Contemporary Japan

History, Politics, and Social Change since the 1980s

Kingston, Jeff

Blackwell History of the Contemporary World

2. Edition July 2012
324 Pages, Softcover
Textbook

Short Description

This newly-updated edition of Contemporary Japan has been expanded to include considered analysis of the cataclysmic earthquake and tsunami of March 2011 and their aftermath. Kingston sets the nation's current challenges in the context of events since the 1980s, when rampant speculation created an economic bubble that, when it burst, plunged the country into prolonged stagnation as housing and share prices imploded and public debt surged. This volume remains a superb guide to recent events in Japan, written by one of the foremost authorities on the history and politics of the region.

ISBN: 978-1-118-31507-1

John Wiley & Sons

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The second edition of this comprehensive study of recent Japanese history now includes the author's expert assessment of the effects of the earthquake and tsunami, including the political and environmental consequences of the Fukushima reactor meltdown.
* Fully updated to include a detailed assessment of the aftermath of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami
* Shows how the nuclear crisis at Fukushima was an accident waiting to happen
* Includes detailed discussion of Japan's energy policy, now in flux after the mishandling of the Fukushima crisis
* Analyzes Japan's 'Lost Decades', why jobs and families are less stable, environmental policies, immigration, the aging society, the US alliance, the imperial family, and the 'yakuza' criminal gangs
* Authoritative coverage of Japanese history over the last two decades, one of the country's most tumultuous periods

Map vii

Series Editor's Preface viii

Acknowledgments x

Part I Introduction 1

1 Transformations After World War II 3

2 The Lost Decade 23

Part II Risk and Consequences 39

3 Defusing the Demographic Time Bomb 41

4 Families at Risk 60

5 Jobs at Risk 77

Part III Politics and Consequences 93

6 Contemporary Politics 95

7 Security and the Peace Constitution 115

8 Immigration 136

9 War Memory and Responsibility 154

Part IV Environment and Disaster 175

10 Environmental Issues 177

11 3/11: Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Crisis 198

Part V Institutions at Risk 221

12 The Imperial Family 223

13 Yakuza 241

Part VI Postscript 261

14 Prospects 263

Glossary 270

Notes 278

Further Reading 293

Index 302

Praise for the previous edition

"One of the foremost foreign writers on modern Japan, Kingston provides another wide-ranging analysis of interest to all of those with a stake in the nation's future." The Japan Times

"Kingston's discussion of the changes Japan faces in the 21st century is among the most comprehensive and accessible treatments of Japan's recent history available." Choice

Jeff Kingston is Professor of History and Director of Asian Studies at the Japan Campus of Temple University. He has written widely on modern Japanese history and Japan's relations with Asia, including the books Japan in Transformation 1952-2000 (2001) and Japan's Quiet Transformation: Social Change and Civil Society in the 21st Century (2004). He has also edited Natural Disaster and Nuclear Crisis in Japan (2012). With academic interests that include a broader regional purview, he contributes to a variety of major publications and is regularly interviewed by global media outlets.

J. Kingston, Temple University, Japan