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.

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.

Examines the phases and patterns of the two nations' rapid transitions from rural and agrarian to urban and industrial societies, comparing international factors, political structures, economic growth, social factors, and educational patterns.

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.

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.

The Japanese are a diligent people, constantly working to ensure institutional success. The Japanese have an innate ability to copy foreigners. In their effort to build a strong country, the Japanese sought knowledge from abroad; and perfected these learnings in order to effect rapid national development. In their quest for progress, the Japanese have cherished the trait of national self-reliance. Until the Jeiji Restoration, Japan had pursued a national policy of seclusion that forbade almost all contact with the outside world. The nineteenth century was one of exploration and imperialism for most of the world. The Japanese would not be left alone, merely because they wanted to pursue a national policy of autarchy. European powers began establishing commercial relations with Japan. In 1953, a commodore in the US Navy visited Japan with the aim of opening trade contacts. After years of negotiations, treaties were signed authorizing an opening of a few ports to foreign trade. Simultaneously, Japan embarked on a policy of expansion in China and Korea due to its need for fertile soil and natural resources. This policy led to war with China in and with Russia.

Japanese scholars of economics present nine contributions addressing the development of economic thought and modernization in Japan, primarily over the last 150 years. The contributions begin with discussion of several currents of economic thought during the Tokugawa period, which represented the intellectual prerequisites of modern economic growth in Japan. Developments in the Meiji era, the interwar period, and economic thought after 1945 are then explored, followed by Marxian and non-Marxian approaches to economic development and the political economy, and an essay on the considerable influence of Adam Smith on Japanese economics during and after WWII. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR