Showa Japan: The Post-War Golden Age and Its Troubled Legacy

by Hans Brinckmann, Ysbrand Rogge (Photographs)

Japan's Showa era began in 1926 when Emperor Hirohito took the throne and ended on his death in 1989. The formative age of modern Japan, it was undoubtedly the most momentous, calamitous, successful and glamorous period in Japan's recent history. Today, Showa is a beacon for nostalgia that is memorialized yearly in a national holiday. An era of growth and prosperity, it saw Japan go from an isolated, embattled nation to a peaceful country holding the exalted position of the world's second largest economy.

Showa Japan is a clear-sighted exploration of the Showa era as it really was—not only a time of wondrous change, security and growth, but also a time of wild spending and excesses in every field that would eventually come crashing to a halt with the bursting of Japan's bubble economy. From the highs of Showa-era extravagance to the lows of the lean years that followed, author Hans Brinckmann, a long-time resident of Japan, examines the impact of the Showa era and its aftermath on every aspect of Japanese society.

Genres: History, Japan, Nonfiction, Asia

240 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2008

About the author

Hans Brinckmann, born in The Hague, suppressed his dream to embark on a career in writing and joined the Far Eastern staff training program of Amsterdam's Nationale Handelsbank fresh out of high school. He was assigned to the bank's Singapore branch, and then to the Kobe branch in Japan, eventually rising to Tokyo Branch Manager at age 29.
Always the "reluctant banker," he nevertheless continued to pursue his career, which eventually took him to New York, where he served as president of the Institute of Foreign Bankers, representing two hundred and forty banks, and as president of a Dutch-American foundation active in cultural exchange. In 1986, Queen Beatrix made him an Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau for 'cultural and professional achievement.'
He retired from banking in 1988. Since then he has lived in London, Amsterdam, Sydney and Japan, developing his career as a journalist, lecturer, poet and writer of fiction and non-fiction prose. He has published two collections of short stories, a highly-acclaimed memoir, a post-war history of Japan and a bilingual (English-Japanese) book of poetry. His first novel, "In the Eyes of the Son" is due to be published in 2014.
In 2008 Brinckmann - together with his friend Ysbrand Rogge - held a month-long exhibition in Tokyo of photographs taken by them in Japan between 1951 and 1974, which drew 50,000 visitors. Brinckmann now lives in Fukuoka, Japan. He maintains two websites: www.habri.jp (bilingual English/Japanese) and www.habri.co.uk (English).

Reviews

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book through Goodreads First reads.

If you're looking for a thorough, academic analysis of Showa Japan and its aftereffects, this is not the book for you. Showa Japan was written from the author's personal opinions and recollections (he has lived in Japan for more than 30 years total over two stretches of time). Hans Brinckmann also called on results of a survey he conducted with over 100 Japanese of different ages as well as the opinions of various academics.

Showa Japan features a number of short chapters, touching on a variety of topics: education, salaryman, sex, Japan's position in Asia and the world and more. There are also themes that seem to carry through the book like that of Japan and the Japanese being 'mollycoddled' and 'an immature country, needing to grow up'. (Thinking back on my experiences there, I can see what the author and those he quoted on that issue are saying.) It's divided into four parts, the final part focusing on what Japan needs to do to be a relevant world player in the future.

During the introduction and first couple chapters of this book, I wasn't sure what I thought of the personal/reflective style that is used in much of it. As I went on however, that started to grow on me. I enjoyed the little diary entries the author added in to chapters that were written at and illustrated the relevant time in the chapter.

I can't say I've read very many (if any...) accounts written by foreigners in Japan. I have an impression though that many of those are written from an American perspective. Hans Brinckmann is originally from Holland and has lived in many places around the globe. I think the perspective he brought as well as the variety of comparisons he drew on (not just between Japan and the United States) made this book seem more interesting and insightful to me.

For someone with an extensive background in Japanese history and culture, this may not be a very good book as the chapters are short, broad and general for the most part. They give a good overview but as the author says, he doesn't have the background for in-depth analysis. I've lived in Japan a couple of times and speak Japanese but know very little about Japanese history. For me, this was an interesting and enjoyable read. The accompanying pictures (many taken by the author himself), were a nice addition.

This book was written prior to the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami of 3/11. There were a few chapters that left me wondering what the author would say of if his conclusions would differ at all in a post 3/11 Japan. It would be nice if an updated version of this book were released to answer some of those questions.

One thing I have to say I liked about this book was how Hans Brinckmann concluded it. He very clearly points out that Japan has some pretty big issues looming overhead that need to be overcome in order to keep Japan relevant on the world stage. To anyone who knows even a little about Japan, the declining population there and how to deal with the problem (between low birth rates and low immigration, something has to give) is an obvious issue. Yes, Japan has problems. Maybe it's naive of me but I appreciated that Hans Brinckmann wasn't all doom and gloom about Japan's problems. There are issues, but he sees promise and potential in the future. Whatever the odds, there is always a chance countries can overcome their problems and concluding the book without the "figure it out or else!" sentiment felt more realistic to me than outright condemnation of a nation for having major issues to deal with.

