Animal Care in Japanese Tradition: A Short History

by W. Puck Brecher

This volume provides an historical overview of Japan's relationship with animals from ancient times to the 1950s. Its analysis serves as a lens through which to scrutinize Japanese tradition and interrogate ahistorical claims about Japan’s culturally endemic empathy for the natural world. Departing from existing scholarship on the subject, the book also connects Japan’s much-maligned record of animal exploitation with its strong adherence to contextual, needs-based moral memory.

138 pages, Paperback

Published April 26, 2022

About the author

W. Puck Brecher is Associate Professor of Japanese History at Washington State University.