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Japan Rising
Japan is on the verge of a sea change. After more than fifty years of national pacifism and isolation including the "lost decade" of the 1990s, Japan is quietly, stealthily awakening. As Japan prepares to become a major player in the strategic struggles of the 21st century, critical questions arise about its motivations. What are the driving forces that influence how Japan will act in the international system? Are there recurrent patterns that will help explain how Japan will respond to the emerging environment of world politics? American understanding of Japanese character and purpose has been tenuous at best. We have repeatedly underestimated Japan in the realm of foreign policy. Now as Japan shows signs of vitality and international engagement, it is more important than ever that we understand the forces that drive Japan. In Japan Rising, renowned expert Kenneth Pyle identities the common threads that bind the divergent strategies of modern Japan, providing essential reading for anyone seeking to understand how Japan arrived at this moment—and what to expect in the future.
448 pages, Hardcover
First published January 29, 2007
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About the author
Kenneth B. Pyle
11 books9 followersKenneth B. Pyle is Henry M. Jackson Professor Emeritus of History and International Studies at the University of Washington and the author of Japan Rising and the classic textbook The Making of Modern Japan. He was for many years director of the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. The founding president of the National Bureau of Asian Research, Pyle received the Order of the Rising Sun, Japan’s most prestigious honor, and created the Journal of Japanese Studies, the most important journal in the field.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 4, 2010
Phew, finally done after two months with this dense if highly educational book on modern Japanese history, with particular focus on foreign policy. I really like it. Reading about great power foreign policy is for a Singaporean somewhat like reading about agriculture -- I'm simply not familiar with many of the concepts, not having been forced by experience to think through the issues.
There is much here to learn not just about Japan but about China, Korea and even the littler states in Asia. Japan was really a pioneer in charting an independent course as an Asian nation through an age of Western dominated international affairs -- it seems to me many of the ongoing debates with China and even within Singapore, and also many of the policies that we have in place, have been developed in the light of Japanese history -- some policies copied and others varied, in the light of their success or failure in the Japanese context.
The perspective of foreign policy, security issues, and realpolitik is fascinating. It adds a new dimension to thinking about the trajectory of various countries in Asia. One insightful quote early in the book: For big countries, domestic policy determines foreign policy, for small countries, foreign policy determines domestic policy. Clearly, domestic policy involves industrial and trade policies. Pyle's interpretation of the lost 1990s takes a fresh angle to the economic one -- he touches on it in context of the ending of the Cold War, which rendered superfluous the US-Japan alliance that held post-WWII (which had ensured one-way Japanese access to US markets in return for US military presence in Japan). Pyle makes many interesting comments in the final chapters about the potential issues in Asia, such as the rise of China, the uncertainty about US involvement in the region, the potential collapse/reunification of Korea, and Japanese remilitarisation. (Sorry, Asean is barely mentioned.)
Pyle also explains satisfactorily the Japanese 'psychic wound', of the conflict between national pride and the political expediency of the Yoshida doctrine in allowing a foreign army to defend Japanese soil. He goes into a lot of history here, which can be dry reading and repetitive at times but I found it very fascinating. It is, of course, connected to Japan's instinctive strategy in foreign affairs -- which is to take the external structure as a given and try to find a way to optimise its own position and climb the system. Thus the Meiji Restoration can be seen as Japan's own way to imitate the Western imperialist powers and become Asia's first such. Pyle also fascinatingly links this back to Japanese geography as an isolated island with a long feudalist background -- and it's being thrust pretty much from this Middle-Ages style feudal background into the imperialist then liberalist international system, without having had Europe's centuries of Enlightenment in between to develop it's own sense of transcendent ideology. Hence, Japanese -- and Asian -- realpolitik, beggar thy neighbour style mercantilism.
Pyle is also very optimistic about Japanese political reform -- this having been published in 2006, and not having anticipated the 2008-9 crisis, the current fears of high debt/GDP nor the succession of failed leaders post Koizumi. He makes a good case that reform through the early 2000s was real, but it remains to be seen whether he is correct.
The book's weakness I have already alluded to -- the failure to discuss in depth the lost 1990s (from an economic perspective, he argues it was productive from a political reform POV), or even things like the Plaza Accord. This is probably due to the author's lack of familiarity with economic issues. It's ok though, the book is insightful from a foreign policy standpoint and it is for the reader to mesh it himself with separate economic narrative.
Have more specific notes scribbled on a page somewhere that I shall add if I ever find that page...
There is much here to learn not just about Japan but about China, Korea and even the littler states in Asia. Japan was really a pioneer in charting an independent course as an Asian nation through an age of Western dominated international affairs -- it seems to me many of the ongoing debates with China and even within Singapore, and also many of the policies that we have in place, have been developed in the light of Japanese history -- some policies copied and others varied, in the light of their success or failure in the Japanese context.
The perspective of foreign policy, security issues, and realpolitik is fascinating. It adds a new dimension to thinking about the trajectory of various countries in Asia. One insightful quote early in the book: For big countries, domestic policy determines foreign policy, for small countries, foreign policy determines domestic policy. Clearly, domestic policy involves industrial and trade policies. Pyle's interpretation of the lost 1990s takes a fresh angle to the economic one -- he touches on it in context of the ending of the Cold War, which rendered superfluous the US-Japan alliance that held post-WWII (which had ensured one-way Japanese access to US markets in return for US military presence in Japan). Pyle makes many interesting comments in the final chapters about the potential issues in Asia, such as the rise of China, the uncertainty about US involvement in the region, the potential collapse/reunification of Korea, and Japanese remilitarisation. (Sorry, Asean is barely mentioned.)
Pyle also explains satisfactorily the Japanese 'psychic wound', of the conflict between national pride and the political expediency of the Yoshida doctrine in allowing a foreign army to defend Japanese soil. He goes into a lot of history here, which can be dry reading and repetitive at times but I found it very fascinating. It is, of course, connected to Japan's instinctive strategy in foreign affairs -- which is to take the external structure as a given and try to find a way to optimise its own position and climb the system. Thus the Meiji Restoration can be seen as Japan's own way to imitate the Western imperialist powers and become Asia's first such. Pyle also fascinatingly links this back to Japanese geography as an isolated island with a long feudalist background -- and it's being thrust pretty much from this Middle-Ages style feudal background into the imperialist then liberalist international system, without having had Europe's centuries of Enlightenment in between to develop it's own sense of transcendent ideology. Hence, Japanese -- and Asian -- realpolitik, beggar thy neighbour style mercantilism.
Pyle is also very optimistic about Japanese political reform -- this having been published in 2006, and not having anticipated the 2008-9 crisis, the current fears of high debt/GDP nor the succession of failed leaders post Koizumi. He makes a good case that reform through the early 2000s was real, but it remains to be seen whether he is correct.
The book's weakness I have already alluded to -- the failure to discuss in depth the lost 1990s (from an economic perspective, he argues it was productive from a political reform POV), or even things like the Plaza Accord. This is probably due to the author's lack of familiarity with economic issues. It's ok though, the book is insightful from a foreign policy standpoint and it is for the reader to mesh it himself with separate economic narrative.
Have more specific notes scribbled on a page somewhere that I shall add if I ever find that page...
July 9, 2020
This book changed my perception of Japanese foreign policy and power projection. Pyle's work should be required reading for anyone interest in the politics of the region.
October 2, 2020
I had the great fortune to have Professor Pyle as my instructor in 3 courses at the University of Washington as well as a short stint as the reader for one of his Japanese History courses. The style here is logical and succinct with the odd touch of humor. A student could easily grasp the key points and the language practically signposts the sections a reader should know for an upcoming exam. Quite honestly, this book represents a refinement on the themes he has developed over a half century of work in great power politics and the unique Japanese approach to international systems.
Unfortunately, only ten years later on his predictions have not found their footing. It is true that the unsettled nature of the Korean state has led to an ongoing stasis in the triangular nature of East Asian policy. However, very few observers could have predicted the breakdown of support for international institutions across the global landscape as reactionary elements swing politics toward nationalist agendas. The Trump administration and it’s brittle and inconsistent handling of China, Korea, and Japan has also rewritten the strategic calculus in the area. In one key area, Pyle is extremely accurate, the rise of a great power has often unlooked for consequences in the global system.
Unfortunately, only ten years later on his predictions have not found their footing. It is true that the unsettled nature of the Korean state has led to an ongoing stasis in the triangular nature of East Asian policy. However, very few observers could have predicted the breakdown of support for international institutions across the global landscape as reactionary elements swing politics toward nationalist agendas. The Trump administration and it’s brittle and inconsistent handling of China, Korea, and Japan has also rewritten the strategic calculus in the area. In one key area, Pyle is extremely accurate, the rise of a great power has often unlooked for consequences in the global system.
March 24, 2018
As a non-international relations majored student, I found this book effortlessly comprehensible and quite enjoyable. The author explains the concepts and theories in a modern day context of Japan without excessive usage of complex jargon. As the book provides comprehensive analysis of Japan's international and domestic roles in politics, I would recommend it to those who are interested in learning more about Japanese culture and society from a political perspective.
March 3, 2018
Although highly detailed and dense, this book is essential for any understanding of modern Japanese economics and politics
May 6, 2020
Boring read compared to Kissenger. Sorry! but Kissinger is so good at writing, no wonder his book sells so well! (PLIR2030)
December 11, 2020
I barely made it through half this book and still expanded my knowledge of modern Japan infinitely.
August 10, 2024
The name and the jacket cover suggests this to be a book focused on contemporary Japanese foreign relations and policy, which is unfortunately highly misleading. However, for anyone interested in understanding modern Japan's foreign policy and motivators, this book gives a pretty decent overview.
April 23, 2013
Picked this up two years ago for $5 at a used bookshop in Vancouver. Didn't really get into it while on my trip, but the last few year's courses in International Law and power politics have really helped me get an understanding of this tome. An elegantly presented political reading of Japan's troubled past, that attributes much of Japan's foreign policy agenda over the last century to a product of a reactive temperament that has as much to do with the international balance of power as it does domestic politics. As someone only just beginning to delve into this area at all, it's a very grand, thematic overview of the situation that will hopefully provide some basis for a further look into it at some point in the future. It does however have more to do with the largely historical narrative than a current look over the past decade or so over Japanese development since the 90s.
May 20, 2008
Title is a little deceiving. This provides a thorough coverage of Japan's modern political history, and the driving forces behind their foreign/domestic policy...however, it does very little to address modern-day Japan, or possibilities for the future, which I thought it would be, based on the title.
April 29, 2011
Generally well-written though occassionally Pyle argues by assertion. For the most part he backs up his opinions with solid analysis of the historical narrative.
February 11, 2013
I haven't read all of it, just most of it in pieces. Again, Pyle knows his stuff and is a genius. He has Japanese historical events memorized inside out.
January 22, 2015
Good entry point to Japanese history post-Meiji restoration. Very dense, you'll want a notebook to scribble down some notes to research further.
November 2, 2009
For whom interested in Japanese politics, I recommend think this book one!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews