This [is an] eminently readable collection. . . .The introduction and the fourteen chapters are of a consistently high quality and Sugita should be complimented for bringing together in one volume such a high level of scholarship. . . .Written clearly, of a high standard, mixing empirical and analytical parts, the individual chapters and the volume as a whole are to be very welcomed. Readers from a variety of academic disciplines and interested parties should benefit from it greatly.

Japan Today

This collection of fourteen essays under three main themes—globalization, Japan–Asia relations and US–Japan relations—will appeal to both scholars and students of Japanese studies. Yoneyuki Sugita deserves accolades for putting together this excellent volume that throws new light on some of Japan’s key historical and contemporary issues.

- Purnendra Jain, University of Adelaide,

This conference collection analyses, from a great variety of issues, Japan`s self-identities and its interactions with the outside world. It gives interesting insights into how globalization has been affecting Japan and its partners. The book shows that Japan is not only a passive recipient but also active actor in this process. This collection is of great interest to all who want to know more about the political, economic and cultural aspects of globalization and about Japan's foreign policy in general!

- Reinhard Drifte, Newcastle University,

Se alle

The year 2015 marks the seventieth anniversary of the end of World War II. Accolades to Yoneyuki Sugita who took this event as an opportunity to gather experts from all over the world to discuss prospects and serious problems of the Asia-Pacific region. Japan Viewed from Interdisciplinary Perspectives: History and Prospects is a refreshing interdisciplinary book that reviews Japan’s past seventy years from various scientific and cultural perspectives. A highly thought-provoking book that contains a wealth of information on the meaning of globalization, Japan’s foreign relations, and the significance of the US-Japan relationship. It is a precious contribution to our understanding of Japan’s standing in the region.

- Carmen Schmidt, University of Osnabrueck,

The central theme of this collection of essays is that Japan’s niche in the global context is—or at least could be—far more secure than either domestic or international rhetoric suggests. Using both historical and contemporary data, the authors cogently argue that if the Japanese government, Japanese society, and their American and Chinese counterparts all focused on their true economic, strategic, and cultural interests, the major problems of the Asia-Pacific region would be manageable. In addition to advocating for tempering rhetoric, the essays compiled here also identify institutional flexibility and attention to cultural practices, such as enjoying manga and pursuing Buddhist prayer that serve to reduce cultural anxieties in a rapidly globalizing world.

- Laura Hein, Northwestern University,

In this study, political scientists, Japanologists and upcoming scholars have produced a firmly-interconnected mosaic work on Japan and her relations with the US and Asian nations. These essays shed light on the wide spectrum of issues, including economic migration, tourism, race, identity, anti-Japanism, popular culture, Buddhism, health-promotion policy, political purges, atomic power generation (the best documented), trade dispute settlement, maritime security operation, schooling, and ODA support for education rather than trade. The contributors offer various ways of considering relations with China in a region without strong institutional settings as in Europe.

- Aiko Ikeo, Waseda University,

Produktbeskrivelse
Innholdsfortegnelse

The growth rate of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the Asia-Pacific region greatly surpasses the world average. When the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is better realized, then the world’s largest free trade zone will be firmly established. It seems that this region has a very rosy outlook indeed; however, this region also faces a large number of serious problems such as: atomic energy in Japan, conflicts about East Asian regional integration, the decline of the Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA), and the TPP’s possible impact on the Japanese universal health insurance system. We now face a possible Sino-Japanese military conflict concerning the Senkaku Islands (or Diaoyutai Islands). In short, the Asia-Pacific region has both a rosy future and the potential influence from unstable and dangerous elements at work within the region at present. The main purpose of this book is to analyze historical development, whilst looking at the contemporary situation of Japan from interdisciplinary perspectives. This book asks three major questions: (1) Is this really globalization? (2) What are Japan’s relations with other Asian countries? (3) Do U.S.-Japan relations still matter? Fourteen leading scholars in their fields answer these questions from interdisciplinary perspectives.

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Part I: Is This Really Globalization? Chapter 1: Borders of ‘American Citizens’ Created in a More Globalized World: The Significance of the Transpacific Steamship Route for Asian Immigration to the Unites States in the Late 19th Century, Yuki Ooi Chapter 2: Symbiotic Relationship between Japan’s Status in the World and Changes in the Nature of Medical Insurances from the 1920s to the Early 1940s, Yoneyuki Sugita Chapter 3: Japanese Identity in a Globalized World: “Anti-Japanism” and Discursive Struggle, Karl Gustafsson Chapter 4: From “Funeral” to “Engaged” Buddhism: Death Rites and Postwar Japanese Social Identity, Steven Heine Chapter 5: The Obama 'Pivot' to Asia in the Context of American Hegemony, Bruce Cumings Part II: Whither Japan’s Relations with Asia? Chapter 6: The Young East: Negotiating Japan’s place in the world through East Asian Buddhism, Judith Snodgrass Chapter 7: Asia–Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and Japan: Dispute Settlement and Trade Security, John Paden Chapter 8: Popular Culture Regionalization in East Asia and What this Means to Japan, Nissim Otmazgin Chapter 9: Myanmar: the Last Frontier for Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) to Southeast Asia, Marie Söderberg Chapter 10: Recalibrating Sino-Japanese Relations for a Better Future: Implications of Japan’s Joint Anti-Piracy Operations in the Gulf of Aden with China, Victor Teo Part III: Do U.S.–Japan Relations Still Matter? Chapter 11: The Unforeseen Effects of the American Intervention: The Political Purge Program and the Making of Japan's Postwar Leadership, Juha Saunavaara Chapter 12: A Comparative Analysis of the Relationship between Learning Environments and Educational Performance in Japan and the United States, Christopher Weiss, Emma García, and Gerard Torrats-Espinosa Chapter 13: Privatizing Foreign Policy: The Role of Business Executives in U.S.–Japan Economic Relations, Toru Oga Chapter 14: Abolition of Japan’s Nuclear Power Plants? Analysis from a Historical Perspective on Early Cold War, 1945–1955, Mayako Shimahoto

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