{"product_id":"ruffians-yakuza-nationalists-9780801456824","title":"Ruffians Yakuza Nationalists","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eViolence and democracy may seem fundamentally incompatible, but the two have often been intimately and inextricably linked. In \u003ci\u003eRuffians, Yakuza, Nationalists\u003c\/i\u003e, Eiko Maruko Siniawer argues that violence has been embedded in the practice of modern Japanese politics from the very inception of the country''s experiment with democracy. As soon as the parliament opened its doors in 1890, brawls, fistfights, vandalism, threats, and intimidation quickly became a fixture in Japanese politics, from campaigns and elections to legislative debates. Most of this physical force was wielded by what Siniawer calls violence specialists: ruffians and yakuza. Their systemic and enduring political violence-in the streets, in the halls of parliament, during popular protests, and amid labor strife-ultimately compromised party politics in Japan and contributed to the rise of militarism in the 1930s.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor the post-World War II years, Siniawer illustrates how the Japanese developed a preference fo\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGamblers, ruffians, thugs, and yakuza have left a major imprint on contemporary Japanese politics and political style, and Siniawer tells their story well.\u003c\/p\u003e * Journal of Asian Studies *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this important work, Eiko Maruko Siniawer argues very convincingly that violence, especially political violence, was a pervasive, highly influential, and nearly continuous force in Japan between the late Tokugawa age and the 1960s.\u003c\/p\u003e * Japanese Studies *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eSiniawer's essential contention—that violence was a systemic, continuous feature of politics, which exerted a major impact on the nature of Japanese democracy—is demonstrated convincingly. Scholars inclined to emphasize the 'brighter side’ of Japan’s modern history may find this work troublesome. And that is a good thing.\u003c\/p\u003e * Pacific Affairs *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIntroduction\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Political Violence in Historiographical Perspective\u003cbr\u003e Violence, Violence Specialists, and Politics\u003cbr\u003e Violence and Democracy\u003cbr\u003e Approaches to Comparative History\u003cb\u003eChapter 1. Patriots and Gamblers: Violence and the Formation of the Meiji State\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eShishi:\u003c\/i\u003e Assassins, Rebels, Patriots\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eShishi \u003c\/i\u003eLegacies in the Early Meiji Period\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eBakuto\u003c\/i\u003e: Outlaws, Robin Hoods, Local Leaders\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eBakuto\u003c\/i\u003e and the Meiji Restoration\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eBakuto\u003c\/i\u003e as Political Violence Specialists: The Freedom and People's Rights Movement\u003cb\u003eChapter 2. Violent Democracy: Ruffians and the Birth of Parliamentary Politics\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e From Activist to Ruffian: \u003ci\u003eSoshi\u003c\/i\u003e in the 1880s\u003cbr\u003e Exporting Violence: Nationalist \u003ci\u003eTairiku Ronin\u003c\/i\u003e across Borders\u003cbr\u003e Parliamentary Politics and the Professionalization of \u003ci\u003eSoshi\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e State Violence and the Second General Election\u003cb\u003eChapter 3. Institutionalized Ruffianism and a Culture of Political Violence\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The Jiyuto \u003ci\u003eIngaidan\u003c\/i\u003e and Its Bosses\u003cbr\u003e The Seiyukai \u003ci\u003eIngaidan\u003c\/i\u003e in Party Politics\u003cbr\u003e Cultures of Violence: Yakuza Bosses in Diet Politics\u003cb\u003eChapter 4. Fascist Violence: Ideology and Power in Prewar Japan\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Fascist Ideologies\u003cbr\u003e Fascist Violence\u003cbr\u003e The Nationalist Nexus in the Metropole and Beyond\u003cbr\u003e Violence in the Decline of the Political Parties\u003cb\u003eChapter 5. Democracy Reconstructed: Violence Specialists in the Postwar Period\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The Decline of \u003ci\u003eSoshi\u003c\/i\u003e and the Remaking of \u003ci\u003eIngaidan\u003c\/i\u003e Violence\u003cbr\u003e Violence as a Political and Discursive Weapon in Diet Politics\u003cbr\u003e \"Boryokudan\" Redux: Yakuza and the Conservative Nexus\u003cbr\u003e 1960: The Apogee of Postwar Violence Specialists\u003cbr\u003e Coda: Political Violence after 1960\u003cb\u003eAfterword\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Violence and Democracy\u003cbr\u003e Violence, Fascism, Militarism\u003cbr\u003e Violence Specialists and History\u003cbr\u003e A Contemporary Perspective on Violent Democracy\u003ci\u003eGlossary\u003cbr\u003e Notes\u003cbr\u003e Bibliography\u003cbr\u003e Index\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cornell University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48865920418135,"sku":"9780801456824","price":22.39,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/ruffians-yakuza-nationalists-9780801456824","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}