The Clash: U.S.-Japanese Relations Throughout History

by Walter F. LaFeber

Winner of the Bancroft Prize.

One of America's leading historians tells the entire story behind the disagreements, tensions, and skirmishes between Japan--a compact, homogeneous, closely-knit society terrified of disorder--and America--a sprawling, open-ended society that fears economic depression and continually seeks an international marketplace. Photos.

Genres: History, Japan, Politics, Nonfiction, International Relations, Japanese History, American History

544 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

One of the foremost scholars of American foreign policy, Walter Fredrick LaFeber was the Andrew H. and James S. Tisch Distinguished University Professor in the Department of History at Cornell University. Previous to that he served as the Marie Underhill Noll Professor of History and a Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow at Cornell.

Reviews

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very thorough and entertaining narrative of diplomatic and economic relations between the USA and Japan. Strategic and business affairs have linked these two wildly-differing countries since the Americans forced the Japanese to open their country to foreign (that is to say: European and American) diplomats and traders in 1854, the primary focus being on economic relations of the two with China. LaFeber writes in an entertaining style, and very few stones are left unturned in this gossipy yet serious diplomatic history.

[Emerson Stokes · Rating 4 out of 5]

There appears to be nothing stranger than U.S.-Japan relations. From being enemies in the 1850s to allies in the 1890s to enemies in the 1910s to sworn enemies in 1930s- before becoming allies in the 1950s and then settling into political allies and economic enemies. This relationship grows ever more complex as Japan sells to both North and South Vietnam and communist China while the U.S. pulls out of these markets (for obvious reasons) until bursting back into them in the 1990s, coinciding with tangling debates over American bases and Japanese defence spending. The book takes a mostly American perspective near the start before gradually moving into taking on a more Japanese perspective by the post-WW2 years. Personally I believe the later portion of the book became more interesting than the first as it delved into Japan’s economic “miracle” and America’s failure to curb it. If I can give two criticisms of the book, it is that 1. it does not go deep into how the two cultures of Japan and America shaped their economic systems despite emphasizing this point in many parts of the book, and 2. It does not delve into how Japan’s acknowledgment of WW2 atrocities (or lack thereof) played into relations between it and other nations. Otherwise however, this book was enjoyable and gave me a lot to think about.

[Jemma]

Read this as part of a history module for Uni, it was long.. but provided a good and thorough insight into US-Japan relations.

[Double Bass · Rating 4 out of 5]

LaFeber makes a strong case against imperialism or global hegemony of any kind in this fascinating book which naturally has its climax somewhere around the middle of the 20th Century.
A bit too heavy on politics and bureaucrats' names for my taste, the book is undoubtably widely-referenced, if too heavily on Western sources than Asian ones. This makes the story adventurous, as it jumps between continents, though it goes more often to the mainland for the Chinese connection than one might expect.
Roughly speaking, I came away from this book thinking that China was the central point of tension in every major clash, not the least of which was WWII.

Finally, it's a dense read. Every page is loaded up with information, but once I stopped worrying about remembering every name, it became fun to be showered with surprising facts.

[Jfarley]

Whirlwind one volume history of, well, Japanese and American relations.



Fast read and interesting. Get it.

[Trevor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rien a dire de spécial dessus j'ai lu ça pour mon cours d'histoire sur les relations USA/Japon mais c'est très très complet et aborde autant des rapports economiques que sociaux entre les deux pays, c'est bien!

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books helps to explain much of what caused the issues leading up to ww2. A very interesting book.

[Harry Lah · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a decent, albeit very dense read. LaFeber, as others have noted in these reviews, stuffs each page with plenty of information. The way LaFeber shows us the big picture of US-Japanese relations over time is through the minutia of each year, each prime minister/president, etc. While not boring, I cannot for the life of me remember most of the important figures named in the book; there were so many people doing all sorts of things all within the span of 400 pages.

While a bit outdated by now (this was written right before 9/11), it provides a decent cursory look at the US's relations with Japan up through the 1990s, even if the particulars thereof aren't too memorable thanks to the quantity of information within this single volume.

[Joe Rogel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid look into the relations and frictions between Japan and U.S. from the mid 1800's onward.

Academic in nature, but very readable, I'd recommend it as a good starting point for anyone interested in US-Japanese history.

[Camden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly accessible, looks at things from a variety of angles and treats both the USA and Japan as complicated actors, not simplifying them to a few variables. Gives a lot of insight into Japan's connection to colonialism, and the role of culture in politics. One of the best books I've read.

[Brandon Schroeder · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strong overview of U.S.-Japanese Relations, definitely driven by older historiographical models of diplomacy and nationalism but worth reading to supplement and prepare for more limited and detailed works.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book on the subject. A little dense at times but overall informative of a relationship I knew very little.