Books
The Sino-Japanese War and the Birth of Japanese NationalismMuch more has been published in English about the Russo-Japanese War of 1904/5 than about the Sino-Japanese War of 1894/5. Yet the war with China was possibly even more significant for Japan and for Asia. Professor Mitani in his foreword explains: “The Sino-Japanese War did more than rob China of its centrality.
Books
Whaling in Japan: Power, Politics and DiplomacyTokyo’s combative stance on whaling often seems at odds with its trademark consensual approach to international affairs. This position seems even stranger when one considers that the vast majority of the public have little interest or enthusiasm for the topic, yet the government vigorously pursues a highly controversial pro-whaling policy which tarnishes the country’s image.
Books
The Japanese Consumer, An Alternative Economic History of Modern JapanBy Penelope Francks. Cambridge University Press, 2009, 249 pages including index and references, ISBN 978-0521-69932-7 (soft back). Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi. Penelope Francks is an honorary lecturer in Japanese studies in the department of East Asian Studies at the University of Leeds. She has specialized in the study of Japanese economic history. Most books […]
Books
The Japanese House, Material Culture in the Modern HomeUntil the Second World War individual Japanese houses retained some elements of the aesthetic which so pleased and inspired Edward Morse [author of “Japanese Homes and their Surroundings” – 1885], Bruno Taut [author of “Houses and People of Japan” – 1938] and others. In the war huge swathes of Japanese cities were destroyed by bombing and fire. Japan’s housing stock had to be almost completely replaced. Except in some country areas and in a few exclusive urban districts, the old style individual house generally ceased to exist.
Books
ConfessionsDirected by Tetsuya Nakashima If you think that a teacher revengefully lacing students’ milk with her late former lover’s HIV-positive blood is as macabre and horrific as it gets, the final scenes of Confessions will have you hooked and gripped to your seat in uneasy disbelief. Review by Susan Meehan
Books
Japanese Intelligence in World War IIBy Ken Kotani (小谷 賢), translated by Chiharu Kotani, Osprey, 2009, 224 pages including end notes, bibliography and index, ISBN 13-978-1-84603-425-1. Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi. “This study reveals a Japanese military that was in most respects dysfunctional in the field of intelligence. It was not so much a failure of the intelligence organizations themselves […]
Books
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de ZoetBy David Mitchell This readable historical novel set in Japan has been well reviewed in the national press. Many Japan Society members will have read about it and some may already have read the book. Anyone interested in the life of the […] Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi
Books
The Moon over the Mountain and Other StoriesBy Atsushi Nakajima, Translated by Paul McCarthy and Nobuko Ochner, Autumn Hill Books, 2010, 182 pages ISBN:9780982746608. Review by Adam House. Atsushi Nakajima (中島 敦) was born in Tokyo in 1909, his father came from a family of scholars specializing in the classics of ancient China, this would not only influence his reading but would […]
Books
War and Militarism in Modern Japan, Issues of History and IdentityEdited by Guy Podoler, Global Oriental, 2009, 242 pages including index and bibliography, ISBN978-1-905246-85-4 Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi This collection of essays reproduces papers prepared for “The International Conference on Japan in Honour of Professor Ben-Ami Shillony,” which took place at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel between 29 April and 2 May […]
Films & Series
Norwegian WoodDirected by Tran Anh Hung, 2010, 133 minutes. Review by Susan Meehan.