The Political History of Modern Japan

Spanning the 130-year period between the end of the Tokugawa Era and the end of the Cold War, this book introduces students to the formation, collapse, and rebirth of the modern Japanese state. It demonstrates how, faced with foreign threats, Japan developed a new governing structure to deal with these challenges and in turn gradually shaped its international environment. Had Japan been a self-sufficient power, like the United States, it is unlikely that external relations would have exercised such great control over the nation. And, if it were a smaller country, it may have been completely pressured from the outside and could not have influenced the global stage on its own. For better or worse therefore, this book argues, Japan was neither too large nor too small.

Covering the major events, actors, and institutions of Japan’s modern history, the key themes discussed include:

• Building the Meiji state and Constitution.
• The establishment of Parliament.
• The First Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese Wars.
  
• Party Politics and International Cooperation.
• The Pacific War.
• Development of LDP politics.
• Changes in the international order and the end of the Cold War.

This book, written by one of Japan's leading experts on Japan's political history, will be an essential resource for students of Japanese modern history and politics.

KITAOKA Shinichi
Kitaoka Shinichi is President of Japan International Cooperation Agency and Professor Emeritus of the University of Tokyo and Rikkyo University, Japan.

Political Science

Publisher:
Routledge

Hardcover
GBP110
ISBN 9781138337657
235 mm x 159 mm / 286 pp. / October 2018

Softcover
GBP32.99
ISBN 9781138337671
235 mm x 159 mm / 286 pp. / October 2018

eBook
GBP32.99
ISBN 9780429442230 (ePub)
October 2018

Key individuals / List of figures / List of tables / Notes on Japanese names and dates / Preface to the English edition / Preface / About the author / About the translators / 1. The political characteristics of the Tokugawa political system / 2. Responding to the West / 3. Building the Meiji state / 4. Rise of opposition / 5. Creation of the Meiji constitutional structure / 6. The establishment of parliament / 7. The First Sino-Japanese and Russo -Japanese Wars / 8. Imperial expansion / 9. The development of party government / 10. International cooperation and party cabinets / 11. The rise of the military / 12. The collapse of the empire / 13. Defeat, occupation, and peace treaty / 14. The Development of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) / 15. Changes in the international order and the end of the Cold War / 16. Japan’s colonies and their fates / Bibliography / Chronology / Index

"The Political History of Modern Japan is an outstanding introduction to Japanese political history and a worthy textbook for classes on Japanese political or diplomatic history. I also believe it would make a good recommended reading or a companion reader for courses on Japanese politics. Moreover, although Kitaoka’s discussion ends in 1989, the book still feels timely for a more general audience. Given the rise of China and the uncertain future of American power in East Asia, it provides an important reminder that the international environment has time and again channeled Japanese behavior, and that foreign relations may
continue to shape the course of Japanese domestic affairs."

Jeremy A. Yellen
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Contemporary Japan