese Democracy," Nissim Otmazgin Chapter 10: "Democracy and Liberalism in Postwar Japan: the Legacies of the 1960s Student Uprising," Michal Daliot-Bul Chapter 11: "Televised Democracy? How Politicians Handle Questions during Broadcast Talk Shows," Ofer Feldman Chapter 12: "Pink Democracy: Dynamic Gender in Japan’s Women's Politics,” Ayala Klemperer-Markman Chapter 13: "Is Democracy under Threat? Some Thoughts Concerning Japan and Elsewhere," J.A.A. Stockwin
