Japan Since 1945
>From Postwar to Post-Bubble
Christopher Gerteis and Timothy S. George

‘An excellent interdisciplinary collection of essays on
"postwar" Japan, from 1945 to 2011 - from the ashes of
defeat to the anxiety of decline. It deserves to be
read not only for its fascinating glimpses of Japanese
society, economy and culture, but also for the
comparative light it implicitly sheds on other advanced
capitalist societies and their not always acknowledged
arcs of uneven historical change.’ - Carol Gluck,
George Sansom Professor of History, Columbia University

December 2012 • PB 9781441101181 • 288 pages • £19.99
http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/japan-since-1945-978144110
1181

Does Japan really matter anymore? The challenges of
recent Japanese history have led some pundits and
scholars to publicly wonder whether Japan's
significance is starting to wane. The multidisciplinary
essays that comprise Japan Since 1945, however,
demonstrate its ongoing importance and relevance.
Examining the historical context to the social,
cultural, and political underpinnings of Japan's
postwar development, the contributors re-engage earlier
discourses and introduce new veins of research.

Japan Since 1945 provides a much needed update to
existing scholarly work on the history of contemporary
Japan. It moves beyond the 'lost decade' and 'terrible
devastation' frameworks that have thus far defined too
much of the discussion, offering a more nuanced picture
of the nation's postwar development.

CONTENTS in brief

Introduction – Revisiting the History of Postwar Japan,
Christopher Gerteis and Timothy S. George

Part I: Civic Imaginations
Contributions from Laura E. Hein, Timothy S. George and
Martin Dusinberre

Part II: Legacies of the War and Occupation
Contributions from David Tobaru Obermiller, Katarzyna
Cwiertka, Sally A. Hastings and Tetsuya Fujiwara

Part III: State Policy for a Late-Capitalist Society
Contributions from Lonny E. Carlile, Bruce Aronson and
Satsuki Takahashi

Part IV: Looking Out, Looking Back
Contributions from Christine Yano, Christopher Gerteis
and Hiraku Shimoda

Conclusion, Stephen Vlastos