Modern History of Japan

by William Gerald Beasley

Describes political, economic, and social movements that have influenced Japan's modern development and foreign relations

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Essays

358 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

William Gerald Beasley was Emeritus Professor of the History of the Far East at the School of Oriental and African Studies of London University.

Reviews

[Laurent De Serres Berard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazingly well written book, nuanced and with demonstrated objectivity. The fact that the version i read was from 1967, and so could almost predict the amazing rise of Japan in the 80s, make it even more an amazing read. The description of complex social change is reduced easily by the author to its main components easily understood. It is a wonderful simplification to kept in mind in order to understand Japan's modernization, without loosing too much of nuances and limitations of the phenomenon described. The author is gracefully objective, and gained my full confidence when he warn the reader of oversimplification and of too much trust in his writing, such as in this passage :

"Such a situation makes it difficult for the historian, as it did for contemporaries, to allocate responsibility for decisions, a circumstance that needs to be borne in mind when reading the narrative which follows"

What surprise me most was the advanced almost democratic institutions that japan had already achieved before WW2, making it not just an american importation, but modern institutions witg which the country was already familiar. The complex socio economical dynamics behind the balance required to reach those modern institutions, that then fell into militaristic rule, still was the blueprint of japan incredible advances in the 80s.

[Austin Barselau · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those seeking to understand how Japan transitioned from 19th century feudal agrarianism to an industrial 20th century nation-state, WG Beasley’s 1963 “The Modern History of Japan” provides answers. Beasley, the late professor of East Asian studies at the University of London, has produced here a trenchant and scholarly study that examines the threads of Japan’s undulating geopolitical status from the early 19th century through the mid-20th century.

In this work, Beasley puts under a microscope the emerging fault lines rippling under the surface of Japanese society, as well as how those fractures were aggravated by international pressures. For example, he shows how US Commodore Matthew Perry’s forced entrance into Japan precipitated the fall of the stratified Tokugawa feudal regime and the end of its self-imposed national isolation; in its stead blossomed new Western-influenced political institutions and vigorous industrial resurgence. Beasley also shows how Japan’s post-Meiji Restoration growing pains and increasing foreign policy insecurities fueled nationalism, militarism, and territorial conquest in the region. This led to conflict in the Pacific Theater during WW2, which invited a powerful Allied response that guaranteed its own destruction. Amidst its ashes, Japan experienced a new restoration that ensured peaceful development and political and social experimentation.

In the end, Beasley writes that Japan had “at last achieved the distinction of being modern,” not because of its own national ambitions, but often despite it.

[Nicola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saggio sulla storia del Giappone dall'epoca Tokugawa agli anni Sessanta del Novecento. Nonostante sia abbastanza datata come edizione, ho trovato molti spunti interessanti per ulteriori approfondimenti, specialmente per la parte riguardante l'occupazione americana del dopoguerra.
Il capitolo dedicato al secondo conflitto mondiale è alquanto sintetico, se si cerca un'analisi approfondita su questo argomento consiglio di cercare altri testi.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decente, mas repetido com coisas que já sei

[lauwisteria · Rating 5 out of 5]

L'autore è obiettivo. E' importantissimo sottolinearlo perché è raro trovare un testo così autorevole e, seppur datato, ben documentato e con un'assoluta MA sorprendente neutralità. Il fatto che l'edizione che ho letto/studiato fosse del 1963, tradotto e pubblicato in Italia nel '68, e quindi potesse quasi prevedere l'incredibile ascesa economica del Giappone negli anni '80, lo rende una lettura ancora più sorprendente. La descrizione del complesso mutamento sociale viene facilmente ridotta dall'autore alle sue componenti principali facilmente comprensibili.

[Ulises · Rating 2 out of 5]

I agree. It is rather dense.