Through Japanese Eyes

by Richard H. Minear

Japan's story is an extraordinary one in the modern world. It emerged from centuries of isolation, openly embracing many foreign ideas while retaining its key cultural values, to dominate first its neighbors militarily and then the world economically.

That story is told here by letting the Japanese speak for themselves through autobiography, fiction, poetry, newspaper and magazine articles, letters, diaries, and historical documents. Thoroughly revised, this new edition of a classic work first published over two decades ago, does not try to explain Japan through "expert" analyses by outside observers. Instead it attempts to recreate the reality of everyday life through Japanese eyes.

The former two-volume set has been combined into a single volume covering traditional and contemporary Japan and its economic, political, social, and cultural life. The first part, "The Road from Isolation," traces the impact on Japanese society of Japan's emergence on the world scene through the Second World War and the trauma of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. "Coping with Affluence" is the theme of the second part, exploring Japan's remarkable economic achievements and the contradictions they pose for Japanese culture, institutions, and values.

360 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1994

About the author

Richard H. Minear is an American historian and professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, specializing in modern Japanese history. He earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1968 and taught courses on Japanese history and Hiroshima for many years. Minear is best known for Victors' Justice, a seminal study of the Tokyo War Crimes Trial. He has lived extensively in Japan and translated numerous Japanese works into English. In 1999, he brought renewed attention to Dr. Seuss wartime political cartoons by editing and publishing them.