Studies In The Modernization Of Japan

Tracing and evaluating the development in the history of Japanese culture and society that permits Japan's rapid and continuing modernization, Professor Yoda provides a new and original approach to the modernization of Japan. He starts from the assumption that Japan was better equipped for modernization because pre-modern Japan had already started to abandon Confucian influences. In his account of modernization during the Meiji-period he focuses on general patterns inherent in Japanese culture and society enabling Japan to integrate foreign elements without having to follow foreign models slavishly. "Patterns in culture", such as the Japanese preference for juxtaposing the new and the ancient, are contrasted with China's preference for discarding past institutions in revolutionary processes. The transferability of paradigms such as "absolutism" is accepted with some modifications. In the major descriptive part of the work, the history of economic, political, institutional modernization is presented on the basis of quotations from original Japanese (and Chinese) sources, arranged within the methodological framework of universal historical concepts, indigenous cultural patterns and specific conditions in both countries. The book is composed of two articles previously published in Japanese and Chinese, two new chapters written especially for the volume, and background information provided by Professor Radtke.

Contents: I. "Introduction," Robert E. Ward. II. "A Monarch for Modern Japan," John Whitney Hall. III. "Political Modernization and the Meiji Genro" Roger F. Hackett. IV. "Fukuzawa Yukichi: The Philosophical Foundations of Meiji Nationalism," Albert M. Craig. V. "Modernization and Foreign Policy in Meiji Japan," Marius B. Jansen. VI. "War and Modernization," Nobutaka Ike. VII. "Popular Political Participation and Political Development in Japan: The Rural Level," Kurt Steiner. VIII. "Elections and Political Modernization in Prewar Japan," Robert A. Scalapino. IX. "The Development of Interest Groups and the Pattern of Political Modernization in Japan," Takeshi Ishida. X. "Structural and Functional Differentiation in the Political Modernization of Japan," Bernard S. Silberman. XI. "Law and Political Modernization in Japan," Dan Fenno Henderson. XII. "Decision-Making in the Japanese Government: A Study of Ringisei" Kiyoaki Tsuji. XIII. "Reflections on the Allied Occupation and Planned Political Change in Japan," Robert E. Ward. XIV. "The Politics of Japan's Modernization: The Autonomy of Choice," Ardath W. Burks. XV. "Epilogue," Robert E. Ward. Index. Originally published in 1968. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

The results of the process of modernization which started in Japan in the 19th century and continues today are remarkable in history. This volume contains essays by leading scholars on Japan, including two important studies on the impact of modernization on the life of the country. It is the first in a series of five volumes that stems from the Association for Asian Studies' Conference on Modern Japan. Originally published in 1965. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

This study contains twenty-two essays by leading historians on the Tokugawa Period (1600-1868), eight of which have never before been published. The Tokugawa Period has long been seen as one of Eastern feudalism, awaiting the breakthrough that came with the Meiji enlightenment and the opening of Japan to the West. The general thrust of these papers is to show that in many institutional aspects Japan was far from backward before the Meiji Period, and that many of the preconditions of modernization were present and developing much earlier than has generally been believed. This collection will be particularly valuable to students and scholars of comparative and Japanese modernization. Originally published in 1968. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Essays on the Iwakura Embassy, the realistic painter Takahashi Yuichi, the educational system, and music, show how the Japanese went about borrowing from the West in the first decades after the Restoration: the formulation of strategies for modernizing and the adaptation of Western models to Meiji culture. In the second half of the volume, the darker side, the pathology of modernization, is seen. The adjustment of the individual and the effects of progressive modernization on culture in an increasingly complex, twentieth-century society are recurring themes. They are illustrated with particular intensity in the experience of such writers as Natsume Soseki and Kobayashi Hideo, in the thought of Nishida Kitaro, and in the millenarian aspects of the new religions. Originally published in 1971. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

This is an examination of the consequences of Japan's rapid industrialization upon interpersonal relations. Based upon current theories of Western experiences with modernization, these studies show that the Eastern changes do not conform to Western patterns. Originally published in 1967. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Concentrating on a key neglected aspect of the modernization process in Japan during the Meiji era, this volume treats in depth the assistance given to the Meiji regime by foreign visitors. One contribution takes a fresh look at the Meiji modernizers who constitute the ancestors of the tightly knit establishment that guides the contemporary super-power. Somewhat more neglected in previous studies on this period are the foreign visitors who were present in Japan both to witness the changes and to assist the Japanese in the transition to modernity.Clark L. Beck is librarian for the William elliot Griffs Collection, Rutgers University Libraries. Ardath W. Burks is professor emeritus of Asian Studies and former director of International Programs, Rutgers University.