Re-inventing Japan: Time, Space, Nation

by Tessa Morris-Suzuki

An intellectual tour de force Re-Inventing Japan is a major effort to rethink the contours of Japanese history, culture, and nationality. Challenging the mythology of a historically unitary, even monolithic Japan, this important book offers a fresh perspective on issues of culture and identity in modern Japan. During the past two decades, many writers, both inside and outside Japan, have presented analyses of the unique characteristics of Japanese society, and some have suggested that Japan's distinctive culture offer a model for other to emulate. A the same time, critics have questions this emphasis on Japanese "uniqueness" and have sought to reveal the darker elements - the conformity and social pressures - inherent in Japan's economic success. This book takes the debate a step further by examining the concepts that are used to understand modern Japan, focusing in such key issues as nature, culture, race, globalization, information, and democracy to reveal how each concept has been applied and interpreted in modern Japan. The result points to a new approach to understanding Japan's place in the late twentieth-century world.

«A well-focused, tightly argued piece of academic writing that should delight Japanologists as well as students of comparative culture, enthicity, and nation-building. ... This is a work that deserves to be taken seriously. ... The book reads smoothly, and the author's arguments are persuasive and well supported with citations from Japanese and English secondary literature. ... A stimulating, well-crafted book that deserves a wide readership among scholars in many disciplines. It will also be useful addition to undergraduate and graduate course syllabi on modern Japan. I recommend it heartly»

Monumenta Nipponica
«Morris-Suzuki uses a wide palate of both Japanese and Western historians and philosophers to get at notions of "culture", "race", "ethnicity", and "civilization" and discver how these categories have been used in the Japanese context... Breaks new ground.»Pacific Affairs

Genres: Japan, History, Nonfiction, Politics, Theory

250 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Tessa Morris-Suzuki is Professor of Japanese History at Australian National University and the author or co-author of more than a dozen books, including most recently East Asia Beyond the History Wars, with Morris Low, Leonid Petrov and Timothy Y. Tsu, and Borderline Japan, and a recipient of the 2013 Fukuoka Prize.

Reviews

[Chelsea Szendi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's like Raymond Williams's "Keywords" but for modern Japan.

[Tobi ﾄﾋﾞ · Rating 3 out of 5]

dry and talks about very specific case studies

[kaylanurul · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was finished reading "inventing Japan", i was intrigued to read this book as the book would be the counter-argument of the earlier. I just hit it.. But with some twist here and there. Morris-Suzuki made it more modern with contemporary problem such as gender and migration. If only the book detached itself from being the counter-argument to the whole book, this could make the reader a lot happier. Overall, i feel myself enjoying the book a lot more than the first book

[Illusha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read a few chapters from the book, and, although it can be quite dry at times, I'm finding myself more and more intrigued by the Morris-Suzuki's explanations of Race, Gender, national symbolism and ethnicity in Japan. Indeed, I am quite hopeful that the book will turn out to be quite an interesting case-study.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the Introduction to Reinventing Japan Morris Suzuki noted that it would be “…an attempt to delve into the categories of thought which underlie the concepts of nationhood—the notions of culture, race, ethnicity, civilization, and Japan itself—and discover how these concepts have been used in the Japanese context.” She also discussed gender and citizenship in the backdrop of the globalization which had been taking place in the years leading up to the book’s publication in 1998. On the one hand, she readily acknowledged that each of these categories could merit a full length book in and of themselves. On the other hand, she did a credible job of presenting each one, save for the exceptions I noted below, by utilizing her skills as an academic scholar.

First, and foremost, a 15 page bibliography confirmed that she reviewed a very wide array of historical and more recent sources covering these topics. While some of these were in Japanese, the rest were in English. There were no footnotes in the text but she clearly noted the pages of the particular source she was discussing.

Second, her explanations of these complex concepts were well organized. Chapters were subdivided into sections, each of which focused on a particular theory or theorist.

Third, Morris Suzuki provided quotes which elaborated on her points nicely. There were also a handful of illustrations from books and posters.

Fourth, she wrote in a largely direct, succinct prose. There were times, however, when I wish she had written a little more about the theorist and the historical context in which the person was writing. This was especially true in the final few chapters of the book where she was presenting concepts which I had little familiarity with. In some instances she referred to a theorist without even explaining his/her ideas. This made it frustrating towards the end. As the narrative was only 260 pages long a few more sentences here and there would not have made Reinventing inordinately long.

Readers who are not familiar with the broad outlines of Japanese history from the 17th century through its post WWII years might find Reinventing daunting, to say the least. It was slow going and esoteric even for someone like me who knows the country’s history and its culture fairly well. If the book is used as a text for a course on Japan, a professor could provide the historical and sociocultural context which the book alludes to or the theorists not fully explained. As a stand alone experience I would rate it at 3 stars: informative and useful albeit overly abstract and frustrating at times.

[barbs · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to give it two stars, but the information was useful so I felt forced to do three. The most boring, pretentious and dry piece of paper that I have read in a while. Will not read anything else by the author, sayonnara.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Marcis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its a nice read