Multiethnic Japan

Rating:
Summary: A fascinating study of some of the myths of modern Japan.
Review: As a 17 year resident of Japan, I thoroughly enjoyed Lie's book. He has written a highly readable account of how modern Japan has created a myth of monoethnicity that serves as a source of national identity. As a Korean who spent his youth in Japan before emigrating to the United States, Lie is well equipped to write on this subject. He has drawn on his own research and interviews with Japanese as well as the writings of important Japanese academics and cultural critics.
One disappointment is his dismissal of Ivan Hall's chapter on Academic Apartheid. Lie says he "found remarkable indulgence accorded to white academics and intellectuals" p. 173. The case of mistreatment of a foreign academic about which Hall goes into most detail is, ironically, not about a white academic, but a Korean. Lie has obviously not read Hall's chapter. However, if you ignore this slip, the book offers many insights into how contemporary Japan views itself vis-a-vis its own minorities and the world outside its borders.