In any case, I really enjoyed Showa Japan. It was an interesting, surprisingly fast read and one I would recommend.

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not a history of Showa Japan so much as one man’s commentary on the history of Showa Japan. Which is not inherently a problem. I enjoyed the first half of the book, when the author constrains himself mainly to a description of post-war Japan (as he understands it), but in the latter half of the book, as he attempts an _explanation_ of Japanese society during and after the Bubble, he inserts more and more of himself, and it starts to get extremely vexing and not very informative at all. I stopped reading maybe 80% of the way through.

[Maura McGrath · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good brief overview of the cultural and economic legacy of Showa. I especially enjoyed the author's notes of personal observation. I will say that the final section was a bit long considering the overall length of the book and how many of the arguments are made so frequently yet here with only a surface argument, though I cannot say if the points were frequently made in 2008. I did find it depressingly funny how so many of the issues pointed out in 2008 remain major issues in 2021.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although about ten years old now, this book provides an excellent reflection of life in Japan during the Showa era along with predictions about what will come for Japan. It is interesting to read this book from the perspective of a ten year absence - much of what the author worried about has come to pass.

[Jason]

Most misleading Isekai novel I have ever read, should have been titled "I Was Reincarnated as an Old Rich White Banker Who Married a Japanese Women, So Now I Am An Expert on all Things Japanese, So I Will Write a Memoir and Whine About a Lot of Things but Since I Am White Man Tuttle Will Publish It Anyway".

[Marcello Rinaldi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful overview of the transformation of Japan since WW2 until today. A perspective of an outsider, of course, but explicitly narrated as such.

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclosure: I received this for free through a Goodreads' First Read's giveaway.

I should start off this review by stating that my mom is from Japan, and I spent quite a bit of time there growing up, so my views of this book are directly influenced by this. I tried to read this with as open a mind as possible, but it is hard to disassociate one's self from a topic close to the heart.

Anyway, I enjoyed reading this, and learning more about the Showa Japan era, during which my mom was born and grew up. I have heard her stories about the Japan of her youth, as well as the stories of various family members and acquaintances, so some of what the author talked about is familiar. However, talking about the controversial issues in Japan's past, especially when it comes to atrocities Japan committed during WWII, is not something that has been easy for me to bring up with my mom, so it was refreshing to get yet another perspective, beyond what I've picked up from others books and articles.

There were points in the book where I disagreed with the author, but they were minor things, never the main arguments he was making. Some of his viewpoints of the youth of today's Japan are harsher than mine, but perhaps that's because I am much closer in age to them, and can relate a little more. So I tried to keep in mind throughout, that his viewpoint is of someone who, essentially, entered adulthood right before moving to Japan, and spent a large portion of his life there since then. So what he has to refer to will be closer to my mom's experiences, or more specifically to the experiences of her foreign friends when she was in her early to mid-twenties. They are the experiences of someone is much older than I am, and who, as a result, won't view newer trends in Japan with the same outlook as I do.

I am very glad I received this book through the First Read's giveaway, as I'm not sure I would have picked it up otherwise. I do read a lot of Japanese literature, and also a good helping of non-fiction texts, but I always have a hard time deciding on what work to pick up next. This is one that I will probably revisit, because there is a lot of information in here, and I feel like I didn't grasp it all after just the first read. I hope to visit Japan next summer for at least a month, so I'm curious to approach the visit with some of the author's observations in mind. It'll be interesting to see if I view some of the things I take for granted in Japan (the cleanliness of the cities, politeness of the people, safety of the streets, and punctuality of public transportation) in a different light. And yes, I would recommend this to others interested in the topic.

[MD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apparently Showa is the "Eisenhower Years" of Japan - a postwar boom time of prosperity and high expectations for a bright future. I spent a year in Japan in 1971-2 (Showa 47) so I was really interested to hear what the author had to say about this period and what had changed since the Japan I got to experience during that year.

I received this book via a First reads giveaway, so I was surprised to discover it seems to have been published in 2008. Although the information was very interesting, I did find it hard to read. The cover made it look like it would be a lively discussion of Japanese culture, however it felt like it was written more as a scholarly dissertation than as a book targeted to the general public.

[MD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apparently Showa is the "Eisenhower Years" of Japan - a postwar boom time of prosperity and high expectations for a bright future. I spent a year in Japan in 1971-2 (Showa 47) so I was really interested to hear what the author had to say about this period and what had changed since the Japan I got to experience during that year.

I received this book via a First reads giveaway, so I was surprised to discover it seems to have been published in 2008. Although the information was very interesting, I did find it hard to read. It felt like it was written more as a scholarly dissertation than as a book targeted to the general public.

[Yoh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall the author had a detail explain on effects from Japan golden age (Showa Era) while also expressing his feelings towards the changes of the nation environment, culture, politics and economy. It is full of bitter and sweet about the Showa Era but things ended abruptly after 1989 estate bubble and the departure of Emperor Hirohito.