Modern Japanese Thought

Rating:
Summary: Exremely resourceful!
Review: It addresses and illuminates the various thought patterns and movements after the fall of the Tokugawa Bakufu and covers the time period from 1800's-1990's. It starts by viewing the early Meiji pro-Westernization thought and then discusses the late Meiji Conservatism that birthed in response to such extreme Westernization. From there the book moves ultimately to thought in Post-War Japan and her love/hate relationship with the US. In between, the book covers such issues as Socialism, Culturalism, the effects of English book translations to thought patterns, Anpo Watershed, etc. This book is an excellent resource because the editor has truly conglomerated a diverse group of professors of various academia to cover many angles that molded thought during these changing times. The title is a bit misguiding in the sense that "Modern Japanese Thought" is very broad and vague. I think that the book needs a subtitle, "Japanese socio-political thought in relationship with the West." Things that I felt were lacking were that only one chapter was dedicated to Socialism, Liberalism, and Marxism. Those are grandiose issues that I found it hard to have fully illuminated in just one chapter. I found the same limitation in the final chapter of the book that attempts to cover post-WW2 to 1990's. What about Japan's socio-political thoughts about China, future Sino-Japan relationship, or the controversial issue of Japan's atrocities in Nanking? Overall it is an easy read and extremely resourceful.

Rating:
Summary: Exremely resourceful!
Review: It addresses and illuminates the various thought patterns and movements after the fall of the Tokugawa Bakufu and covers the time period from 1800's-1990's. It starts by viewing the early Meiji pro-Westernization thought and then discusses the late Meiji Conservatism that birthed in response to such extreme Westernization. From there the book moves ultimately to thought in Post-War Japan and her love/hate relationship with the US. In between, the book covers such issues as Socialism, Culturalism, the effects of English book translations to thought patterns, Anpo Watershed, etc. This book is an excellent resource because the editor has truly conglomerated a diverse group of professors of various academia to cover many angles that molded thought during these changing times. The title is a bit misguiding in the sense that "Modern Japanese Thought" is very broad and vague. I think that the book needs a subtitle, "Japanese socio-political thought in relationship with the West." Things that I felt were lacking were that only one chapter was dedicated to Socialism, Liberalism, and Marxism. Those are grandiose issues that I found it hard to have fully illuminated in just one chapter. I found the same limitation in the final chapter of the book that attempts to cover post-WW2 to 1990's. What about Japan's socio-political thoughts about China, future Sino-Japan relationship, or the controversial issue of Japan's atrocities in Nanking? Overall it is an easy read and extremely resourceful.